Wednesday 8 June 2016

STELVIO SUFFERFEST!

Going the Extra Kilometre

Most people who ride up the Passo dello Stelvio from the west start at Bormio, 22 kilometres from the summit and where the "real" climbing starts. Not we stalwart foot soldiers in Ride and Seek's Caesar division. Our starting point was the lovely elevated town of Teglio, another 50 kilometres distant. By the time we got to Bormio we'd already done 1150 metres of climbing. A bit more than a warm up for the 1545 metres still to go. Many of you will know that the route over the Stelvio is the second-highest paved road in Europe. I guess in designing this route Sam and Dylan really wanted to test our mettle, but more of that later.

Team Wagga had decided to wear their club colours as a show of solidarity for the challenges ahead. Here's a photo of them getting ready to go ...

Ian, Emily, Roberta and Chris ready to go
The descent out of Teglio was steep and twisty on a very narrow road for at least 2 kilometres so everyone took it nice and easy. Once that was done we had a number of small villages to negotiated on a rather up and down road, then we crossed the river for more up and down road through more small villages. I paused to take a photo of the basilica in Grosio, as much to show you the basilica high on the hillside as for the old church down here in the valley (you might need to look closely, or blow up the photo) ...


Just around the corner I stopped for another photo showing the elevation and a nice looking hotel ...



Bormio and Beyond

Di had paused to take some photos of the environs of Bormio when Ian arrived, surveying the landscape in classic Ian fashion ...


It must be said, Bormio is set in a beautiful position ...


As you can see, the weather was looking a bit ominous at times. However, we were lucky to experience only a very light sprinkle on the way up towards the Stelvio. 


Once through the town the route steepens up immediately.  There were a few kilometres of consistent 8 ½ to 9 percent before easing back a bit in the middle section. I paused a fair way up to put my on my arm warmers and vest as a cool headwind had sprung up. Here's a shot looking at the road ahead ...



I think there was still about 7 kilometres to go at this stage. Behind me, Di was chugging away, stopping occasionally to take pictures, make wardrobe adjustments and refuel. At one of these stops, where the gradient was marked on the road as 14%, she got this nice photo of Jo Wakefield in her Australia kit ...



And about halfway up she took this great photo looking back at the first major set of switchbacks ...


Further along still, she took this photo showing the amount of snow along the roadsides, again looking back the way we'd come as a couple of cyclists descended past her ...


As you can see, the skies were still quite threatening-looking at this stage. 

Eventually our tired legs carried both of us up to the summit of the Stelvio. At 2760 it's the highest pass that we''ve climbed and the 1535 metres of ascent from Bormio, where the climb "officially" commences, is the longest single climb that we've done in a day. And I think that the total ascent for the day of just on 2700 metres is our biggest day of ascending, so it was a big day out for both of us. 

Most of the Caesar crew made the top and those that didn't were very satisfied with their efforts on the day. Hats off to our support crew who kept a close eye on how everyone was going and were there to give encouragement and pick up riders when they'd had enough for the day.

Summit Festivities

The top of the Stelvio, like a number of these European alpine summits, is a charming mixture of hucksterdom and celebration of the world of cycling, with a major dose of motorcycle culture thrown in as well. Here's a photo just past the summit that illustrates this mix, with a bratwurst stand, a bunch of cyclists reliving their ascent an a motorbike adding an exclamation point ...


This pass is famous in the world of cycling and there are at least two shops specialising in cycling gear. Here's a stand showing some jerseys on offer ...


Di and I both bought the jersey in the foreground and a neck gaiter for cold descents. 

Like many of these high alpine passes, the scenery is stunning. Here is a photo looking back in the general direction from whence we'd come ...



... and here's a view looking down the top part of the descent we had still to negotiate ...



I think Di read somewhere that there is something like 45 hairpin bends on the way down.

Here's another more panoramic shot looking in the same direction ...


From the top of the Stelvio we had just over 40 kilometres to go before arriving at our hotel. Around 30 kilometres of that involved descending slopes of varying steepness and then we had about 10 kilometres of relatively flat riding through apple orchards. Apparently this area is the centre of apple growing in Italy and they get something like 300 days of sunshine per year. As it turned out it was quite warm down in the valley, so that seems to fit.

I've called this post "STELVIO SUFFERFEST" but really should add a rider. It was very hard work, and having a heavy cold didn't really help make it a fun outing. Disruptions to our training program before leaving home also meant that we weren't quite as ready for such a long climb as we'd hoped. Di, using intelligence rather than sheer doggedness, stopped a few times on the way up and enjoyed the challenge more than I did. And there were some in our group - the natural climbers - who had a ball. Aaron, our Ace Ascender, virtually flew up. Both José and Sarah, who are lightly built and able to find a more sustainable rhythm clearly revelled in the challenge. Ian too, of the flatlander Wagga mob, had a great ride. And on the descent there were literally hundreds of cyclists still on their way up, some riding smoothly, some weaving about a bit and even some walking for a spell. The point is all these people were setting themselves a challenge and finding satisfaction in the undertaking of it. As ultimately all of us did on the day, whether we made it to the top or not.

Well, I'm more than a little tired and think I will call it a day. We are all looking forward to an easy day into Bolzano tomorrow: our first sub-100 kilometre outing since the day we left England so long ago.

7 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Thanks Darryl. It was a big day out and there's more to come!

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  2. Congratulations to both of you. It sounds & looks like an epic day. Cheers, Geoff

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  3. Thanks Geoff. Your little sister was amazing! And her descending has improved out of sight. She reigned in a couple of our fellow riders on the way down.

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  4. Well done both of you. Wow, what a ride, I guess thats what you went there for.

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