Day 11, Lake Garda to Venice 1905KM

Today was the hardest day of all. I underestimated the final day, assuming it would be a gentle stroll from Garda to Venice; on a map it doesn't look far, and it should have been 140KM, no more no less.

Also I let my mental guard slip- the one thing that has sustained me for the whole journey. It's fair to say I'm no athlete, never have been and probably never will be, but what sustained me, through the saddle-sore, the descent from Grd St Bernard, and the long, boring distances in the heat, was the mental endurance that had increased and hardened since leaving the UK.

So, by midday, I was worn out and lazy- couldn't get comfortable on the bike and got frustrated with the traffic near Verona. I ended up on two motorways by accident, got lost in the complex road systems of Verona, Vicenza, and Padova, and found myself swearing, shouting and cursing for most of the afternoon. The route for bicycles between these cities is not marked, and since you aren't allowed on either dual carriageways or motorways, you have to go from village to village, often using the position of the sun as a rough guide of which direction you are headed.

In addition to this, Italian road signs are useless. Twice I read signs that said "Padova 30KM" and "Vicenza 13KM", only to read a kilometre down the road "Padova 45KM" and "Vicenza 30KM". Psychologically that was draining.

However, when I was 30KM from Venice, a cyclist from Senegal called Papi teamed up with me and we cycled on towards the lagoon, and he showed me the short cut through the industrial port of Marghera. Papi- thanks, I got there in half the time thanks to you. The day ended up being 220KM, about 80 over budget.

Cycling down the causeway to Venice in the sunset was spectacular





And arriving in Venice Aunt Marina filmed, and choreographed, the arrival.



A huge sincere thanks goes to everyone who supported and took interest in this adventure, which has so far raised £1,450 for Kalayaan. Thanks go to: Kate and Camilla at Kalayaan for helping organise the fund-raising; thanks to my former colleagues at Linklaters for the encouragement and the hugely generous gift of the pannier set; thanks to Linklaters Community Investment for the generous contribution; thanks to the Garnham family (Claire, Andrew, Sandy) for the support and belief in me; thanks to all the Robbins', mum and dad for the continual support, Seb for the pre-trip training, Con for the superb camera, Jonnie for the essential tips, hints, and belief in me, and Alex for the cycling wisdom and inspiration; Marina, for being there and looking after me when I arrived in Venice; anyone and everyone else who I might have missed out; all the generous people who I met along the way- helping me out with food, showing me the way to bike shops, assisting in map reading.

Until the next time, god speed!
Ollie



PS- the justgiving page stays open for another 40 days or so, so if you'd like to donate to Kalayaan go to www.justgiving.com/oliver-robbins