Massa - Sestri Lavante (50 miles)

Nice relaxing day today in very rural...where are we again? Genova I think. The Italian Riviera. Ride takes me through small pastoral villages – a shop, a man with a dog and a bell tower – set against the most ridiculously beautiful backdrops - floral mountains, gushing rivers crazy roads and hot afternoon sun. It was like cycling in a sophisticate's provincial fantasy. For me this is reality. This is my world.

However, this being Italy there was also a two thousand foot climb and a descent into the sea. And this meant a return to some of the most ridiculous roads in the world.

Roman Roads

If there is one thing you cannot take away from the Italians it is that they build roads better than anyone. Fact. They have been doing it longer than anyone and now they have turned into an art form.

Enormous columns of concrete balance entire motorways hundreds of feet in the air while they curve round mountain like godly serpents. Tunnels burrow through score upon score of rock, then open out into corridors. Waterfalls thunder beside. Ferraris and Ducatis scream in pleasure.

I rarely desire to be in a car but driving on these roads must be an experience unlike any other in the world. This is what the Italians do. They put a creative passion into subjects we consider to be routine. Driving, eating, dressing, even sitting down – all are more than just mundane acts. It is the Italian heart. While the rest of the world has evolved into fitter and more efficient societies, Italy has stayed with its traditional values. 'Yes,' they might say. 'You might have your multinational industries and your financial centres, but can you build a Ferrari?' Is travelling on the M6 the same as the Braccio Pass? What is it like stopping for a meal in your local café?

The point is that we all have the same ambitions but the Italians do not render theirs with common sense. They just go ahead and do it as it was in their dreams.

I thank them for this. If it were for practicality I wouldn’t be here at all. They are keeping the dream alive.

Living Bellisimo

So in the last couple of days I have finally attained the lifestyle of my dreams. I get up, eat as much as breakfast as I can, get on the bike, pedal into stunning vistas, get tired, eat ice creams, pedal over mountains, fly down awesome descents, eat some chocolate, pedal to whatever bizarre hostel I have booked myself into, then sit by the beach with a beer and watch the sunset. That's my daily routine. I go to bed and I want for nothing for more. I worry about the important things – food, water, shelter and staying alive – and relish everything else. I am happy. I am content

Should I be? Isn't there...something missing?

I don't need culture and education because I have an incredible world to explore. I don't need material goods because they will just weigh me down. I have no want for a nice place to live because I will not stay there (today I feel embarrassed by having a hotel room with a clean towel and a shower).

What about company? Friends, family? Love?

Hmm.

Its hard.

I do need people to help me occasionally, like the mechanics in Lucca, but actual emotional connections?

After a while you stop feeling lonely. You forget about other people. You don’t get homesick, because the road ahead is far more exciting.

Companionship?

I suppose sometimes you feel that this would be nice but those occasions are few, and I am well aware that it was for other people I would not be here at all.

Do I not want to share this experience?

Sure, but the longer you go on the less you care. Thoughts of photos on Facebook do not cross your mind. But yes, I still do. I want to tell people stories, however I do not want to be doing this for this reason.

And love?

In this life? If I could, then of course. But I am content with not having it and being surrounded by such a beautiful world.

The life of the cycle tour is a lot like being in love. You become so happy that you stop worrying about all the stupid things and want for nothing more than the beautiful world you have.

Its not quite as powerful as love – I don’t think anything in our make-up could be – but perhaps this makes for an easier pleasure to cope with.

I'll save love for when I return to the real world. It is only the way to live Bellisimo there.