Greetings from Verona

Summer sunshine in the Alps

So dawned the final day. We’ve stayed in some pretty good hotels on this trip and last night’s, the Hotel Garni Caminetto at the ski resort of Campo Carlo Magno, was no exception. As the others were getting ready for the off, I sat outside the hotel in the glorious early summer sunshine, gazed up at the mountains and reflected on this cycling thing about which we all seem so passionate and the brilliant few days we had spent together.

I must confess I’m a bit obsessed with road biking. It’s a lot to do with keeping fit, I find the older you get the more important this becomes. It’s not just about mental and physical health though, there's still a great sense of satisfaction in planning and achieving physical challenges, whether this is keeping up with the horribly young and desperately fit Sudanese guys in the desert or climbing the 19,715 meters of mountains which we did this week (which incidentally, gets us comfortably into the stratosphere!)

A stratospheric bike ride

There's also something about coming from a long line of engineers which means that for me, I find the technology associated with biking fascinating, you can spend a lot of time and money trying get the optimum performance from your much-loved carbon fibre sled (although it’s always worth remembering that less expensive performance gains can usually be achieved by simply staying off the beer and pies). At the end of the day it’s about the chaps. Whether it’s the members of the Sudanese Amateur Cyclists or the excellent fellows with whom I’ve spent this week, cyclists always seem positive and optimistic. They are ‘glass is half full’ sort of people who understand how to have fun. They’ll cheer you up even after the most awful of weeks, even the ones who are almost pensioners.

Seriously good down-hills

We were starting out at the top of a mountain today so it was nice to get straight into a big descent rather than the usual climb. Carving down wide, empty, mountain roads on a crystal clear Alpine morning, throwing the bike around at impossible angles - is just the best thing.

Then onto the valley floor for a few straight miles before getting into the last climb of the trip, up to Passo Durone. This hill started off with a really nasty steep kick up at over 15%, but eventually turned into a gentler climb up to 1010 meters. Coffee at the top and then another long descent before we got our first glimpse of Lake Garda in the distance. We enjoyed a final pasta lunch by the water’s edge before a 30-mile pedal along the lake side.

Lunch by the (flat) lake

Now here’s a question. As Harley’s got rather shorter legs than most people, does this mean he has to turn his pedals more often to cover the same distance? The consensus was that he probably did and that consequently he should be awarded his long-awaited ice cream. As Chris got stuck into his wild-berry and vanilla surprise, he spent some time pondering some other difficult questions, such as whether he was too old to have a pony tail and how it was it seemed like we’d been cycling up-hill for the past 20 miles. “How much higher is the southern end of the lake than the northern end?” he asked... We finished our run down lake Garda and then back onto more excellent Italian cycle paths which tracked along the river Adige down to Verona.

The River Adige in Verona

We picked our way through the narrow streets of this beautiful renaissance city, busy with the hustle and bustle of late Saturday afternoon street markets until we found the impressive Roman amphitheatre, with our hotel just next door. Sue Burfoot and Alison Bell had just arrived and we all retired to the bar for a few well-earned beers.

Some well-earner beers

We all had a great night out at a restaurant the specialises in something called polenta, a sort of tasteless brown porridgey goo that the Veronese seem to love, however a great bottle of rather nice of Gewürztraminer made up for it.

Sunday morning was spent dismantling the bikes and a quick wander around the city before I headed off to the airport for the long trip home to Khartoum. So thank you guys, 515 miles along and 12.25 miles up! A brilliant week, look forward to the ride next year when contrary to popular belief, Graham will still only be ‘almost a pensioner’!

Next year?

Greetings from Madonna di Campiglio

Whilst going over the Stelvio pass yesterday was certainly a bit of a challenge, the plan for today was actually a bit tougher. The idea was to do three pretty serious climbs the first of which, The Gavia pass at 2652 meters, is only 100 meters less than Stelvio.
We had a rather inauspicious start, as we were getting ready after breakfast, Graham somehow managed to let all the air out of his tyres and Chris’ bike fell over and bent the gear derailleur. Spanners and pumps out and after some emergency repairs, we were off at about 08:30.

First climb of the day

The road up to the Gavia pass is narrow and twisty as it picks its way up the side of the mountain. Today, for some reason, there really were swarms of German motorcyclists out.  So much so, that what had been a noisy irritant on previous days became bloody dangerous today. You’d be pedalling round an acute corner on this narrow road, only to be confronted with a couple of blokes on these huge machines who seemed to think they were the dominant players in some sort of medieval joust.

