Another Day, Another Epic Pass - Gavia

Miles from Home - 5309.75
Firsts / Highlights - Climbed Passo Gavia and Bormio 2000 (the top of the gondola at the Bormio ski resort), drank hot chocolate at Rifugio Bonetta (restaurant at top of Gavia).
Miles Ridden - 47.9 miles
Vertical Feet - 7,173 ft.
Route - View Today’s Route Here
People - Rode alone. Dinner involves cross-talk between tables of 11 Dutch, 1 Belgian and 1 Yank.



The anxiety has not been fully eliminated, but I ventured on today and increased my mileage and vertical feet. I continued to follow Andy Hampsten by riding Gavia Pass. I have mentioned a few times that Andy is the only American to ever win the Giro, and it was on Gavia in a blizzard where he clinched the win. I thought of what he must have been going through many times on today’s ride. I think Andy is the most respected American cyclist by Italians, probably even more than Lance due to the courage of that win.

At a particularly difficult part of the climb today, I looked down at my computer and saw that my heart rate was 176. I’m not sure what my true maximum is, but that is pretty darn close. That is my body exclaiming like Scotty from Star Trek, “There isn’t any more. I’m giving you all she’s got”.



On the descent back to Bormio, I passed through a little mountainside town and accidentally became part of a funeral procession. I don’t know who died, but this tiny town came out in force. At the front of the line were a flag color guard, band and a priest. Behind them, people from the town seemed to drop whatever they were doing and joined one by one until there were over 100 people walking in a silent line. Most of the men had their hands clenched behind their backs. The sounds were stricking. In addition to the band playing music, the church bells were ringing at the end of the street drawing the procession toward them. I was behind the line and didn’t think it would be appropriate to ride past, so I became part of the procession for 20 minutes. It reminded my of a New Orleans style funeral, but I never heard the part where the band broke into celebratory Dixieland.

This last picture is a good view of Bormio from the second climb of the day called Borio 2000. Bormio 2000 is actually the name of the gondola that goes to the mid-way point of the ski mountain, but the road goes by the same name because it climbs to 2,000 meters.



Tomorrow may be a very big ride, but let’s not put that into the books until it happens.

Personality Test

Personality Test

Step 1) Click on the image above so you can see a full-size version of it, then come back to this page.

Step 2) Answer the question below.

What was the first thing you noticed?
a) Wow - what a beautiful mountain
b) The clouds are building, I hope Randy got off the mountain before the weather turned bad
c) Check out the black Ferrari

Interpretation
I know that my mom answered 'b' and switchboard Kent answered 'c'. I hope everyone else answered 'a'.



Speaking of cars, Kent - BMW was up on Stelvio today test-driving prototype hybrid cars. I guess the black tape over the emblem and lines is supposed to keep us from recognizing them as BMW's. Take a look at the brake dust on the wheels compared to the spotless exterior of the car. Do you think they were driving them hard?

All of the exotics were out today. Ferrari, Lotus, Porche and a couple of open wheel roadsters.

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?

Lunch with Antonio

Miles from Home - 5499.3
Firsts / Highlights - Another lunch at al Palazzo della Chigiana, climbed to the top of Torre del Mangia
Miles Ridden - 0 miles
Vertical Feet - 0 ft.
Route - No Route Today
People - Antonio de Miccoli.



This post is from June 13, 2009.

Today was my day to break down my bike and prepare to move to the Dolomites for what will probably be my last week in Italy. Breaking down my bike is not something I look forward to, so I compensated by visiting al Palazzo della Chigiana for lunch (the scene of the Sampler Platter that I wrote about earlier).

The owner, Antonio, recognized me when I walked in. He told me that today he would make “an even better platter than before”. I said, “Okay, have at it”. He put together an amazing assortment of prosciutto, salami, roast pork, cheeses and couple of kinds of bread and a pureed carrot mixture that is a cousin to his pesto that I had last time. He set me up outside to eat where I could draw in other English-speaking customers. He also delivered a glass of Chianti Classico along with the bottle and invited me to have as much as I wanted on the house. It is fair to say that I have found my favorite place to eat in Italy.

