Day 24 - Pordone to Lido di Venezia

Firstly I'd like to apologise for the late posting of this post. Secondly I'd like to point out that it is nearly 4am local time therefore I have been drinking for some 9 hours therefore amongst other things my spelling may be somewhat erratic.

Anyhow, back to biking. When I woke this morning I wasn't sure whether the flat roads of last night had been a dream. After 7 days, 12 mountain passes and 13000m of climbing could those mountains really have disappeared by cycling through one tunnel? It was true, all I could see of the mountains as I headed off at 10.30 was a distant backdrop of what had been my constant companion for the last week.

Today was meant to be my rest day but due to an over ambitious plan, I had to bike to to the Lido di Venezia which is a narrow strip of land that protects Venice from the Adriatic Sea, to catch up to where I should be. By the time I started it was already hot, the road was pan flat and I just headed South stopping in Crepaldo for lunch, when asking the waitress to top up my water bottles, she half loaded them with ice before adding the water, what a star! But unfortunately by the time I wanted to drink the water it was already luke warm. (tip - in hot climates put one of your water bottles in your pannier, it keeps it cooler for longer).

I carried on heading south through Jeselo to Lido di Jeselo and after 3 weeks of cycling since Bolougne  I finally saw the sea. What can I say? Not quite Broad Haven, Barrafundle, Freshwater East or any of the fantastic Pembrokeshire beaches, more like Southend except there was Sea not Mud and instead of the Golden Mile there was the Golden 10 miles. That is 10 miles of tat, slot machines and hotels,, ummm. I carried on South West to the Point Sabbioini where I wanted to catch the ferry to the Lido di Venizia. At the ticket office I was told:
"you need to check with the captain to see if the boat will take bikes. the boats are small"
Fortunately the Captain said yes, and after a short ferry journey I was on what was once the most famous Seaside  Resort in Italy, now looking a little tired but much better than the Lido di Jesolo. Aftyer finding my hotel I bought some swimming cossies and went for a swim in the small public swimming area, the vast majority of beaches being owned by hotels. After biking from England to the Adriatic, and now baking in the heat i need ed a swim, and  it was great.

After a a quick shower in the hotel I headed to Venice for the evening, I wasn't really that keen to go but felt I should as I was so close to it. The canals and narrow streets were ok but St Marks Square was a disapiontment due to the amount of scaffolding and grubby buildings and after a couple of hours I felt happy to be heading back to the Lido.

Todays Stats
Distance 94.03k
Climb 119m
Riding Time 4:09:56
Average Speed 22.5kph
Total time 6:30