Milano San Remo Stage 11

Valdeblore, France to San Remo, Italy

Today my plan was to ride about 70 km from lunch, skipping the two big climbs in the morning. But the more I thought about it the less smart that seemed. In the end, after a nice breakfast, I took a walk around the village then rode to San Remo with Wijnand in the luggage truck.

We drove down the river to Nice, then along the highway just missing Monaco, into Italy, and finally to San Remo, a bit under two hours driving time. We stopped at a supermarket and bought soup ingredients, drinks and lunch for ourselves, then checked in at the hotel. Even though it was before noon, my room was ready which was nice. But first I helped Wijnand bring in all the bags – we got so sweaty. Here at sea level, it’s hot and a little humid.

After a cold shower I went online and made an appointment to consult with an Italian doctor. Here’s the site if you ever need this – they take US insurance. You give them your information and they come back with a set of doctors and their prices and available times. At first the best they could do was tomorrow morning for €28. But as I was considering accepting, an offer came in for €40 right away. The price depends on the doctor’s years of experience. I took that one and the doctor WhatsApp’d me in seconds. The whole process runs on WhatsApp and is so easy and smooth. We video chatted for 20 minutes and he prescribed antibiotics. I walked down to the the pharmacy and for €3.27, I was set. I really doubt you could get service like this for anywhere near this price in the US. We are far behind in so many ways.

We hung out and relaxed in the afternoon, down in the lobby until dinner time. Our hotel is old and classic (built in 1888), with high ceilings, wood everywhere, but with modern rooms. We had another group dinner and I sat at Wilbert’s table. It was fun hearing many interesting stories of mishaps and other adventures of the early Bike Dreams trips. He presented the final stage for tomorrow, a shorter ride; I’m not sure if I’ll do it or not. Tomorrow night’s dinner will be the end of the tour.