8 final kilometers of the 4325 in Total.

Very strange morning, waking up knowing it is the last day of this journey and finding out it’s only 6am, as half of the guys in the room had to spend an hour packing their stuff. No breakfast in the hostel, so I left grumpy. But instead of looking for food as usual, I went straight to the port to get my ticket, the ticket that will define the end of this journey.

The check in was at 1pm, so I had plenty of time for breakfast. Since Ancona doesn’t really have much to see, apart from ferries that take Greeks to their home, I went to a cafe to spend my last two hours in Italy looking at the rain.

I boarded, we departed and spend the rest of the day thinking about my last two months and this great journey.

119km of 4317km so far…

I knew I had a long way to cycle so I woke up earlier than normal. I had a rich breakfast at the hostel and departed for my last ride of this trip. 3 kilometers down the road, I realized I had forgotten to return the key and take my deposit back, so there goes my early start. Not long after, it started raining, I put my raincoats and continued. And then as I was going up and down the cycle lane on the pavement, I bumped onto a big concrete pot and made a whole on my left pannier. It’s not a big one or a big deal, but just a bit annoying this happened just on the last day.

A big camera, for big photos

This is the guy who makes the beach

I was following the coastal road and always trying to avoid the bigger road that was running in parallel. Even if I had checked a couple of times at google maps where to turn and join the big road, due to the useless 1/400.000 map I am using the last few days that lists half of the towns I am going through, I missed my turn and without knowing, I started climbing a mountain. I wasn’t expecting this at all and with the rain on top, I started getting a bit annoyed. After about 10 kilometers on the slopes, I saw a sign to the next city but through the big road, which is of course flatter, so I just turned right and went down the steepest downhill I’ve ever been on this trip.

The panoramic view of Cattolica

Hills, up and downs

Then the rain stoped and I was kind of expecting the strong head wind to start as the forecast was predicting the day before. Luckily the whole day was almost windless, so made the ride a little more pleasant that I had expected. Just after noon, I had my lucnh break and a short wonder around at Fano and then I continued for the last 50 kilometers.

A globe

The castle at Fano

And one of the streets

The factories by Ancona

I got to Ancona at around 6pm and went straight to the hostel to check it. I then cycled to the post to buy tickets, but unfortunately they were closed. So tomorrow morning I am getting there early to buy the ticket and finish this trip. At night, I looked for a restaurant and I finally had a rizoto, which I didn’t manage to have during these four weeks in Italy.

The monkey by the finish line