FOREIGN EXCHANGE
My fake-Swiss start is a long way from anywhere, even by mid-Wales’s standards
In 2020, for various reasons, I was supposed to ride from Switzerland to Italy. Geneva to Florence, 375 miles alongside Lake Geneva; over the Simplon Pass on the old road; past Lake Maggiore; Milan, Cremona, Bologna; to finish, pizza and ice-cream outside the Uffizi gallery…
For various other reasons, it didn’t happen. But browsing OS maps, I made a pleasing discovery. A hamlet in Wales called Geneva. And a suburb of the Potteries called Florence.
Not exactly alpine lakes to Renaissance Tuscany showpiece. More like Welsh reservoirs to a carvery in Stoke-on-Trent. But it proved a superb 170-mile trip through some thrilling scenery. An international big ride. This is how my imitation continental traverse panned out…
Off the grid
My fake-Swiss start is a long way from anywhere, even by mid-Wales’s schedule-busting standards. Where’s Geneva? Near Oakford. Where’s that? Near Aberaeron. Where’s that? Near Lampeter. Where’s that? I get there by slow train to Carmarthen, which isn’t that near Lampeter. The list of calling points looks like a