After lunch, I asked Antonio to calculate what it would cost to ship 6 liters of olive oil back to the U.S.. I knew I wouldn’t like the answer, but I thought it would be a great answer to most of my souvenir requirements. I was right, I didn’t like the answer, so I asked him, “What makes this olive oil special?”. He said, “I am a vat of oil. You make me and later come back. This oil is only from here up (indicating somewhere above his waist). Everything else goes to someone else. This is extra extra virgin oil”. I don’t know if it was the taste of the oil or the Chiani Classico, but the explanation worked. I decided to ship it back home.

Next the conversation moved on to his desert wines. They are not actually called wines, so he is allowed to ship them. He poured me a flight from least expensive to most. The least was not very interesting, and the middle is what he had poured for me on my last visit that I enjoyed. The last was something very special. Made from grapes that were aged to nothing before being pressed. Very sweet, but very enjoyable. It was the smallest bottle and twice the cost of the next less expensive. He said, “This is the very best. What the pope drinks”. I fell for it again and had a couple of bottles shipped home.

In all, I spent about 4 days of my total budget at lunch today. I hope it all makes it home.



As my last act of procrastination before packing my bike, I climbed to the top of the Torre del Mangia. That is one of the tallest secular towers ever built in Italy and is the focal point of the Piazza del Campo in the middle of Siena. It was built starting in 1325, so I think the stairway gets a pass on meeting building codes. It was a very narrow steep marble staircase with a great view at the top. I would have guessed that 387 steps would be a challenge, but the payoff for all of those hills I have ridden in Italy was that it was not so difficult.

Back in Siena Again

Miles from Home - 5499.3
Firsts / Highlights - Made the ride, ferry, 2 trains and another ride to get back to Siena. Excellent dinner at a medieval restaurant.
Miles Ridden - 19.59 miles
Vertical Feet - 2,158 ft
Route - View Today's Route Here.
People - Just me.


Visualizza Siena in una mappa di dimensioni maggiori

This post is from June 12, 2009.



I returned today from Elba to my quickly-becoming-home-base of Siena. This is a lively place on a Friday night. It is midnight right now, and I just returned from il Campo (the main town square). Everyone is dressed up and socializing. There is a lot of being seen, some eating, some drinking and the usual flirting. It was noticeable, however, that I didn’t see anything that looked like excessive drinking with a very young crowd late on a Friday. I have also not seen any open signs of drug dealing or use during all of my time in Italy. Obviously it exists, but you could easily convince yourself it didn’t from outward appearances.

When I say the crowd was young, I mean that if I could divide myself into two people, both of us would be in the prime demographic (I'm not talking about the kid on the scooter). As it is, the one of me felt a little like the lecherous old man mingling in the crowd. There were a few of us old farts sitting around the edges of the plaza, but it didn’t seem like a scene where I was going to be pulled into too many conversations.

There always seems to be a young heart to Siena, but on Friday night, it is really out there to be seen.

Getting here today was a little tense a couple of times. I rode my bike from my hotel to the ferry station as planned (15 miles). Once I got to Portoferaria, I thought I was at least ½ hour ahead of schedule. I grabbed lunch to take on the boat and casually headed to the ferry. There was not a lot else to do, so I decided to board early. At least I thought I was early. In reality, I was rushed on at the last second just as the ship blew its whistle and pulled out of the harbor. I later checked my itinerary, and found that I simply mis-remembered the departure time. If I had missed it, I could have caught another ferry an hour later, but my train schedule might not have been so easy. Just got lucky.

