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Côte des Gets (1,165m) Breakfast that morning was as plentiful and delicious as dinner last night. Being in France, the coffee and pastries were especially on point. Inventively, I managed to somehow cram a croissant filled with ham and cheese into the toaster at the buffet breakfast. The impatient annoyance of the other guests at my monopolisation of the machine quickly subsidised into jealousy when they saw and smelt the delicious creation.The hotel was halfway up a climb, so to warm up in the in the low hanging clouds which greeted us after rolling out from the reception, we ascended to...

Col de la Forclaz (1,527 m), Col des Montets (1,461 m) Last night potentially the worst mechanical of the adventure struck Phil's machine... Snapped rear gear cable. For those uneducated in the dark arts of derailleur setup, when a rear shifter cable goes, the chain is put straight into the smallest cog, which obviously, is not great if you're planning on doing 3000m of climbing that day. Phil turned to the most generous, dexterous, mechanically minded, methodical, strongest, handsome and humble member of the group and pleaded for help. I was only too happy to oblige.Rising early, I sorted Phil's bike. The...

Gotthard Pass (2106 m), Nufenen Pass (2478 m)Upon clipping in and setting off, we pass a town sign that causes me to recall a joke Justin made the evening before, I went along the lines of “Could I have a beer please… Andermatt”? A play on words that entertained me (probably too much) and took my mind off the feeling that my legs felt heavy and lacked any lustre at all; imagine “café legs” and times it by ten. Onwards to the first major climb of the day, Gotthard Pass. Frankly speaking, I do not recall much of the steady ascent, after...

Lukmanier Pass (1,915 m), Oberalppass (2,046 m) A hearty meal of salad, pizza and chips washed down with plenty of cool beer and sorbet the night before had set us up for another decent days’ worth of riding, day number 7 of our alpine adventure. A comfortable sleep in Biasca with an excellent buffet breakfast of bread, jam, toast, cereals, dried fruit all washed down with a few cups of good strong coffee had filled the tanks and after the customary half hour waiting around for Billy to get his act together we were all set and ready to go. View...

Passo dello Spluga (2115m), Passo del San Bernadino (2066m) After a long descent leading into Chiavenna the previous day I awoke feeling quite a bit more human than I had done most mornings. Although when I say that, it still wasn’t enough to get me to the breakfast table on time; more so an acceptance of the brutality I was putting my body through and a slight passing thought of “these stairs don’t hurt as much as yesterdays stairs”. Three helpings of cornflakes and toast later I was actually feeling quite chirpy. That was until Phil stopped me in my...