The Mighty Stelvio

Miles from Home - 5309.75
Firsts / Highlights - Arrival in The Alps, Climbed Passo Stelvio, ate a bratwurst from Richard’ls Wurststandl at the top of the pass.
Miles Ridden - 36.83 miles
Vertical Feet - 5, 580 ft.
Route - View Today’s Route Here - Sorry Chuck, I forgot to wear my heart rate monitor.
People - Met Daniele Schena – owner of Hotel Funivia, cyclist and former ski instructor.


View Bormio in a larger map

This post is from June 15, 2009.



I went to bed last night feeling anxiety and woke up this morning with the same feeling. The picture above explains why. I have arrived in the Alps right at the border between Italy and Switzerland and the riding here appears that it will be as difficult as anything I have ever done.

For the third time on this adventure, I am staying at a Bike Hotel. This time, it is Hotel Funivia at the base of one of the ski resorts in Bormio. Also for the third time, I have received unexpected personal assistance and attention from the owner of the hotel. This time, the owner’s name is Daniele Schena. It took 3 trains to get from Siena to Tirano, but that was still 40 km from the hotel in Bormio. Daniele drove down to pick me up personally. After a long day of lugging my backpack and bike through train stations, it was very nice to not need to make a bus connection to finish off the trip. On the way up, Daniele told me about the area and the rides. Some of his descriptions probably contributed to my anxiety beyond just looking out the window (e.g, “Mortorolo will make you cry…”). He knew about Steamboat and is anxious to visit Colorado some day.

Whenever someone asks me where I come from, I first say, “U.S.”. If they seem to want more, I say, “Colorado”. The almost universal response is “Ahhh… Colorado”. Most people don’t know very much about where it is, or anything about it really, but they almost always have an image in their minds that I assume is like most of our images of Switzerland. The truth is, this area right at the edge of Switzerland does look quite a bit like the big rugged mountains in Colorado. There is a lot more vertical relief here, but the vegetation and snow-covered mountains are noticeably similar. Of course, the big difference is elevation. These mountains are not nearly as high as the Rockies, but the difference between peaks and valleys is far greater and tree line is much lower here.

Unlike the last two bike hotels where I have stayed, this one does not offer guided group rides. That was a little bit of a disappointment, but also a bit of a relief. Riding with a group on huge climbs can be difficult because the group is quickly splintered. I was happy to plan a solo ride. The ride I selected could never be called “easy”, but there is nothing short of making circles in the parking lot that is. I decided to ride up Passo Stelvio and back down. Not a long ride, but a substantial climb with 13 miles up at 7-8% average grade (almost exactly 2x Rabbit Ears). It is the highest pass in Italy.



There is an extension off this ride that I hope to do before the end of the week. It splits off the pass just before the summit and goes into Switzerland. It drops down back into Italy to the bottom of Stelvio on the far side. That gives you the good fortune of being able to climb Stelvio a second time from the even longer far side before dropping down the front to Bormio (over 10,000 vertical feet total for the day). That is a similar amount of vertical to the Triple Bypass ride in Colorado, but it all happens in 65 miles instead of over 100.

All in all, today went well. I was a little tight in my lower back, but other than that, I felt pretty good physically. I am glad I didn't go for one of the bigger rides to start my week of monster climbs, but I had a good solid start. Tomorrow will tell whether I get stronger or more tired as I go along.



Stelvio is one of the three huge passes that can be accessed from this hotel. The big 3 are Gavia, Stelvio and the all-time killer Mortorolo. Mortorolo is only 8 km long, but it averages 10.5% grade and maxes out at 20%. Lance Armstrong claims it is the hardest climb he has ever ridden. I can see why Daniele says it will “make you cry”. I am not sure whether that one is in my future or not.

Speaking of Lance, he will be staying at the hotel at the top of Stelvio for the next 2 weeks leading up to the Tour de France. The theory is that to peak your conditioning, you should “live high, train low”. Stelvio is one of the highest places where you can live, so that is where he will be for 2 weeks to stockpile some legal red blood cells.

Every switchback has a sign saying how many more switchbacks there are to the top of the pass. It's nice to know what progress you are making, but it's pretty discouraging on the first turn to realize you have 39 to go. The side of Stelvio that I rode today has 40 switchbacks - the other side has 49.

I started off this morning by replacing my rear brake pads. They had been worn down during the Giro because I had to ride the brakes so much descending the passes in the post-race traffic. I got the pads installed successfully, but getting the cable tension correct was nearly impossible to do with only 2 hands. Daniele offered to help, and with 3 hands we were able to get the cable tension correct, but they were still not right. Neither of us wanted me to head up onto a monster pass with my brakes in a questionable state, so he offered to drive me with The Machine over to his favorite mechanic’s bike shop about 5 miles away. When we arrived, we discovered that the shop was only open a couple of hours on Monday and they had already closed for the day. Daniele called the mechanic at home and he said to come over. We did, and the mechanic was able to get the brakes working after some effort. Total cost for transportation, house-call and repair – nothing. These bike hotels just have a different idea about service than any place I have encountered. Oh… housekeeping just dropped off my cleaned cycling clothes at my room from today’s ride -- what was I saying?