Started around 8:30 cruising around Lake Lugano on the East side before crossing the bridge at Melide to the West Bank. On the bridge there were flags and, joy of joys, they showed no wind!
Continued on the West Bank of Lugano. The road here is trapped between the railway on the right and huge cliffs on the left. The road undulating slightly, gives great views of the lake and the Misty Mountains.(second Lord of the Rngs reference in the blog)
Turned left as I entered Lugano and climbed the substantial ridge that lies between it and Belinzona. The road is not very interesting being main,y commercial-industrial villages in the valley bottoms. The road, railway and motorway all follow these valleys and were my constant companions today.
The only interesting part was when TomTom folled me on the decent from the ridge and took me down a very rural (ans steep line). It tried to take me down a precipitous wooded track but I was wise to it by then!
Very pretty with very small (perhaps 30m x 30m) vineyards along the very quiet road. Stopped for lunch in a lovely village with a village green shaded by Plane Trees that had been horizontally trained to give shelter. 
Stopped again for a beer around 3:30 and foolishly reported on Facebook that the day had been rather easy. Big mistake! There were 20 miles to go and they took me over four hours to finish. All the time I was accompanied by the motorway amt train line heading to the St Gotthard tunnel. I won't bore you with the tale of woe but here are some pictures.
Finally arrived, showered an went for a pizza. Met a lovely couple Tomas and Slavka (originally from Czeck Republic but now Swiss) who kept me company over dinner. Great to speak with people when solo. Tomorrow is the big day. The St Gotthard Pass. Highest point on my trip and longest continuous climb. Wish me luck! Ps sorry if you see two pictures - Blogger is being strange.
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