Il Gran Finale

Day 10 - Sunday, June 17
Pont Saint Martin Loop
48 Miles
5,100 feet of climbing

Alas, today is our last ride of the tour.  Ten days goes by really fast in "bike" time - when essentially all you do is ride your bike, eat and sleep.  It's a wonderfully simple existence.  Today's ride was yet another velo extravaganza of challenging terrain, stunning scenery and great company.  Our route today was a 47-mile loop ride north to the town of Gressoney-La-Trinité - a ski town with magnificent views of the Alps all the way.  It was a long but nice 23+ mile climb.  We rode through several quaint little towns.  Because today is Sunday, we saw a number of hikers, walkers and other cyclists enjoying the beautiful and warm sunny day.  We decided to do an extra little climb and continued through Gressoney-La Trinitè to Stelaf, where the road ended.  We encountered a rather strong headwind on the way down, which caused us to really have to work for the descent (i.e., we actually had to pedal), which is fine with me because the slower you go on a descent, the more you get to see.  Ended the day with another wonderful group dinner at the hotel.

Tomorrow we will leave the Italian Alps and, once again, become "flatlanders."  I'm sure it will be an adjustment.  I certainly will miss Italy - the great food, the bicycle-friendly roads, the gracious people and, of course, the great climbs and thrilling descents.  Sure, there are a few things I maybe won't miss (such as the crazy electrical outlet situation, the phone-booth sized shower stalls and the conspicuous lack of peanut butter).  By the same token, I'm sure there's a few things Italy won't miss about me, such as my horrendous pronunciation of the few Italian words I know.  Nevertheless, biking in the Alps was both a challenge and a treat.  As always, I loved getting on my bike everyday, and was further inspired by the views and the climbs. What a beautiful country.  Arrivederci, Italy!  Fino ad incontrare nuovamente . . .

Climbing toward Gressoney-La-Trinité

Art & me leaving Stafal

Art descending

Enjoying a break in Gressoney-La-Trinité (Art with fellow riders Paul, Bob, Janet and Midge)

Another Day in Paradise

Day 9 - Saturday, June 16
St.Vincent to Pont St. Martin
45 miles
5,200 feet of climbing

I am glad to say I got a great night's sleep last night, despite having no less than six Diet Cokes throughout the day yesterday (it was very hot day).  I was wired for sound, but, thankfully, was able to crank it down for some quality rest time.  Today we left St. Vincent to travel southeasterly to a new host town - Pont St. Martin.  Within the first 9 miles of our route, we climbed the Colle de Joux - with about 3,500 feet of elevation gain.  It was a very pleasant climb, with nice views of the valley below.  Once we reached the Colle de Joux, we enjoyed a steep and fast descent for the next 15 miles to the town of Bard.  From Bard, it was more of a gentle descent for the remaining 8 miles to Pont St. Martin.  Once we arrived there, a group of us rode to the center of town for a bite to eat before heading to the hotel (Crabun Hotel).  It was only a little after 12:00 noon at this point, and it was a beautiful, warm sunny day, so Art & I decided to keep riding rather than retiring our bikes for the day.  We headed north and climbed about 6 miles through a couple of quaint towns.  Our views along the way included lovely cascading waterfalls and a beautiful mountain stream.  On our way back to the hotel, we stopped for a gelato at a shop conveniently located just a hop, skip and a jump from our hotel.  Staying away from that place is going to require willpower that I simply do not have.  Later in the evening, we enjoyed a delightful group dinner at our hotel.  After dinner, a few of us took a walk to an old stone bridge in the middle of town that spans a mountain stream.  Looking forward to tomorrow's ride.  The weather is predicted to be beautiful. (And the climbs are predicted to be steep!)   

Views from the climb to Col de Joux

A small church on the route

"Moo" (Translation: "Buongiorno!")

The last stretch of curvy road before the top of the Col de Joux

We made it!

A castle on the descent

View from the road in Bard

Art heading toward Pont St. Martin

Views from our extra-curricular ride to Fontainemore

Centro Pont St. Martin

The after-dinner walking group on the bridge: (L to R) Marie, Paul, Midge, Art, Henry & Janet

Under the Watchful Eye of the Matterhorn

Day 8 - Friday, June 15
St. Vincent - Matterhorn - La Magdeleine Loop
47 miles
7,532 feet of climbing

Woke up to a gorgeous, sunny morning - perfect weather for our climb to Breuil-Cervinia, where we would have fantastic views of the Matterhorn.  Cervinia, a ski resort town, is also where one of the stages of the Giro ended.  I love biking on roads that the pros have ridden.  It was an 18-mile climb to Cervinia, steep in spots, but a very pleasant climb.  One particularly steep section took place as we rode through the town of Losanche, with sustained grades of 10% or more.  Who builds an entire town on a steep hill?  Seems like bad planning to me.  Anyway, it was yet another epic climb with amazing views of the Matterhorn.  Art, Bob & I decided we would do an extra climb we found on the map, which is just off our descent from Cervinia.  So, after a quick bite to eat in Cervinia, we descended about 12 miles to the turn-off to La Magdeleine - a 4+ mile (7 kilometer) climb with almost 2,000 feet of elevation gain.  Translation: it was a steep sucker. (But we knew that going in.)  Grades of 10% or more most of the way, but totally worth it to see the views.  It was a very hot day, and all three of  us had empty water bottles by the time we reached the top of La Magdeleine, so we stopped at a bar for a refill.  While we were there, we enjoyed a cold drink and a cookie.  From La Magdeleine, it was a crazy fast descent back to the main road, where we encountered a strong headwind as we descended another 6 miles back to St. Vincent.  We had a nice pasta dinner to cap off this exceptional day on the bike.

