When we arrived last night we headed straight to the on-site library (I know ….who knew it was a thing….it’s our very first I think!). This was not because we were seeking to advance our education (impossible) but because it was the answer to the question we asked when we checked in which was “is there anywhere dry and warm please?”

It is indeed very dry and very warm and it is shared with other intrepid cyclists who have ventured forth into the wilderness (ok …I realise I am getting perhaps a bit too poetic now). Anyway we have a really nice evening chatting away with Steve from Brisbane (I don’t think he cycled all the way here but I could be wrong) and Sijtse & Irma, a Dutch couple who have also clearly got the cycling bug, born of their desire for sustainable travel (www. 2zeetjes.com). Take a look crikey they have really done some stuff.

When we wake we pick up the discussion again about what our target should be today. As originally planned it would be another 55 miles plus 7500 feet of climbing …in other words a repeat of yesterday and then some. We agree that we are just too tired and broken and that in reality it is unlikely to be actually doable. The conversation then turns to whether or not we should take an extra rest day to recover and then take on the challenge more refreshed. A quick bit of research determines that it looks like there might be a very small campsite right at the bottom of the Umbrail pass and so we could possibly just split one enormous day into two big ones.It feels like a good plan and it means we also have some time for a slightly more leisurely get up (a whole 15 minutes for me plus it was an absolute disaster of a night in terms of sleeping) and so we then walk into town for some shopping.

We eventually drag ourselves out of the campsite at around 1000am knowing that we have only 25 ish miles to cover but that there are still some big lumps in the way.

This really is the deepest darkest Alps now and it truly does feel like an absolute privilege to be here let alone to have cycled here all the way from London ….it is absolutely breath taking.

It’s all up for the first 6 or 7 miles (I mean “duh”!!) but then we can see in the distance that it is starting to properly kick up towards the summit. A rather fortuitously placed hotel restaurant provides an opportunity for some coffee and cake and what arrives is truly spectacular (and insanely expensive…. but don’t worry everyone, it was Marc’s turn) that rather throws some shade on a DFDS cooked breakfast.

The Fuorn Pass (also, as we now know, known as the Ofen Pass) is the most significant challenge of our day and takes us all the way from just under 4900 feet back to over 7000. It’s not as long as yesterdays insanity but crikey it is the same steepness and we have to dig just as deep to keep the pedals turning.

(Btw….all the bear statues were intriguing us and so when I googled it apparently it was here that a proper, real, not a man in a costume, brown bear was seen and photographed in July 2005 - it was the first sighting of a wild bear in Switzerland since 1923! See TMAAT blog is educational AND informative!)

When we do arrive at the summit a quick check of the sat nav reveals that the rest of our day is quite literally all downhill and so we allow ourselves a cheeky little beer to celebrate (yes I know I said that this is TMAAT rule and I know we seem to have broken it more than once but there are very clear extenuating circumstances!)

What follows is the most amazing descent of our trip so far and a super fast one (just nudging over 40 mph on one occasion)….is there anything more exhilarating than a hard earned downhill on a bike…hard to think of one.

We speed into Santa Maria Val Mustair around 1430 (please don’t think this an “easy day” just that it is relatively speaking “easier”) and we proceed to fill up our panniers with everything we can carry.

As it turns out the campsite is a few hundred metres up the start of the Umbrail and so overladen with groceries (alright yes it was mostly beer) the last 1km proves to be the toughest of the day.

Finally we are in here, literally in the shadow of the beast that we came all this way to conquer…..tomorrow is going to be huge.