We made it to Venice

Finally we rolled into Venice. Annoyingly, Steve got a puncture with only 500m to go. The only other puncture we had on this epic trip was when we set off in Munich 10 days earlier.

Here are a few reminder snaps that we took along the way:

A puncture with only 500m to go. That's Venice in the distance. (Note: we later found out taking bikes to Venice is not recommended.)

The scenery looked almost like a film set. This is the top of a ski resort in the summer.

The views were stunning but the mountains climbs were so much longer than we were used to.

A few were interested in what we were up to.

Some super relaxing downhills.

Others less so. Some trails seemed to have completely dissapeared under forests blown down by recent storms.

Is this really a trail?

Important water stops.

It was a very long wet climb to cross the boarder into Italy.

Where is the 'pass' we are heading for?

This scene really captures the mood. Everything we had was wet through and we still hadn't reached the summit and we were getting cold.

Not all smiles.

Some beautiful scenes in the valleys.

Some beautiful trails near the top. This was far to high for ebikes.

This was a great climb and we saw the last ebike of the day.

Problems early in the tour. Horrible noises from the rear of the bike. We were worried but it turned out to just be a loose cassette. A bit of Loctite on the threads and tightened with just a screw driver got us to Venice without another squeak.

Some of the brakes were simply not up to the job frequently boiling. The braking material disintegrated a couple of km into the first descent and left us with just steel on steel.

We invested in new brakes but we should have purchased more sets. Even if travelling super light when there are no bike shops make sure you take a spare brake fully bled from lever to calliper.

Despite what we hoped this hotel was not near the top of this particular mountain climb.

The day often started with adding a bit of air to the tyres.