Europe Cycle adventure + Greece Aug/Sept 2025

After quite a cold night, the day dawned and the forecasted perfect weather delivered ☀️.  I lay in my tent till nearly 9am doing some logistics planning till the temp climbed over 6 degrees and just as the sun popped over the mountain 🎉 I had booked the last couple of seats on the bus to the mountains at 1pm and back at 6.15pm.  I would have liked longer but figured that it is what it is and it should be enough time to do a lap of the famous Tre Cime Lavorado (the Three Peaks).   I chatted with the Ukranian couple before they headed off and then cycled into town and explored for a bit, had a gelato and a pistachio cannoli and then after a picturesque 1hr bus ride, found myself near the top of the mountains on an 18 degrees day. It's a bit hard to find the right words to describe the Dolomites but I'll give it a go: they are striking, majestic, rugged, imposing, towering over the landscape, awesome and immense.  To get to hike amongst th...

What a joy to wake up in a hotel high in the clouds!  Breakfast was quite a substantial buffet and so I set off fuelled for the day.  I asked the girl on reception for help with booking my bus transfer from Cortina to the Dolomites and return on Sunday.  Turns out the connections are very limited on a Sunday and she recommended staying in Dobbiaco instead as that's where the main bus leaves from.  What an opportune conversation!  I booked one of the last seats left all day for Sunday afternoon (would have preferred morning!). I did a reroute in my cycle app and set off for what looked like a little shortcut down from my mountain hotel to the bike path.  All was going well for a few kms and then it wanted to send me on a very steep overgrown single track downhill to the river.  I abandoned and retraced my route and back down to the village to find major cycle path diversion signs (in Italian) due to a landslide.  So, follow...

I woke this morning in my hotel room thankful for the cost night. Wet items mostly dry overnight too. After consideration of what to do today, along with some general fatigue, I opted for a short train ride to reduce my KMS today.  I had breakfast with my lovely friends and they let me book the train ticket on their EU phone (wouldn't allow me on my phone!) and we hugged and said our goodbyes.  It was raining as I left to cycle through the gorgeous mediaeval village to the station.  My platform was on the other side and only stairs an option.  It's a mission to remove all bags, carry bike or bags down to the bottom level, ferry back up to get the rest, move all under the tracks to the other end and then up to the platform!  😂😂 Must be near impossible for those with mobility issues to travel in Europe!  There were quite a few familiar cycling faces all doing the same thing and trying to outrun the rain.  The young German couple...

I woke in my stunning campground location in the mountains to birds tweeting 😊. I was packed up and at the on-site grocery store when they opened and brought some fresh bread rolls and cheese for my lunch. Off I set with a goal to summit the Brenner Pass and then enter Italy. A pretty tough first 25kms of steep ascents 8-12% which is tough going on my heavy bike.  Many cyclists are completing this popular route and I was passed by so many red faced, determined riders.  A real code of respect amongst us all with little words of encouragement at times.  It took me till lunch time to get through the first 25-30kms and as I sat and ate I shed a little tear.  Could I do this? Had I bitten off more than I could chew? Do I cycle to a train station and catch the train up instead?  A quick call home and Tim listened and reassured, and I was good to go again… The views were incredible even with threa...