The intent was clear...

We turned left onto the start of the local training climb and I spotted another father and son cycling grupetto emerging from their driveway. I gave a pleasant 'Bonjour' but I could see the 'look' as they quickly tried to get the measure of us.

I shifted up two sprockets - tok, tok - then reached over and put my right hand on the small of my son's back and gradually raised our pace. "Why are we going so fast dad?" my son asked and the answer was obvious; my Silly Commuting Racing instincts had flared and I wasn't going to lose our scalps to Monsieur Bianchi et fil.

We didn't receive any competition on the five mile climb to the top of the Col de Llauro but I imagine it has seen some great battles and time trials regaled in the local cafes.

One of the best cycle racing stories I have read recently is Three Bent Links by Jon Wyatt. The third short story in the e-book is written so imaginatively I genuinely felt part of the hard-fought commuter race. The other two short bike related stories are as good and the book is worth spending the few pennies to read on Kindle.

This is the view from near the top of Col de Llauro and you can just make out the Viaduct de Rome in the background.