The Picos Ride for Cancer Support: Day 15 Moncalieri to Alessandria

Last of the Picos Riders - to Rome Alone!

Our first two charity rides were a huge success - raising over £20,000 for the South East Cancer Help Centre.

The Centre does a fantastic job of supporting patients and carers at the most difficult times of their lives. They make a real difference and you could help them in their work by contributing to our fundraising. Donations can be made via JustGiving.comhttps://www.justgiving.com/Tom-Vaz/ or directly into the Centre. For more details of the Centre and their work see their website at http://www.sechc.org.uk/

After 3 years of rest it seemed time to dust off the old muscles, bones and sinews and do one more spectacular ride in aid of this fabulous charity.

This time I will travel alone for 25 days, mainly following the ancient pilgrimage route to Rome, the Via Francigene, covering a distance of around 1,400 miles.

The route travels through Newhaven - Dieppe - Paris before I eventually reach the Via Francigene in Eastern France. From then on it is pretty simple apart from having to cross the Alps without an elephant!

Tuesday, 28 July 2015

Day 15 Moncalieri to Alessandria

Leaving Moncalieri I followed the hills through Chieri and Soglio. This route runs roughly parallel to the main road to Asti.

There are a lot of beautiful views in the lush Piedmont hills but you know that the long downhill is followed by an equally long uphill. Lunch was a tricky affair, the owner of the little cafe didn't even understand what menu meant so I ended up just looking at the stickers on his counter until I saw the faithful word panini. You need some Italian to travel through these remote areas!

As temperatures hit the high 30s in the afternoon I stuck to the main road from Asti. Quite flat and fairly quick until reaching my overnight stop at Alessandria.

This was a very stylish b&b in a farmhouse but no wifi. The house was beautifully decorated in strong colours. Wish I'd arrived here earlier to enjoy more time in such luxury!

Total 65 Miles