Cycling Day 6 - Alba to Turin

I was up and very eager for breakfast at 6.30am. I went down to the breakfast area and the owner asked me what I'd like. Being very hungry having skipped dinner last night I replied with 'everything please'. He laughed and went into the kitchen to prepare me something. Being the only guest I was certainly getting the VIP treatment. It wasn't long before I was presented with a plethora of delicious food (bread, jam, cake, eggs, cereal, ham, cheeses and biscuits). I wasn't in any rush having found out that my route to Turin was flat and easy to navigate, so I relaxed and enjoyed slowly ploughing my way through all this delightful food. Whilst eating we had a chat. He got out the map and was showing/telling me about the local regions and how beautiful some particular places are. With him being into mountain biking we got on very well and had a lot to talk about. After 1.5 hours of food and conversation it was finally time to get going. Before leaving I made a point of grabbing his card so that I could look up the hotel on Trip Advisor and give a good review - this along with a B&B in Richmond (Yorkshire) from my Wainwright's Coast to Coast walk a few years earlier ranked as the best hotels I'd ever stayed in. Then it was outside to a cloudy but dry day and on with the easy task of pedalling the final flat 50km to Turin. I was relaxed and in a good place. The way to Turin was as predicted very flat and easy to navigate, not the most scenic but I wasn't expecting it to be. I stopped at a McDonalds just outside the city to check my directions to the hostel. These were straight-forward and I successfully navigated my way to the hostel by approx. 12.30. The guy at reception recognized me from before and I explained that I had a room booked. I was too early to go in yet as the cleaners were still preparing the rooms for the next wave of guests. So I left my bike in the back garden of the hostel and went to the local supermarket to get some food. Once I was back my room was ready so I went up. After a shower and changing into some clean clothes that I'd left in the hotel storage room before I started walking to the Marathon Registration. It was probably about 5km away and easy enough to find. After showing them my passport I was presented with my race pack. Then it was a casual stroll back to the hostel to prepare my running kit for the morning before finding somewhere to get dinner. I opted for a local pizzeria recommended by the guy at reception, where I was hoping there would be a pasta option. It was pouring with rain outside - thankfully I was able to walk virtually the whole way under the cover of overhanging balconies. Upon arrival I discovered there wasn't a pasta option, but decided to stay anyway as was unlikely to be able to find a local pasta place easily. The restaurant was busy and took took a while to be served so I got the ipad out and checked my final race instructions whilst waiting. I'd ordered 2 small pizzas and was pleasantly surprised - they were very tasty and satisfied my appetite. After the meal it was still raining heavily so swiftly made it back to the hostel for an early night.