Day 22 (Rome - Picinisco) - L'Arrivo

L'Arrivo (Slideshow)

We will never forget the welcome we received when we arrived in Picinisco.

As we approached the final climb up the slopes towards the village our anticipation began to mount and our hearts were racing. This was much harder than our climb over the Alps, not because of the terrain, but because as we approached our destination on the winding country roads which are so familiar to us we felt quite emotional.

The roads were eerily quiet because everyone was waiting for us in the piazza at the top of the mountain, and as we climbed the hill it felt like a dream. This was the moment we had been waiting for. This was our goal. We had each pictured this moment many times before and we had focussed on it for three weeks as we had pedalled through the many miles. This was the culmination of six months of planning and preparation – it felt so strange for it to be finally drawing to a close.

With each turn in the road our anticipation grew as we did not know what to expect. Although we were excited about arriving we were perhaps even more scared.

When we pulled around the bend beside the cemetery and first came into view of the piazza all three of us looked up and the sight was breath-taking. From almost a kilometre away we could see the crowds of people pushed up against the railing on the terrace of the town’s main piazza, and we could feel their hundreds of eyes looking down at us.

People were calling, but we weren’t properly listening – we just focussed on every push of the pedal that we still had to make. The trip wasn’t over till we reached the piazza.

On the last stretch leading up to the piazza all conversation between us stopped and we looked ahead towards the “finishing line”.

A giant banner with “Eurocycle 2009 Arrivo” stretched across the piazza, and beneath it the whole village stood to meet us, clapping and cheering like you see in the old black and white footage of soldiers returning from war. As we crossed the “line” a band began to play the Italian national anthem and before our bikes had even ground to a halt the crowd had already closed in on us and we were swarmed by relatives and friends. To move a metre was to receive ten kisses, hugs and hand-shakes.

The town mayor then took to the microphone and some order was restored as we were given a large bouquet of flowers and were presented with a great trophy on behalf of the people of Picinisco.

The mayor then made a very moving speech, which he started off by reading out the inscription on our trophy: “A Lorenzo Alonzi e ai suoi figli Riccardo e Gianluca in occasione del loro arrivo in bicicletta da Edimburgo, l’abbraccio affettuoso della citadinanza piciniscana, commossa dall’eroica impresa compiuta e della risonanza che essa ha dato al nostro paese.” (To Lorenzo and his sons Riccardo and Gianluca on the occasion of their arrival from Edinburgh by bicycle, the affectionate embrace of the citizens of Picinisco, moved by the heroic undertaking and by the resonance that it has brought to our town.)

This was followed by a speech from Lorenzo and then many hundreds of photos which you will all be able to see. (To view these photos click on the thumbnail above)

Champagne was opened, applause continued, and then it was time for us walk the fifty yards up the road to our front door so that we could get cleaned up before the party that was to follow.

When we emerged onto the piazza once again there was pasta and wine being served up free of charge to all who wanted it, and there was music and dancing. To have a “Picinisco festa” in our honour was incredibly touching, and we will never be able to thank the Comune di Picinisco enough.

Two days later our story also featured in the local newspaper and everyone was gathering at the bar to get a hold of a copy, which the Comune had made free for the day.

To finish off we’d like to thank everyone who has donated and everyone who has been reading the blog to follow our progress. We have enjoyed sharing our pictures and stories and we hope you have enjoyed reading them. We would also like to thank everyone at Maggie’s for helping us with our fundraising and for giving us so much encouragement and a real focus for our trip. Hopefully the money we’ve raised will make a real difference to the Maggie’s Centre in Edinburgh.

Finally, the awards for most consistent “blog-commenters” go to:
1. David and Shirley Cantle; 2. Doug and the Dalry Girls; and 3. Helen Hare.

We really appreciated all the comments on the blog as they gave us encouragement and some good laughs when we read them at night.

Now we’ll all just have to wait for the next Eurocycle, whenever that might be!

Total Mileage: 1,844 (2,968 kilometres)

10 punctures – 2 for Gianluca, 8 for Riccardo.

1 broken spoke on dad’s bike.

And many, many good stories.

THE END

(posted 21/07/09 at 10:54)