Two middle-aged Italian couples turned up the next evening for dinner, they were there for a long weekend’s walking in the hills, disappointed that the weather forecast was rain for Friday. They were cheerful and jokey, shared a bottle of wine with me.

After an early breakfast I was on the road by 8:45.Today was a big hill followed by a long descent to the coast. Rain and thunder was forecast but I stuck to my plan because the route looked so good on the map, mostly on very minor roads, up through the forest to the top of the tree-line then down down down. The Italian quartet were starting at the same time as me, I waved goodbye to them and started up into the village. After a few hundred meters I looked at the sat-nav and realised thst I was going in the wrong direction, so I had to do a U-turn and head back past the walkers. I made a comic face, pointing at the sat-nav, caused some amusement.
On to “Montebruno”, the ride down to the village had been completely deserted, a lonely drift through the mist, no rain yet, warm enough. Here was a bustling little village on a slightly busier road. Fantastic little bakery, “Antico Forno de Montebruno” A cave of delights inside, every wall piled high with cellophane packets of biscuits, cakes, dried mushrooms, bottles of wine, goodies of all sorts. One woman serving behind the counter, I was behind an ageing couple who were ordering all sorts of tidbits, different cheeses, pieces of focaccia, slices of ham, salami, fancy biscuits and cake. It took some time for all the things to be found, put in wrappers, packed in their shopping bag, added up, paid for with change sorted out. Overall a countryside atmosphere of slow time pervaded, my cycling rush was halted, peace and opulence reigned in the cosy crowded shop. I had plenty of time to view all on offer and so quickly selected a slice of pizza and a large piece of nutella crostini, I expected the ride up into the clouds above to be cold and rainy and wanted things light to carry but with plenty of calories.
The road is narrow with crumbling tarmac. Climbing a long hill is much easier in cool weather, it is really pleasant making steady progress up the switchbacks in bottom gear, legs working steadily, enjoying the silence beneath the driping trees. As I go up I hear the church bell ring ten oclock, then seemingly quite soon after, eleven, the sound carries up through the valley into the hills.I turn off the sat-nav at the bottom because I know that there is only one road to the top and I want to enjoy the journey without measuring my progress.

For a while I think that I may get away with no serious rain despite the gloomy forecast. But then some time after the eleven o’clock bell it starts. It pours down too. I have a good waterproof jacket which keeps my body dry but I am soon completely soaked from the waist down and the rain on the jacket cools me further. This starts quite near the top, so soon I am descending on a narrow road diving steeply down, switchback after switchback. Luckily very few cars go past since the road is narrow and passing on the sharp bends is tricky. The roadway becomes a little river, sometimes a couple of inches dep where water flows across. Not needing to pedal now, so sitting quite still, though with tense arms and legs, rain flowing over me and wind rushing past, I cool down and soon feel shivery. If there was any shelter I would stop to eat some of that crostini, but there is no shelter, the trees are now so soaked that they provide none and this is not livestock country, so no barns. 

Down down down, in weather like this it would be fine to be going uphill, to keep warm. This would be a spectacular ride on a nice day, descending through these steep wooded valeys, sometimes the mist clears and I get glimpses of spectacular views. After about an hour there is a juncton with a slightly bigger road and here is a roadside shrine – with a bit of a porch, so I huddle in there with the bike. Now I can get out an extra layer to put on and eat half of that yummy nutella-and-pastry delight!

Starting the sat-nav I see that I am still high up, I started at 1,150 metres, here it is still 700 metres, loads of descending still to come. I’m still cold and there is just enough room to stretch out on the floor so I do sets of press-ups and squat-jumps to warm up.

So, off for more, the rain is easing a bit now, not pouring but just raining steadily. A slightly wider road with a bit of traffic, but still quiet enough to be fun. The descent is very enjoyable, despite the rain and cold, it is a different kind of challenge.

There are a few small villages and about half an hour after the shrine there appears an open cafe!

Inside there are two customers and a young woman behind the bar, she is wearing a black T-shirt revealing elaborate tattoos down both arms, one has two lovers in eachothers arms, in the other a windswept woman looks up at a castle wall. Rather good.

I have an americano – nice hot water! Peeling off the wet jacket I realise that quite a bit of water has leaked inside, so I’m pretty damp all over. I start to warm up though, have another americano and an apricot jam-filled croissant. Beginning to feel better. The girl’s boyfriend comes in and they canoodle over the bar, then disappear round the back. I am the only one in the bar now, an old guy shuffles in, unshaven, portly, sits down for a while then shuffles round the back too, returns a little later, shaking his head.  He spoke a little english with a good accent, on which I complemented him. Turned out he learned English many years ago when courting a Scottish girl, in Italy. They were going to get married but then she changed her mind. He has not married anyone else since, he is now 77. The barmaid made him spaghetti with pesto, though food was not advertised, so that’s what she was doing out the back with her boyfriend.

The descent continued through wooded valleys that became gentler and warmer as altitude decreased.
And so to sea level. I have booked a night in a sea-front hotel here. Sestri Levante is a rip-off holiday resort, not cheerful like Comogli, kind of stuck-up and dreary. I eat at a kind of posh restaurant, mediocre food, just too many tourists here, you are just one among the crowd.