JEC
John Cranwell Joined: May 10th 2010
Logged in: July 28th 2010
Logged in: July 28th 2010
Travel Blog Posts
Wellington Arch
Morning was bright and clear for the drive into Londinium (Roman name for London) and we left our comfortable room in the Hunters Rest to continue the journey. We have had good accommodation all through the trip and this was no exception. We get an opportunity to write an appraisal of the service provided and we have had no cause for complaint from any of the hotels that we have frequented. They will all be getting positive feedback from us to assist them in gaining further custom for themselves and their business. We took the opportunity to have our last drive and look at the rolling English countryside before we got onto the M4 and headed for Heathrow to drop off our hire car. Good little vehicle that suited our purpose and was reliable and economical. ... read more
Bath Abbey
The place we are staying in is a lovely old inn that is in an out of the way spot as previously mentioned. We stopped at the Railway Inn on our return from Cheddar as the owners are from Tasmania, but they were born in England, moved with parents to Australia and then decided on a lifestyle change. They literally stuck a pin in a map of the UK, rented a flat and commenced looking for a pub to run. They decided on Clutton as the village is small enough to get to know most people and not too large to have too much around them. They are working on a 10 year plan, but the lady of the house likes the cold weather and thought that even the few hot days in Hobart were too ... read more
Penny Lane
• We arrived in Liverpool this afternoon after a pleasant journey from Newcastle. We finally found our hotel after much driving through the streets of Liverpool. We came in from the north, not from the east! Still, the police were very friendly and gave us directions and then the petrol station owner was very friendly and gave us directions - we got there in the end! The Hotel Alicia is a lovely hotel opposite Sefton Park and about 2 miles from Liverpool city centre. Small rooms as usual in the UK and in Europe generally. Lee needed me to remove the 3 stitches from her elbow and this happened without any fuss from either us. Wound has healed well and she will have a bit of a scar to show off and talk about for a ... read more
Good friends
Final day of the Giro and the bike tour and we are greeted with steady rain and cool weather for our final ride. We left about 0740 and rode down the valley on a bike track for approx. 40minutes , with a couple of climbs thrown in, and then retraced our ride back to the hotel to clean the bikes, shower and pack our gear for the drive to Milan. Final stage of the Giro is a 15K time trial near Verona, which is about 200K from where we are and the trip to see the time trial is not viable with the majority of people leaving for home or to continue holidays. The Giro has been decided with Basso in pink for GC winner, Cadel in red for consistency, Matty Lloyd in green for KOM ... read more
to top of Mortirolo
Saturday morning opened with the best weather to date since Brunico and the east coast, with the prospect of high clouds, easy breeze, and the hope that we will complete all ride proposals for the group. Some people are going to do the Gavia as they missed getting to the top, others are going to do an easy ride through the valley with a stop for coffee and then return to the hotel for lunch before watching the race return through Bormio. Eight of the rest, which includes Steve Cunningham, are going to ride the 30K down the valley to the base of the Mortirolo and then climb to the summit before descending to the bus for a trip back to the hotel. The Mortirolo featured in the Friday stage and consists of a single car ... read more
On top of Stelvio
Overcast skies greeted us this morning but with no threat or forecast of rain until later in the day, the plan to ride the Passo dello Stelvio was still on. The slower group left the hotel about 08.30 and the rest of us left at about 09.00. With a slight downhill run into town, last free-wheel until the descent, we got onto the climb to the Stelvio. This is approximately 24K long and rises to 2758m above sea level. As Bormio is at about 1200m above sea level, we only have 1558m to get to the summit at an average of 7.1% with a maximum gradient of 14%. Weather was great, slightly cool and the sun only shone on us occasionally, so it was good weather for about a 2 hour climb to the summit. Rode ... read more
On the summit of the first climb
Morning arrives in Bormio and we are greeted by rain and low cloud which has curtailed our riding plans so we intend to wander into the town for sight-seeing and stretch of the legs. The hotel staff must know something as they have got the open fire going and the temperature is about 12 degrees. Hopefully the weather will clear and we can get on the bikes this afternoon and attempt some climbing. Don’t mind getting wet, but coming down mountains will be dangerous and bloody cold as well as not being enjoyable. Looks like the Giro will be getting wet as they are in the same valley as we are. Could be good for the Aussies as Cadel descends better than Basso and conditions should suit him. After going to the local bike shop and ... read more
View from start
Watched time trial at hotel with a few of the group as we were all scattered in various areas to watch the race. Cadel did all Aussies proud as he finished second, gained time on all riders in front of him on the GC and looked very strong. Richie Porte, the young Tasmanian also rode well and still wears the young rider’s jersey(under 25) and is still placed well on the GC. Had dinner and drinks at hotel and we leave this lovely place on the morrow, Wednesday morning, for Bormio where we stay for 4 nights. Another ride in the morning after a good night sleep which included a few small climbs of about 500 metres in total and then back to the hotel to pack and go to the start in Brunico. Our bus ... read more
On road to Brunico
We had an easy ride into Cesenatico on Saturday where a bike exhibition was being held and wandered through the area to checkout all the latest bikes and bling on display. You could spend a fortune and still not get all you desire. Back to the hotel after lunch and watched the final 50K of the Giro stage. Early night as we need to get up at 04.00, breakfast at 04.45 and on the bus by 05.00 to the start of the Nove Colli (nine climbs) at 06.00. We have quite a few doing the 130K and 9 of us are doing the 200K. The Nove Colli is now in its 40th year and is one of the Gran Fondo held throughout Italy. It consists of 2 distances of 80 or 130 mile (130 or 205K) ... read more
JC @ Borghi
As mentioned previously, we left our hotel at about 09.00 and headed south towards Cesenatico along the coast before turning inland and starting the climb to Borghi. This climb is also on the Nove Colli so we have already climbed 2 that we are expecting to climb on Sunday 23 May. The group stopped for coffee, as you would expect, in a café in Borghi before the descent towards the coast to see the race in the 2010 Giro d’Italia. Rimini was absolutely packed with people, so we rode to a small village, Spardarolo where we saw the breakaway and the peloton come through. This was preceded by the normal ‘hoopla’ of the caravan of sponsor’s vehicles and police escorts before we actually got to see the riders. Back on the bike and into the town ... read more
