157 Switchbacks, 10,000 Vertical Feet

Miles from Home - 5309.75
Firsts / Highlights - Climbed Passo Stelvio from both sides. Rode through Switzerland and back to Italy. Limoni torte at the top of Stelvio
Miles Ridden - 62.66 miles
Vertical Feet - 10,454 ft.
Route - View Today’s Route Here
People - Dinner with Geert from Belgium.

This post is from June 17, 2009.



I told you today might be a big ride.

Today was an all-time record for me in a couple of ways. I have never ridden anything close to 157 switchbacks, and the 10,000+ vertical feet beats the Bicycle Tour of Colorado day when we climbed over Berthoud Pass, Loveland Pass and Ten Mile Canyon in one day. It took 6 ½ hours in the saddle to go 63 miles, but I don’t think I could have managed a much faster pace. At least 5 of those 6 ½ hours were spent climbing in my smallest gear. The final climb was a sustained 20 mile, 6,000 foot climb.

You can count the switchbacks on Today’s Route GPS data, but I’m pretty sure 157 is the correct number. It makes your head swim.

Like Day 1 in Bormio, I started by climbing the near side of Stelvio Pass. This time, however, when I got about 3 km from the top, I took a left turn and dropped down the Umbrailpass into Switzerland. I have long wanted to visit Switzerland, and plan to spend more time there later in this trip, but it seemed appropriate for my first view to be entering from the highest paved road in Italy. Getting through “customs” was a complex process. There was a white stripe in the road that said, “Stop”. I did so, re-clicked into my pedals and continued. There was nobody around, so I guess that is S.O.P.. I may have been photographed, but that was all it took. Returning to Italy at least had a staffed station, but I was just waived through on my bike.

The road through Switzerland was beautiful. Geographically, of course, there was no big change, but the architecture, language and clothing changed immediately. I stopped at a hotel restaurant for a salami sandwich to keep me going for a little while, but I forgot that Switzerland does not use the Euro for its currency. Fortunately, they accepted my money at what I’m sure was a greatly inflated rate. Whatever the exchange rate, the sandwich tasted good and was needed.



After returning to Italy, the road continued to go downhill until it reached the base of Stelvio on the opposite side from Bormio. My next challenge was to climb Stelvio again, but this time from a lower elevation, which made this even more challenging than the first ascent. If you remember the picture of all of the switchbacks from “The Mighty Stelvio” post 2 days ago, that was the back side of Stelvio that I was about to climb. As impressive as that set of switchbacks were, the thing I didn’t realize was that those were only the top 4 miles of a 20-mile the climb. There was a 16-mile approach before you arrived at the bottom of those final switchbacks. Here is a picture that shows the final 14 of 49 switchbacks from the bottom rather than the previous view you had from the top. Unfortunately, the backlighting makes it impossible to see much of the striking detail.

The pass is located entirely within the Stelvio National Park, and the scenery was enjoyable throughout. That helps provide some distraction from the suffering that is inevitable on any climb that long. In fact, the road I ascended for the final climb has been rated the most scenic alpine road in Europe. That could explain the number of sports car drivers and motorcycles out testing their cornering abilities.

The switchback count started over at the bottom on the far side of Stelvio. Although there were 49 of them, this was the first where I could pull off to take a picture.

I have to admit that my fuel tank was getting pretty low by the top, but I made it with no real drama. I made a few more photo stops as I approached to top. Yes, I stopped, and yes, I took a photo, but if I didn’t carry a camera, I probably would have been taking time to examine the composition of the asphalt. The good news is that it was much more comfortable than the time I climbed Alpe di Suisi with the cold back in mid-May. By the time I reached switchback #1, it was time to smile again.



I was happy to have arm warmers, tights and a jacket for the descent back to Bormio. It all helped hold off the shivers that make riding a bike downhill a little bit adventurous. Although these may look like the same switchbacks I showed a couple of days ago, this picture is actually the Bormio side of the pass where you can see all of the tunnels below the switchbacks. The tunnels are dark and leaky. I just concentrate and get through them as quickly as I can. I was thankful that in spite of the long ride, much of the descent was still in sunshine.

After 3 days of riding these passes, I am going to take an easier day on Thursday. Daniele helped me find a recovery route that is shorter and less climbing than the past few.