Mortirolo & Gavia

Wednesday,

Today was a big day for the FinKraft Camp, I personally have dreamt all my life ( well as long as I been cycling ) about riding up and over Mortirolo and the Gavia Pass , those are the climbs you always hear about and both of them have made such a difference in the Giro every time the race has gone over these epic and legendary mountains .( no different this year) Paolo had a asked a few team mates of his to join us on this epic day and Gian Carlo and Mr Moreti himself showed up in style with the Moreti Team Van . I wonder where I am going to sit ? Mark is thinking ;not back here

We left early and it was quite a drive to Tirano, which would be our starting point. A quick espresso stop and some fuel for the Van. The girls were following us with a car other than loosing us in the first traffic circle the 3 hour drive went smooth, a couple of text messages to the states about a Project One Trek for Lugiano and some funny stories and a nap was pretty much the topic for this trip. We arrive in Tirano and find a parking area and we unload the bikes and get kitted up, the girls would continue to Bormio for a day of sight seeing and shopping. Tirano is a border town to Switzerland and there is a train that goes up the mountain through the glacier in to St Moriz, always an option for a scenic day in the Alps. We head out of town, already an up hill right away, kind of an indication what was to come.Mortirolo is not all that far from Tirano and we get o the base pretty quickly. This climb is not in the open and until you get to the top you are kind of in the woods going up a road averaging 12-18% pretty much the whole way. I have a 39/26, the other guys got 27’s or 28’s, but a compact would not be a bad idea!! This hill does not let up and it is like lifting weights for an hour. Kevin hit the gas and did not look back, the Moretti boys took it pretty easy, I rode fast some sections and then stopped and took pictures of the guys or views, in other words I did the Tourist thing. We passed the Pantani monument and eventually made it towards the top and guess what; there were already people camping out for the race (does not come up here until Friday) to get a prime spot. A few more pictures and we put the rain capes on and started the decent. It was not as hairy as the uphill part, but it was narrow ad twisty and turny though the woods and eventually through some open fields with some incredible views once again and finally we pass by some villages, we are in the valley and making a left onto the main road. A good pair of aluminum rims and some solid breaks is what you need for this trip. One down and one more to go, Mortirolo was everything you could ever dream about when it comes to steep climbs, so what would the Gavia be like? I could not wait!
So we made it down the hill (mountain) and make the left onto the main road heading towards Tonale and Ponte di Legno , slight uphil even in the Valley . We start climbing the Gavia , an unbelievable road , switch back roads with no guard rails , just safety nets in the turns for the race , which will come by here on Saturday. Soon it starts getting colder and the road is o longer open or cars. We go through this tunnel, a very steep section and pitch black in there; I cannot even see my front wheel. It feels like we are riding on gravel or ice, but it is actually salt. We finally get out of it and now we have snow banks on each side of the road about 5 feet high in some places. Paolo is feeling good and we are hammering out a good solid pace to the top of the Pass (I think Paolo wanted to sprint for some KOM points, but we just decided not to) Now we are at famous lodge of Passo di Gavia, they are putting up a huge Giro sign outside and getting the place ready, it just opened two days ago for the season (the snow might have had something to do with that!) We dry up and warm up with some hot tea and a couple of panni’s all at the same time.

After checking out the memorbilia from over the years it is time to bundle up and get ready for the decent, we are at 8600 feet after all, so it will be awhile before we get down. It is one of the most epic and hair raising decent I ever gone done, you look over the edge and see some villages that are about 2 cm big, there are humongous mountains surrounding us and we are just flying down this narrow road. We go through Santa Caterina mach speed, in between old mountain building and this just goes forever. My rear wheel bearing is screaming and is about to lock up I think, but I cannot really slow down either. We make it in one piece to Bormio, a famous ski town and right at the bottom of Stelvio, which we will do next year! I would have liked to check this town out a little, oh well next time! It is about 4.00 pm already and it is still a long way back to Tirano where we have our team van. Since it is still kind of down hill we keep a good pace, almost feels a little like a race. I guess the closest feeling in being in the Giro and I think after climbing Mortirolo and Gavia in one day the adrenalin was flowing pretty well! A couple of raindrops and overcast sky’s makes this valley look even more humbling. A few attacks and a final sprint for the Tirano town line and were are BACK! About almost 3 hours after having our tea party at the Passo di Gavia.A great day at the office and now it was time for some Pizza (we are in Italy after all) on the way back to the hotel, we knew it was going to be a late night and our ride time as over 6 hours, so we needed food and a lot of it! The Italians were looking at us and thinking, man those Americans can eat!!

If we would have done one more climb ( Santa Cristina ) it would have been the route of the Marco Pantani Grand Fondo , a ride/race that would be a lot of fun to do one day !

