Ventimiglia to Montecarlo

Today we set off for a ride to France and Monaco, made it to Menton 12 kms away, sat down at a cafe to enjoy the seaside view and our back tire suddenly went flat with a loud pfft while we were sitting there. So we went about changing it, George checked the tire for anything sharp, pumped up the new tube and the same thing happened again! And yes we had only brought one tube for this short ride. But now we discovered a worn area on the sidewall that was pinching the tube and causing the problem. So now we needed a new tire and tube, luckily we were in a city not in the middle of nowhere. Also after carrying a spare tire for the last 8 years we decided to leave it at home this year…

George managed to remember enough French (we are getting very used to Italian) to ask where to find a bike shop and they had what we needed. So we (mostly George) fixed it and carried on but it took a couple of hours to sort out. This was an expensive cafe stop.

We made it to Montecarlo and rode to the casino and the big marina before turning around to head back to Italy. George had been there in 1976 for the Monaco Grand Prix and wanted to see it again. The ride along the coast was spectacular.