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.
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| Views from the climb to Cervinia toward the Matterhorn |
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| Looking back down the climb |
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| The Matterhorn |
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| Art & the Matterhorn |
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| Art & Bob enjoying dessert & a cappuccino in Cervinia |
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| Bob, Midge & Art |
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| View from the descent |
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