Sorry the updating of the camp blog is lagging a little but I hope you enjoy reading it !

Ciao Ciao Ciao Ciao

Recovery Ride Italian style

Tuesday,

I think after the Passo San Marco 8 hour spin , some sort of an easier day was on every one's mind.

A 3 hour recovery ride sounded right . We started our ride to the local bike shop, Paolo’s bike shop in other words the Italian version of Westwood cycle.

Super organized and nice European style shop called Salvi’s .With all the connections to the local bike manufactures as well , so it looked good for us to be able to visit one later this week( maybe Colonago , Bianchi or De Rosa ??)

We are like kids in a candy store and me and Kevin ordered a pair of Sidi shoes, colors not sold in the US, the blue and white Ergo 2’s! A must have, to stand out back home in the local races. We all have our bikes looked at by the bike mechanic and he takes great care to get rid of the creaking and noises we all have in the our bikes by now, especially my bike, with stuff being loose and basically falling off! Mr. Lugiano Moreti, the owner of Paolo’s team and also a sponsor of the U23 Cyclisti Begamasca team as well, is already at the bike shop and ready to go for a ride with us. We ride past the hotel and head up towards Paolo’s house into Almenno Valley, but we take a left onto a 15 K recovery climb . The road goes up to a radio tower( Paolo old us to not use our cell phones , apparently it was a risk to get your phone fried???) and it is a nice big climb right in our back yard .We can see our hotel on the other side of he valley , a nice comforting feeling on a recovery day!

This camp's one and only mechanical strikes Jon , the small chain ring buckles and that is the end of his ride , he limps back to the hotel in the big ring and then back to the bike store to get surgery on bike , since it is a Zipp crank it is not an easy fix with Zipp parts like this not that common around here. We continue our recovery climb and we reach the top were there is a nice lunch spot at Valcava, nice view once again , not just mountains !There is also a lake with some sunbathers at the top of the mountain, if you know what I mean and once again this camera is not that good!( I hope my wife does not read this !) After some Panini's we head back down and decided to stop by Paolo's house to show the guys where he lives . I beautiful place right at the bottom of the switch back we just came down ( another former Giro decent) , still an incredible view of the Valley right from his yard. Sultan was happy to see us ( the dog) as well .

We rode through the town of Sant Omobono, back towards the hotel , still plenty time left of the day to enjoy , but first we had to climb up our drive WAY once again , loved it !!

Quick change of clothes and a recovery bike wash for every body. A good day and ready to go again !

Of course we needed a good meal first and some R 5 ( vino rosso) , and a good meal would not be without some Casincelli ravioli!! Tasty !!

The day goes by fast , but it was a great one and tomorrow will be the Queen stage of the Camp, we are leaving early for Tirano to do the Mortirolo and the the Gavia Pass , so let's hope it does not snow !

Ciao

Roger

Passo San Marco

Pappini ( an ex elite bike racer ) is giving us some advice about today's route , I think he said; "way don't you guys just stay here and watch the Giro and smoke cigarettes with me instead of doing this monster ride " , my Italian is not that good , so I could be wrong .

Passo San Marco, a famous climb from the Giro in the past , our planned ride time was about 6 hours , so a big day.We set off from the hotel @ 9.00 am, today we will have a 3 hour to Morbegno where the climb starts.

The roads are narrow (not just on the twisty mountain roads, they are narrow every where) and there is a lot of traffic going to Lecco with big trucks, so bike-handling skills are put the test following an Italian ( Paolo) zipping in and out of traffic circles, once passed Lecco it gets better and riding next to Lake Como is just very cool , watch Giro di Lombardi and you know what I am talking about. Rolling terrain thru towns with a lot of history and view that pictures cannot describe. The lake on the left side and the mountains on the right. Sorry the zoom on my camera was a little out of focus on this picture.

We make our way towards the Valtelina Valley where a lots of wines comes from, the sunny side of the mountain slopes are filled with win yards. Pizzockeri ( not sure about the spelling, I am sure about the taste) is another dish we have on the menu at our hotel that originates from this area.

After a fairly flat 3 hour ride we are at the base of San Marco in Morbegno , this is a beast of a climb ,it is not that flat anymore as you can see, as a matter of fact pretty steep and consistent , last time I rode this one it was pouring rain , so the visibility was about zero and freezing cold , today it was perfect weather and the boys are dancing on the pedals , this is the real deal and what you see on TV from the Giro is what we are experiencing!

After climbing for about1 ½ hours we start seeing snow, and first there are some fallen trees on the road, but that does not stop us, we just carry the bike over and continue up the climb. It was not a problem at all for a cyclocoss rider like Kevin!

