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@deleted
Phew.
In La Spezia, first day from Siena-Montecatini was hilly and rough, (but still very enjoyable) a few potentially fatal mechanicals such as nearing the top of a bitching climb to have the chain inexplicably shift between cassette and spokes and taking 1/2 an hour to prise back out with storm clouds moving in leaving me with a slippy descent in a downpour... I was lucky i'd been on the steepest part of the climb and moving slow as otherwise my rear mech would have been totally goosed.
Second day to La Spezia I stuck to the much more densely populated flatlands as I've basically got far too much fucking stuff, and my 'clever' decision not to take my paniers in favour of my chrome backpack means that all the weight is above my rear wheel meaning getting out of the saddle feels awful, descending feels awful, and my gooch is suffering as a result. Throw in a few unexpected tunnels courtesy of Garmin and that's a recipe for some 'oh shit' moments.
I've also woken today and my right hand is agony (no wanking jokes pls) which may or may not be a pizza eating injury as opposed to anything bike related as I don't remember it being sore yesterday, so my plan to grind over another 2000 odd meters of hills is looking stupider than it already was. Thinking a train to Parma might be advisable to cut out the busy coastal roads and hills, take a day off today, then tank along the flat-lands on quieter roads to Pinerolo to do some bag-free riding over a couple of days instead of creeping up hills and racing to arrive before darkness falls.
I'm definitely not riding up Finistrelle with a fucking laptop and assorted gubbins on me as it will ruin the ride and it's the main objective of this trip. I'm such a fanny for not planning this better though...