Bob on BAC Trans Alps 2008

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On the climb up Passo Sella


The climb to Passo Pordoi

I should have expected it, that today was another climbing day. When we left our hotel at 8:40, we turned right and climbed 2300 feet in the first 6 miles up to Sella Pass. Along the way and, in fact, the last two days we saw marking on the road encouraging riders in the Giro d' Italia. We are actually riding through the passes of the Giro. Of couse, it takes us four days to do what they do in one day. Pretty impressive.

The ride up to Sella Pass was not real steep compared to what we have done in the last few days, especially in Austria. The temperature was cool and actually got down into the high 40's. I had on arm warmers, leg warmers and a jacket. When I got to the top, my arms felt a little wet so I took off my jacket. When I did so, water was pouring out my sleeves and my arm warmers were very wet. I didn't realize that I sweated that much.

Jeff and I split up here because he wanted to take an extra out-and-back on Passo Pordoi, another Gyro pass that added another 13 km and 1000 feet of climbing to our route. I continued on the main route, pausing at a memorial to Fausto Coppi, a legend in Italian bicycle racing. I dropped down to Canazei where I stopped at a cafe and had cappuccino and apple strudel with Peter. I hadn't eaten a very big breakfast because I have been avoiding milk products so this stop was good for me to refuel.

The remaining ride was downhill all the way to Alleghe. The first part of the descent was very steep and had a bunch of switchbacks. I had to do a lot of breaking. We went through a couple of well-lighted tunnels.

Approaching Alleghe

When we got to Alleghe, we checked into our hotel, Hotel Alleghe, we showered and then went to a brew pub that Jeff spotted. We sat outside and had a couple of its micro brews, a cold meat plate with several kinds of fatty meats and cheese for protein, and some French fries for salt. We were soon joined by the pannier girls and Norbert. Dinner was to be much later, so we felt justified to refuel.

Dinner was good. For a starter, Jeff had pasta carbinara. I had minestrone. We both had roasted-on-a-spit young rooster. Desert was birthday cake for Spoke.