Cycling Day 5 - Cogoleto to Alba

The weather had been terrible during the night, and when I looked out of the window when I woke up the rain had eased but wind was still there. I certainly wasn't relishing the prospect of the day's ride especially as the rain was predicted to return later on. I managed to get away at a reasonable time (waited until 8.30 for the old couple to open reception so that I could hand back my key and get my passport back). The day started with a short pedal along to the next sizable town of Varazze before I would be heading north inland and onto the smaller roads towards Turin. My aim for the day was to at least get to Alba (a large town only 50-60km shy from where my hostel was in Turin) so that I would have an easier day tomorrow, and would be able to get to the all-important marathon expo where I'd need to collect my race pack before it shut at 6pm. I stopped at a shopping mall briefly just on my way out of Varazze to get water and snacks, and to double check the weather/route. I made some notes of the route/towns that I'd be passing through, snacked up and emptied my bladder before the big push inland. Very soon after setting off it started raining - lightly at first and then becoming heavier and relentless. This combined with the inland mountainous roads I was on made life very difficult, and it wasn't long before I layered up more in an attempt to keep warm. I lasted no more than 2 hours before having to admit defeat and stop. This was in a small and remote little town in the mountains that only really seemed to consist of a hotel and bar. I was tempted with the hotel at this point but went to the bar with the hope of getting warm again and refuelling before battling on some more in the afternoon. I lent my bike outside and walked in like a drowned rat. Getting undressed out of my soaked cycling gear took up loads of space - thankfully the woman working there didn't mind. The woman there didn't speak any English - we relied on hand gestures and using one of the English- speaking locals to translate. I got chatting and amongst the topics of conversation was the road to Alba - it was at least 65km of ups-and-downs and apparently I'd have to watch out for dangerous wild animals. Not having any warm clothes to put on I sat in my sleeping bag drinking the hot chocolate that I'd ordered. It took a good half-hour to warm up sufficiently, but all my clothes were soaked beyond wearable. I needed to think of a way to stay warm enough to continue - it was at least 110 km to my hostel in Turin so going to the local hotel and staying the night here was out of the question. It's not even like I could cheat and get the train or bus either. So I emptied my pannier bags hoping that I'd find something and get an idea of how I'd be able to continue. The wetsuit came out - I suppose I could try and cycle in this. However I'd still have the problem of cold hands and feet. The solution - cut off the ends of the arms and legs from the wetsuit and fudge together some makeshift gloves and socks. I also had some gaffa tape in amongst my panniers (intended for taping my bike box up for the flight home), so borrowed some scissors from the bar and proceeded to cut off the arms and legs. It was fiddly and tedious fudging the gloves getting each finger the right length/space apart and each one up. The socks were much easier - I literally just slid the cut-off bits over my feet and that was it. After approx. 30 minutes my work was done. Meantime the woman who worked there had been super helpful putting on the stove and helping to put all my wet stuff around it in an attempt to dry it out. I'd found out that it was roughly 65km to Alba with more mountainous roads paving the way. I settled my bill (hot chocolate, 2 paninis and a chocolate bar) which came to a very modest amount, so offered the woman a tip but she wouldn't take it. After thanking her I went outside at least 90 minutes after arriving and got going. It was still pissing down but I was keen to test out the wetsuit cycling. The wetsuit and shoes/gloves did the job very well - it generally kept me warm and I even got quite toasty on the ascents. It was an emphatic win keeping the challenge alive when the odds were against me - this was my best/most successful bit of improvisation to date and I was on a high. There were a few minor snags - lack of flexibility (the hip area was noticeably restricted), breathability and the freedom to stop and go for a pee (I had to go whilst riding - not so bad as this happened at the bottom of a long and cold descent so warmed me up). This 65 km or so from the bar to Alba was spectacular and I loved it despite it raining heavily the entire time (if anything this added to the beauty of the surroundings and certainly helped with the freshness of the air). There was no navigating required and I made it to Alba before nightfall. Thankfully no threatening wild animals appeared either :) . I pedalled into the town centre - it was a really nice/rich place which made the task of finding a cheap hotel tricky. There were a few 3/4 star hotels but no 1/2 star budget-friendly ones. I spent a good 30 minutes cycling around before finding somewhere that looked like it might be affordable, so went to investigate. This was fully booked. The staff however were super helpful and called a cheap hotel slightly further out-of-town to see if they had space for me. Thankfully this one did, although it was slightly more than I'd have liked to have paid (€45). I agreed as was tired and definitely not up for looking around any more, so they reserved the room for me and told the owner that I'd be there shortly. The staff then showed me how to get there and wrote down the name of the road for me. Seemed simple enough - just backtrack 1km up the road I'd just come from and take one of the turnings that would lead to the hotel. In my tired state it took a little while to find, but got there in the end. I was welcomed by a guy in his thirties who owned the place. He was really nice and showed me to my room. The room was incredible - beautifully furnished with a massive double bed. The best thing was the heating - I was able to crank up the temperature on the radiators/towel rail and dry out all of my wet stuff. He asked what time I wanted breakfast and was more than happy to serve me at 6.30am after I told him about my trip and having to get to Turin by tomorrow afternoon to register for the Marathon. I didn't have any dinner as there wasn't any nearby restaurants/shops and was too tired and cosy to venture out anywhere far. So after showering and hanging all my clothes out I tucked myself into bed and went to sleep.