After the ferry landed on the mainland, I rode to the train station in the same town (only about 1 mile away). The station was unstaffed, but since I had a Eurail Pass, I didn’t give it a second thought. When any train arrives, it is a good idea to get on immediately since some stops only last about 1 minute. I carried my bike onto the designated bike car, and was met by the conductor asking where my bike ticket was. Bike ticket? I have never needed a bike ticket. He did not speak a word of English, and the only thing I understood was that he wanted a bike ticket, he was very insistent on it and he wasn’t going to be the one to sell it to me. Without anyone in the train station to sell a ticket of any kind, I was a little stumped for what to do.

As the discussion developed, my bike was already on the train, so my plan was that if the train started to move, I would make a dive for an open door. I couldn’t let the train leave with my bike. Through gestures, the conductor took my backpack and helmet and locked them in the locomotive compartment. He signaled for me to follow him down the platform. If the train were to leave now, I would be without my bike, clothing, money or passport. I didn’t think he was kicking me off the train, but the language barrier was becoming more serious than any other point on the trip. I was a little surprised that I understood enough to know what he was upset about, but I couldn’t make out anything about what he wanted me to do about it. I guess that represents a little progress in Italian, but not enough to be of the slightest practical use.

It turns out he was walking down the train looking for a car with someone who spoke English. In this part of Italy, it took a few cars before we located someone. We eventually ran into a Norwegian woman who had just spent the weekend on Elba taking an Italian language course. She told me that the conductor was trying to tell me that the train would stop for 15 minutes 2-stops down the line where I could get off and purchase a bike ticket. The woman accompanied me into the station and we were able to get it straightened out. The ticket only cost 3.50 euro, but made things a little more interesting than they needed to be. The funny thing was that the conductor never even checked to see if I had a ticket for myself. He was just very concerned that my bike didn’t ride for free.

In spite of the tight spots, the logistics-laden trip from Siena to Elba and back was a success. Bike, ferry and train only. Still no car on my itinerary after 1-½ months.

Speaking of language. I am still learning how much I don’t know. The other day, I learned how to pronounce the letters of my last name like you would if you spelled your name over the telephone. It hadn’t occurred to me that learning to say the letters of the alphabet would be such new territory. In Italian, H-O-W-I-E is pronounced

H = Acca
O = Aw
W = Doppia-Voo
I = Ee
E - Eh

I also learned that Chuck Cerasoli would not be a Sar-ah-SOLE-ee if his family still lived in Italy. It would be something more like CHAR-ah-sole-ee. I may not have that exactly right, but I am pretty sure about the Ce being pronounced Che. Chuck – come clean. What’s your REAL name?



I had my last dinner in Siena at a restaurant that looked so cool I might not have noticed if the food was marginal (it wasn't). If a U.S. company wanted to make a chain of restaurants with a midieval Italian theme, this is probably how they would try to make it look. The only thing they couldn't match is that this place was actually 700 years old. You can't see in the picture, but the open staircase goes up 3 stories to some unknown destination.

The flags on the walls represent the districts of Siena. There are 17 very strong neighborhood districts in this little city. Each has their own flag and drum corp that march through the streets regularly. It isn't just for show. I walked through a neigborhood where they had closed off the street for an outdoor dinner party in preparation for the upcoming Palio horse race. All of the people wore their district flags around their necks. No tourists to perform for, just flying the colors for themselves -- and maybe to show up their neighbors.

Arrivederci Siena.

Coppi’s Climb

Miles from Home - 5487.8
Firsts / Highlights - Coppi’s climb, sea kayaking
Miles Ridden - 37.81 miles
Vertical Feet - 4, 079 ft.
Route - View Today’s Route Here.
People - Just me and the ghost of Fausto.



This post is from June 11, 2009.

I found the road today that Andy Hampsten takes his tour groups on Elba. The climb is a bit of a legend because it is said that Fausto Coppi (possibly the greatest Italian cyclist) rode it frequently as a training ride. It is also claimed that he drank from Napoleon’s Spring near Marciana each time he reached the top of the climb. I never found the spring, but I didn't really have a description of where to look. Just about everything here is named for Napoleon since he spent his exile years here gazing at the coast of Corsica where he was banished.





