Italy 2010

So we finally made it back to Italy, and this time with our daughter Alexa, for who this was her first trip there. We've head a great weather throughout the trip and the 12 ride down was not without its challenges. We decided to start at 10pm on Thursday night and I managed to get us lost in Vienna briefly, so after about a 1.5h delay, we were once again on our way to Insbruck, then a short trip south towards Bolzano and another 1.5h to Ponte di Legno. It was a quited town with a very nice downtown plazza where all visiting and local families brough their kids for evening entertainment and evening meals and vino. We've enjoyed some very good local pasta and pizza and brough back home some fruity local red wines. After spending couple of days in Ponte di Legno, we returned to spend two nights in Prato di Stelvio, near where we got engaged 8 years ago. We also had the pleasure of meeting some of our friends from California, who were visiting the Alps and later Pyrenese to climb some of the most challenging peaks.

Here are a few pictures from our vacation.

Passo di Stelvio

Couple of days later we were on the move again, this time north-bound, over the Gavia, down to Bormio and then over the Stelvio down to our final destination - Prad. However, what we realized once we left Bormio, that there was a timed event up the Stelvio and the road was closed.



After a 3-hour delay, we finally proceeded up the Stelvio, along with hundreds other who have been patiently waiting all morning to make it up to the pass.



And the views were once again stunning. Pictures don't do it justice...



We winged it and found a room at Hotel Stern in Prato. To our surprise it was better priced than our Hotel Mignon in Ponte di Legno, with bigger rooms, more comfortable furnishing and bigger TV - remember, TdF and the World Cup were both going on!

The next day we hooked up with couple of our friends who were visiting from California and were touring Italy, France and Spain in search of the longest and steepest climbs and fastest descents. Up next was the Stelvio with its 48 switchbacks and 25km ascent.

Kuku!


After a quick pit-stop to refuel liquids and sugars, we were off to tackle the last couple of Ks. Name of the hotel where we stopped is escaping me right now - it is about 5k from the top near switchback 14. They had totally awesome capuccinos everywhere we stopped - I think Starbucks' baristas should pay Italy a visit.

Here is the view of the hotel from the top:

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And we were off again:



At the top of Stelvio with Peter, Sharon and Greg. Prato di Stelvio is in the valley behind us.



We decided to stop for only a few moments as the clouds were gathering and chose to pose for one more picture at the top before dropping down to Switzerland and returning via Santa Maria back to Prato.



We got a little rain coming down - it was coming down with typical Swiss precision, with each rain drop perfectly spaced out from the next.

Passo di Gavia, 2010

After arriving in Czech in early July, we decided to take a quick 7 day trip to Italy and re-visit an old favorite of ours - Prato a Stelvio and a new town 50k south of there, Ponte di Legno. I repo'ed my wife's road bike and brought it with me to keep in Czech with the hope to watch and climb some of the Tour de France climbs. We altered our plans slightly and met couple of our friends visiting from California to do a few Giro di Italia climbs - Passo di Gavia and Passo di Stelvio.

The elevation did not make things easy and the first few days were not much fun. Even though the Stelvio is definitely a longer a tougher climb, having couple of extra days at elevation really helped and the 25 km climb up the Stelvio felt quite enjoyable - the first and second time. Total climbing time from Prato was 2h:25m, with approx 30 minutes descending.



So even though the Gavia was much shorter and the elevation gain smaller, the 15k climb was a bear. At times I cursed my decision to stick with the 39x25, but having just setup Aimee's bike with a 9-speed tranny, I did not have a 27 cog handy. So I wrote the climbs off as another opportunity for some low-cadence strength training and concentrated on enjoying the scenery, whenever I possibly could. And the scenery was one of a kind...



I've seen couple of different bike tour companies operate on the slope and provide SAG to their riders. I started my ascent a bit later than most riders and counted about 40 or so riders descending in the afternoon sun. Most sane persons would have already climbed, enjoyed their espressos and lattes and moved on to an afternoon nap and a massage. Well, more road for me!



And the reward... the pass with a small restaurant celebrating the 50th anniversary of Giro di Italia, which just passed through here in May. I contemplated dropping down a few miles and climbing back out, but I really wasn't looking for more more 50-cadence climbing and decided to hang out at the top, which was frequented by mountain and road bikers as well as many motorcyclists. Here are couple more pictures, the rest can be found on the link below.


Here is the happy geek himself:



And the bar-restaurant - Rifugio Bonetta: