Day 19 Prato to Sta Caterina (Passo del Stelvio)

The infamous Stelvio climb from the north side

This was to be one of my highlights of the trip. When planning the route lots of things changed but never the route over the Passo del Stelvio probably the best Alpine climb there is and it did not disappoint.

We started on a warm and sunny morning at 9.15 from the bike shop in the centre if town having bought energy drinks and bars. The climb started straight away, it was quite easy at first as like many it followed the river valley. After a few minutes I met my first British cycling tourist of the trip and had to stop and talk. He was crazy Chris and was fully laden with a tent, hiking boots, beer, and an inflatable raft (which only weighs 2kg - only i weigh everything to a gramme) what was more impressive was that he had stopped to roll a cigarette! He had been biking for 4 weeks and had no idea where he was going or for how long. a totally relaxed guy. Back on the bike the climb remained steady and the road busy until the turn off to Solden, this was after climbing about 350m. From here on it was just people climbing the pass for fun. There were classic cars, soft top cars a few buses (many run by the appropriately named company called SAD), loads of cyclists, but outnumbering us were motorbikers.

Soon after the turnoff came the first of the 48 hairpins soon follwed by the second but then a long drag to the third, and so it went on. The climbing was steep about 8 -10 % but steady. After climbing about 900m to an elevation of 1800m there was a steep section of 12 - 14%. After that we were above the tree line and the climb stayed at a relentless 8 - 10%. The weather was perfect, warm but not too hot, that and the number of cyclists helped to keep going. With still another 700m to climb you can see the hotel at the top with maybe 25 hairpins between. You just have to count down the hairpins (which are all numbered) count down the metres left to climb and keep churning on - but I love it. Just when I was getting tired a beautiful young lady in white lycra passed and gave the comment "Respect man - with luggage". I returned the respect by  locking my eyes on her and following her through the next 6 or 7 hairpins half a bike length behind - until I finally got dropped. But by then I was nearly there, and finally after 2 hours and 53 mins of climbing I reached the top - absolutely delighted. The views all the way up are fantastic, the road surface good - it is easily the best climb I have done - well worth all the hype. Richard finished a few mins later looking very comfortable. No celebratory beer this time, just another energy drink, photos and a rest. The climb is 1857m to an EL of 2758m and at this height I often feel a bit dizzy due to the altitude. The one slight disappointment was that the top of the pass is a bit tacky with all the souvenir shops. However this did not take anything away from the climb.

The desent was quite tough, cold at first through the snow fields, loads of hairpins (I think there are 38) and then the dreaded tunnels. When you are flying down a mouintain wearing shades and you enter a tunnel you cannot see anything. In one tunnel I just heard a vehicles horn I went around a corned and a bus was coming straight towards me, and I only just managed to squeeze by.

We stopped Bormio for a short break before heading up to Sta Caterina in order to make tomorrow's Passo di Gavia shorter. We soon found ourselves in the middle of a cycle race "Race across the Alps" not too sure what it is, but it seems like all thge riders had support cars and were riding alone like a time trial - must check it out later. Just as we approached Sta Caterina another cyclist caught us upand had a chat as he recognised Richard's Wallace And Gromit cycling top from the Stelvio pass. All good fun to end another hard but great day.

Todays Stats
Distance 60.07k
Climb 2343m
Riding time 4:29:05
Average speed 13.3kph (well it was steep)
Total time 7:37