Georgia Armenia and Beyond 2026

DAY 9   249 kms   Big loop from Penia to Penia.       Cortina     Princess Hotel where I am staying Day 10      Passo Pordoi      84 kms  I'm Rode around and then got the cable car to the top of  Pordoi Mountain at 2958m.         Breakfast      Sunday gathering and libation.     Pizza    Met a guy at the restaurant  and asked him what his favorite pizza is and told  me the best pizza he has had was in Cape Town and he didn't  know where I was from.

Had a good breakfast at the hotel and headed for Penia in the Dolomites. Rode east to Tirino and then onto Grosso and up the Mortiloro Pass but heading south. Then did Gavia Pass but ran out of fuel 2 kms from the top and had to coast all the way down and asked  a farmer where the petrol station was and he then went and got me a litre and was enough to get to the petrol  station. Proceeded  to venture back up the pass and then up Stelvio Pass. Went down and up and down again on the other side which is the curvy side and then focused on getting to Penia. Stopped at a grocery store and bought some yogurt and made a salami and cheese roll for lunch. At the bottom of the pass it starts to heat up again to 34°C and in all my garb it is rather hot. When I got to Penia I met with Coneca, who I met here three years ago and had some beer and went to his new place and met his girlfriend Roberta,  then he took me to his apartment which he doesn't  use anymore at the Prines...

LONGEST DAY RIDING EVER The hostel in Annecy was super nice and had room to myself. (€40) There is a huge garden area with seating for over a hundred  people and it was packed as they have food and a selection of beer.  Got off to a 6 am start to Chamonix de Mont Blanc which was rather impressive then crossed into Switzerland  🇨🇭  to Martigny. The idea was to hit all four major passes in Switzerland starting with Nufenen Pass only to discover it is still closed and so are all the others. Happen to see the car train which was about to leave so jumped on that with my bike (€33) and takes you all in a tunnel to the other side of the pass at the beginning  of Furka Passa, so you can continue on. Furka is also closed.  So my next plan was to head to Lake Como, Italy 🇮🇹as I stayed there last time but for some reason I thought it was on the southern end. Was a long hot ride to Lugano where I turned t east to Lake Como and the ferry was boarding as I arrived ,s...

    The pass was closed but got through the cones and only had a few bicycles to contend with.      Tour de France crossed over here last year and you can see all the names painted, still on the road.     Petrol ain't  cheap here.Got 17 kms per litre from Susa which was a mix of passes and some flat roads. Still not good consumption.      Bike is running well, seems to corner way better than the 800GS and is a smooth ride.Wish the fuel gauge worked.       This time of the year the grass is a brilliant green everywhere,  at 35° C I am sure it won't  last long.     Was fortunate  to spot one of these      At the top of a pass.     Snow and lush green grass .