Our irritation seemed to be shared by a good number of fellow lycra clad heroes and heroines on the road. Lots of individuals and groups of cyclists of all ages, were heading for the pass – a couple were even older than Graham (who’s nearly a pensioner).

The cafe at the top of the pass was busy, lots of bikes (with and without engines) and a long wait of a rather expensive cappuccino.

Chilly at the Gavia pass

The descent was really interesting, I remember on a previous trip, Chris had left his bike hanging off the railings on one high mountain corner, making out he’d disappeared over the edge (ha! Ha!). No such fun and games here, the danger was all too real. A tiny road with an awful surface clinging to the side of the mountain and no barriers between you and an untimely death - should you be hit by one of the motorcyclists, who seemed to think it was amusing to ride 2 abreast on a road hardly wide enough to walk down; you couldn’t let your concentration slip for one second.

Bad roads, great views

This down was swiftly followed by the next up. The road to the 1883 meter Tonale pass was a real relief. Wide, good tarmac with only a few of those sudden, leg killing kicks up. In a great bit of timing we got to the restaurant at the top with seconds to spare before the threatening sky unleashed a hail storm of truly Alpine dimensions. Another pasta lunch looking longingly out of the window hoping that what had now turned into a downpour would stop. No such luck. Waterproofs on and into the driving rain for a cold wet trip down the mountain.

... and the rain came

By the time we got to the bottom, Graham was spectacularly grumpy. He explained to Harley that at his age (he’s nearly a pensioner) his body which has suffered years of self inflicted abuse, can only take on enough oxygen to service either his legs or his brain, there’s simply not enough for both. For Graham, this explains why, when the hills become steep, he becomes emotionally challenged. An interesting theory, not one worthy of too much academic study we concluded.

A subject worthy of study?

The last hill took us up to Campo Carlo Magno at 1702 meters. Hotel Garni Caminetto is good, big comfy rooms and all sitting round, glued to our phones like a bunch of teenagers.

Teenagers, only in one sense...

Last day tomorrow. Aim to get to Verona about 18:00, Inshallah!

Keep you posted...

Greetings from Bormio

There was only a modest amount of snow to see up on the Stelvio pass when we got up there this afternoon. The last time Graham had been at the place was about thirty years ago, much later in the year and he remembers far more extensive snow cover. An appropriate place to come to reflect on the impact of global warming; perhaps nice Mr. Trump should come and take a look at places like this as he continues his campaign to dismantle the global climate change agenda in order to save American jobs in 19th century industries...

Where's the snow?

The City Hotel in Merano where we spent last night, has the most excellent bike room down in the basement. They have pumps and all kinds of bike tools freely available for their cyclist guests to use and so after a bit of essential bike maintenance, we hit the road about 8. 

Once again we had the benefit of the brilliant network of cycle paths that weave through this part of the world, built with as much care and attention to detail as any road project, something the folks back home could learn from. Our course took us down 30 miles of these cycle tracks, along the valley floor towards the base of the Stelvio pass. We stopped at a great little restaurant by a fishing lake where for the first time this week Chris found some people he could talk to who didn’t argue back.

Making new friends

We got to the beginning of the road up the pass about lunchtime and after a quick stop to load up with bananas and water we headed off.

For the first few miles the road tracks along a powerful river coming down off the mountain, bird song and the roaring torrent of clear alpine water filled your senses for this part of the ride.

Beautiful day for a climb

As the climb got steeper and we got onto the famous 48 hairpin bends that would take us to the top of the pass, the accompaniment changed to that of enormous motorcycle engines thundering up the narrow road, something of which Mr. Trump would have approved, no doubt.

Better without an engine

We all went at our own speed, I found myself doing the same pace as Chris and we kept together all the way up as the legs got tired and the breathing got harder. It took us about 3 hours to get to the top. Traditional photos by the sign, posts of Face book and a huge German sausage in a bun as we waited for the others, Harley got in next and Graham a little behind him.

Made it...

The descent on the other side of the mountain was fabulous, all be it bloody cold. Fast, smooth and thankfully dry roads that just seem to hang off the sheer rock walls. The wind did catch me out from time to time on a couple of turns, suggesting that anything over 40 mph was probable not such a good idea!

Then there’s always that great levelling moment when you realise your fine athletic accomplishment is really not all that. For us it was when a group of roller skaters casually glided past us, on one of the steepest parts of their climb.

God! The young peole of today

Got to the hotel, the excellent Baita dei Bini in Bormio at about 6. Laundry, steak and beer and not necessarily in that order. Climbed a 2757 meter mountain pass today, not bad for a bunch of old men!

...and richly deserved

Keep you posted