Views from the climb to Cervinia toward the Matterhorn

Looking back down the climb

 

The Matterhorn

Art & the Matterhorn

Art & Bob enjoying dessert & a cappuccino in Cervinia

Bob, Midge & Art

View from the descent

 

The Joys of Going "Off Route"

Day 7 - Thursday, June 14, 2012
Aosta to St. Vincent
41 miles
5,466 feet of climbing

I’m calling this day a banner day based on the mere fact there was zero chance of rain, meaning we didn’t have to carry our rain gear!  Life is good when you don’t have to carry  rain gear with you on a bike ride. Today we would be leaving the busy valley town of Aosta and riding to a new host town - St. Vincent.  Of course, we didn’t take the direct route.  We took a longer route which brought us north up a nice but quite challenging climb.  So, for the first 25 miles of our route, we ascended about 3,400 feet.  The climb provided stunning views of the valley as we rode out of Aosta.  After we ascended the major climb of the day and headed down the descent, Art & I got a bit confused at the route sheet directions and Art & I went “off route” (otherwise known as “taking a wrong turn“) and found ourselves traveling in a different (opposite) direction from our destination.  We typically don’t mind going “off route,” especially on beautiful, sunny days like today.  The only drawback about our route diversion was that we were desperately looking for a toilette, but didn’t encounter any such facilities on our impromptu route.  After about four miles, we realized our mistake and backtracked our way to the “suggested” (correct) route.  Because it was so much fun the first time, we went “off route” again a few miles later and explored the town of Nus while looking for the “correct” road, a place to eat lunch and, still, a toilette.  Finally, we found an open café/bar with food and  facilities.  By this point, we were only about 12 miles from St. Vincent.  Art “Magellan” Hewig used his special navigational skills and found the road that the route sheet suggested we be on at that particular juncture.  Eureka!  We were once again in conformity with the route sheet!  (Not that there's anything wrong with going off route.)  As the route continued toward St. Vincent, there was a bit more climbing, some of it rather steep.  We arrived in St. Vincent around 2:00 p.m - early enough to have some time to walk around town and enjoy a gelato.  At 7:30, we headed to a local pizza place for a group dinner.  We had mussels, cantaloupe wrapped in proscuitto (and cantaloupe without the proscuitto for us non-meat eaters), and pizza.  It is worth mentioning that our hotel is located smack in the middle of town.  Usually, that would be a good thing in terms of convenience, but tonight, the town is having an event in the square directly adjacent to our hotel.  It's an “Italy’s Got Talent”-type show.  It’s going on right now (10:45 p.m.) as I type this.  I can hear all the acts - almost as if I were in the audience.  It’s not too bad, although the Elvis impersonator shouldn't quit his day job.  Maybe it will be over soon.  Or maybe I’m so tired from today’s ride that the musical acts will simply lull me to sleep.  I feel my eyelids getting heavy, so I’m hopeful.  We have another big ride tomorrow - we’ll need our rest. 

Views from the climb

 

Art . . . with altitude

Loop d' Loop

Day 6 - Wednesday, June 13
Aosta - Place Moulin Loop & Glacier Loop
54 miles
7,200 feet of climbing

Yet another awesome day of cycling.  We had two route options (both were loop rides), so we did them both.  It was a beautiful and cool morning, mostly sunny.  The forecast called for a chance of rain around noon, so we elected to carry our rain gear.  (I'm thinking there's much less chance it will rain if I carry my rain gear.  Experience has taught me it will most certainly rain if I leave it behind.)  First we did the Moulin loop - a gorgeous 20+ mile climb to Place Moulin.  At the end of the climb is a dam and a lake (Lac du Place Moulin).  It was a challenging climb, with some fairly steep sections.  But most of the climb was on a quiet road with very light traffic.  As per usual, it got chilly as we gained altitude and even felt a few drops of rain, but nothing that required rain gear.  We reached the dam at Place Moulin right around 11:30 - just in time to descend to a little cafe in a small town below for a beverage and a bite to eat.  From there, we descended about ten more miles, at which point we took the turn-off toward Ollomont to do the climb to Glacier.  This was also a steep climb, which my legs let me know continuously by causing me to suffer a little every time I stepped on the proverbial gas pedal.  Nonetheless, we made the six-mile climb to Glacier, and the views were magificent.  On the way, we passed through a couple of cute little towns.  Beautiful mountain views in the backdrop. Although it was a very pretty ride, I must admit I was underwhelmed when we arrived in Glacier.  Not much going on there except the end of the road.  I realize this particular climb was more about the journey than the destination, but a gelato shop or a cold soda machine would have been much appreciated at that juncture.  Just sayin'.  Be that as it may, we began our descent back to Aosta.  The steep sections we met going up the climb made for a very fast 12-mile descent back to Aosta.  We made a quick trip to the local bike shop to buy some chain lube and another quick gelato stop before heading back to our hotel.  What a fun day!  Glad I carried my rain gear.  : ) 

Views on the climb to Place Moulin

The dam at Place Moulin

Views on the way to Glacier

 

Recently retired Art Hewig enjoying a great day on the bike