Distance: 43.4 miles / 69.8 km
Elevation: 7,271 feet / 2,216 m
Time: 7 hours and 25 minutes (5 hours and 39 minutes cycling)
This ride is probably going to cover the shortest distance of any day over here. I did this on purpose because the ride climbed to the summit of the “Passo dello Stelvio” – a 2,758m high mountain pass in the Eastern Alps.
More rain
The day did not start great because there had been a thunderstorm overnight. I did not sleep very well because of that, and my tent was still wet when it was time to pack. My other belongings were also a bit damp from just generally being outdoors all evening. I needed some more plastic bags desperately but you had to pay for them at the shop and I am tight! I realised that if I bought some croissants from the deli counter I could pack them in separate deli bags. They didn’t fit loads in, but I was going to buy the croissants regardless, so I won in the end. A couple of crumbs won’t be a problem.
Straightforward to Prato
The first 25km were fairly easy, as I continued to follow the cycle path I’d used the previous day. The orchards had grown considerably and at times there were walls and walls of apples on both sides of me. I don’t reckon I’ve ever seen this many apples in my life so far (before anyone says it – I know I don’t eat a lot of apples). I was a bit nervous and apprehensive about the impending onslaught I was about to face, so I did this section as slow as I could get away with.
As I got close to Prato, the realisation that I needed to start this climb set in. I decided to stock up on some Haribo jelly snakes, a chocolate bar and some Pombears. The climb was 24km long and there were 21 snakes in the pack, so I thought I’d eat one every 1-1.5km. Just before the climb began proper, I saw a cafe selling ‘Pasta XXL’ and I made a decision to stop there. That put off the inevitable just a little bit longer. Then I was out of excuses.
Start of the climb
I reached the start of the climb at 12:45. The length of the climb is 24.1km with an average gradient of 7.6%. The elevation gain is 1,829m – the start of the climb is at 921m already – which makes the summit 2,758m. It would be the longest continuous climb I’d ever ridden and the highest I would ever reach on a bike. This would be taking me a lot of hours.
After 55 minutes of continuously pedalling, I got to the very first hairpin. There were 48 of these, so I wasn’t best pleased to find that out. Quite a lot of cyclists had also been passing me, but to be fair most did not have any luggage whatsoever – never mind a full camping set up in their panniers! I got a lot of comments along the lines of being really brave for even trying it when carrying so much, and that sort of kept my spirits up. I noticed that every single cyclist going the other way had loads of layers on – coats, snoods over their faces, leg warmers – and I could tell the temperature was starting to drop myself from the balmy 30°C at the bottom. But at this point I still had 1,500m more climbing to do, and I hadn’t really made a dent in it.
Time for a rest
I took a photo break (a rest really) after 100 minutes / 4 hairpins. My jelly snakes plan had not worked because I’d only eaten two, and I had already emptied one of my water bottles. The photograph I happened to take at this spot was of a hotel – I didn’t know this at the time, but it’s still possible to see this from the summit, which offers a great sense of scale and grandness to the climb.
Another 20 minutes later (2 hours in), my jelly snakes were my new best friend. Over the last stretch I’d really gone to town on them, and I possibly had no more than ten left at this point. There was a helpful water refilling station here which was understandably very popular. My legs were starting to tire but I knew I still had a long way to go at this point, and I had been keeping my efforts and HR as low as humanly possible so far. A couple of cyclists who were really pushing the boat out looked to be really paying for it now, but at least the water point gave them a bit of a break and a chance to recharge.
Making good progress
Another 40 minutes later (2h40) and the number of hairpins completed was in to the double figures. I was treated to a glimpse of the summit here, despite there being another 800m of climbing to go. I could also see pretty much all of the remaining hairpins (probably about 30) laid bare in front of me – it was daunting because there just looked so much left to do. The hotel I’d taken a photo of earlier was getting smaller, and that was a good gauge of my progress.
The snakes were getting progressively harder to eat because I needed to open my mouth more to get the oxygen I needed.
Close to the summit
After 3h45 of continuous climbing, I had just two hairpins left. My food and water had all gone, and I was starting to flag a little, but I knew I was home and dry from here. I stopped to take a photo over the edge (it seemed very dangerous ????) of where I’d come from because it looked to have a really good view backwards of my progress.
I reached the summit in 3 hours and 56 minutes. For me the time was irrelevant – it was the challenge of pushing myself to even attempt to do this I was most proud of. Some people at the top offered to take my photo and they are some of the worst photos I have ever seen. One of them the bike is chopped off and another one my legs. A man with a DSLR was watching and thankfully he rectified this with some much better photos. Like usual, my hat and my helmet are wonky, but it was very very cold ???????? so I was not wanting to stick around for long. I was shaking a lot – I don’t think it was all because of the cold. The adrenaline and euphoria of finishing it played a part.
Bormio descent
It took less than an hour to descend down the other side. This was the longest descent I’d ever experienced on a bike by far. I wish I had put my coat on, but it was deeply packed in a bag and I couldn’t feel my fingers much. The tops of my hands were feeling really sore from pulling on the handlebars for so long, and my neck and lower back were in pain from looking up. My foot balls were thanking me for a well deserved rest after such a beasting.
When I was nearby, the heavens opened and there was a massive thunderstorm. Thankfully I had booked a hotel night in Bormio in advance.
The lady who owns this pad wasn’t here so I just brought my bike inside – puddles and all. Hopefully they’ll be dry when it’s time to leave tomorrow ????????