Anyway, Coppi's climb was a tough one. I haven’t studied the distance in the GPS data, but I can tell you the grade was tough. It was rarely less steep than 10%, and it frequently kicked up to 16% for some non-trivial stretches. In Coppi's day, bikes had only 2 gears. One was for the flats and one for climbing. It was necessary to get off the bike, remove the rear wheel flip it 180 degrees and remount it to shift from one gear to another. As laborious as that may be, I'm thinking even Fousto shifted gears for this hill.



In addition to the ride, I explored the town where I am staying, Fetovaia. This island has white sand beaches, black sand beaches, pebble beaches and rocky shores. After my ride around, I think Fetovaia probably has the nicest beach on the island. As long as it was out my door, I took advantage by renting a kayak for a spin around the harbor.

Elba Island

Miles from Home - 5487.8
Firsts / Highlights - Complex logistics worked. Blue water, perfect weather. First very nearly English-free zone.
Miles Ridden - Arrival day – 28.4 miles
Day 1 – 42.26 miles
Vertical Feet - Arrival day - 1,464 ft
Day 1 – 4,366 ft
Route - Arrival day - View Arrival day Route Here.
Day 1 - View Day 1 Route Here.
People - Just me.


View Elba in a larger map



This post is from June 9-10, 2009.

How could you spend this long in the Mediterranean and not get to an island? My answer was, “you can’t”, so Elba was my choice.

How did I pick Elba? There were a number of factors. John Cowell and Callie have ridden Corsica and love it. Much like the Italian-only language on Elba, Corsica is French-only. Although I am illiterate in both languages, I can fake a little more Italian. I assumed that since you can see one island from the other, many of the things they loved about Corsica might also apply to Elba.



Next, Bruce from Garda Bike Hotel recommended it as the location for the Carpenter / Phiney cycling camps. Finally, when I started researching it, I found that it is also the location where Andy Hampsten (the only American to ever win the Giro) brings his cycling tour groups. For such a tiny island, those seemed like strong endorsements. I even selected the same hotel where Andy stays tucked down on the southwest corner of the island. I figured that would put me in the heart of the best riding, which I think worked as planned.

One of these days, my complex logistics are going to burn me. This time, however, I got away with it. My objective was to get from Siena to the far side of the Island of Elba without disassembling my bike, renting a car or taking a $100 taxi ride. I decided to attempt it by leaving my bike box and most of my luggage at the hotel in Siena. I packed the essentials for 3 days into my bike bags and a day backpack (you may notice from the picture that the bike is a little differently configured than on previous rides). The steps for making the move were:

1) Leave hotel
2) Ride bike to train
3) Take a train
4) Take another train
5) Ride bike 10 miles to the ferry terminal.
6) Take a ferry
7) Ride bike 15 miles to the remote western side of Elba
8) Arrive at hotel.



I had to make every connection without delay and arrive before dark. It all worked. I will need to do it all in reverse in 3 days to get back to Siena. Hope for good weather and no public work strikes.

My backup plan is that I am carrying my coupler wrench with me. If the weather turns bad, I can break my bike into 2 pieces and get it into a cab to drive to the ferry. There would still be some unpleasantness in the rain, but it can all be done once I get to the ferry.



Elba is the Etruscan word meaning 'little island with lots of hills that descend only so that they can ascend again'. Rather a lot for a 4-letter word, actually. (Notice all of the divot marks in the asphalt where the rock retention fences didn't quite work).

There is a 3,000 foot peak on the island, but I don't think I ever climbed much above 1k on Day 1. That means that to accumulate my 4k of climbing, I had to go from sea level up to big overlooks many times throughout the day. I think the pictures tell the story.

Lesson learned - when planning a route to circle the coast of an island where people drive on the right, go counter-clockwise. That puts you closer to the scenery and you don't need to cross the road every time you want to look over the cliff.