All of a sudden we come a height were there are no more trees, about 4 K to go to the pass. There is snow all over the road, and avalanche! We can almost see the top and I hiked up over the snow a little, but it is so steep and there is no way we can make it any further! Snow and cycling shoes does not match all that well either.

There is no road!! We have to go back the same way we came, a 20 K decent and a 3-hour ride back to the hotel, like I said “ another day on the bike” 8 hours to be precise! This is not so bad, it is warm, unbelievable view and guess what; there is a mountain café/hotel where the trees where fallen and lady with a little Kid (Ricardo) comes zipping around on a 4-wheeler that is the who runs the restaurant! She was open for Business!

After climbing up the 20% steep gravel drive to the absolutely oasis of the mountain, about 20 K up and no one around we have cokes, pasta, cheese, bread and even desert.

I think the best lunch anyone could dream of, we were even thinking about staying the night, there were plenty of rooms available here. Even Giovanni Formagio looks very pleased with the spread!

Richardo was providing the entertainment while we were eating ( a mountain dance with his dog ) priceless!

We finally had to get going, the decent was a blast and back to Mobegno , then the death march started back to the hotel. 8 hours ride time and 11 hours since we left this morning, epic the least, but we all survived the ride back with some cokes and Nutella filled croissants along the way and there was even a sprint up the final K to the hotel.

Boy did the dinner tasted good after this ride , lasagna , crapes , more casancelli and wine of course! After some stories about the day and some good laughs about what we had experienced we all agreed we were going to sleep in tomorrow!

Kevin was wondering if these wooden bikes come with DI2 as well , he was think of maybe doing a demo ride later in the week up the Gavia Pass .

A day on the bike to remember.

Ciao again , it will only get better , so do not miss the next blogpost !

Roger

First real ride of the Italy Camp

Sunday 5/23/2010


Well, it was either this road or the Killington stage 2 TT, but since we were here in Italy this one made more sense -:) Had to rub it in a little !!

It was time to go to work ( riding I mean -:) ) nothing else to do , so a perfect day for a bike ride!

I slept like a rock (I wonder why -:)) I think about 10 hours. After breakfast Italian style; about 3 different coffees (Americana, cappuccino and espresso) and tea with croissants, cooked ham, cheese, bread, yogurts and yes; Nutella . A little different from we are used to at home, but I decided I am not going stress out about not having almond butter and Trader Joe’s stuff while here , so we are going with he flow and enjoying the superb service provided by Fabio and the Hotel owner Matteo.

The traffic was not too bad , since it was Sunday , so we got a chance to ease into the rytmen of narrow streets and a round abouts every mile filled with little cars and scooters. Bike handling skills are a big part of this camp as you will see !

To days ride plan was a 4-5 hour near by the hotel. It turned out to be an amazing route, thru the out skirts of Bergamo up a 10 K climb up to the town of Selvino, a very nice view and an awesome switch back climb.

A nice way of enjoying the view!!

Past the nice little restaurants at the top and then a decent down into Brembo Vally, a right hand turn passed the San Pellegrino water company and along side a beautiful river into the Taleggio valley/ mountain (where they make the cheese)

The road snakes along side the river and a nice steady climb past some little mountain towns, steady grade with switch backs and after climbing for a good 15-20 K of climbing we crested the top and now what was left was a 15K serpentine decent that the Giro came down last year as well.
Back up to the hotel, a 1.5 K (probably close to 16% at some spots) climb with the finish line at the top, I think Kevin took the KOM points today . Good amount of climbing and a nice pace and everyone did great. We had so many great rides ahead of us, but this loop would probably top the list at the end of the week I am sure. Paolo knows the roads here like I do around us back home and this is something that will make this camp unforgettable and a life time memory for all us!
The hotel is super clean, nice beds in very quiet rooms and when you open a window you have an picture perfect view, even from the bathroom , how could you go wrong first thing in the morning -:) With a courtyard restaurant it is the most relaxing place to eat and recover after the rides.

We have a balcony for our bike area, very private and a nice place to change and keep our bike stuff while over looking the valley.

Dinner is at 7.30 , but after having our R4 Endurox provided by Accelerade we switch over to R5 ( Vino Rosso ) , an amazing house red vine along with some fresh bread and about 10 different cheeses, so I am not planning on loosing any weight this week. Then dinner, antipasto ( all kind of thin sliced meats , cheeses, other specialty appetizers that we even never heard of ) The staple main course is for sure Casancelli ( a home made ravioli filled with meat known for this region) made right here in the Cascina Belvedi . The food here is unbelievable, everything is made fresh here and with a lot of pride. We sat at the dinner table for about 3 hours, eating and drinking wine, but not over eating just socializing and enjoying life.

Once done with desert and another plate of grilled meats -:) it was time to go to bed and get ready for another big day on the bike.

Ciao,

Roger