Fatigue and poor internet connection = delayed blog entry!

where to start?  Probably watching the Giro d’Italia Femminile.

The start of the race on Wednesday was just up the road from us ~~30km away so going to watch it was a no brainer.  I have never been to a pro race and so I was a total newbie on what to expect.  The course went from Grosio to Tirano and back then up the Mortirolo and eventualy back down to Tirano.  We decided to watch the start then climb a short way up the Mortirolo (it was a rest day for us) and once they had passed…call it a day. 

Pro teams' course

We parked at Sondalo and cruised downhill to Grosio and I was somewhat gobsmacked to see how many motorbike escorts there were. …over 30 I thought..never mind the cars.  After the start we rode over to the Mortirolo and went up a couple of tornanti where I propped and Alex continued a bit further up.  I chatted to the mother of one of the BePink athletes and finally the entourage came and much later had all gone.  I saw Donna Rae driving the WiggleHigh 5 car.

The leaders at the start of the climb

Local decorations

ditto

The next day  was my big ride Bormio-Mortirolo-Bormio. 

on the way to the bottom of the climb

1987 there was a landslide which killed many and caused the valley to have to be a bit more engineered

Bormio, Mortirolo Bormio

The profile of the Motirolo..not the hardest version

I opted to do the easier of the climbs to the pass as I am here to practise climbing on the bike not walking uphill in cleated shoes!!!...ie I know my limit.

Got there eventually!

I was pretty tired afterwards..not only length and difficulty of the ride, but also the hot weather.  I descended the hard way and that was a baaaad mistake...spent far too much time on the brakes and got a front wheel puncture.

Pantani Monument

The following day I drove to Livigno to get duty free fuel…78c/litre instead of 1euro 30.  I aalso bough a camera as the display on mine had gone belly up.
Next stop Bellagio

Final ride from Moena then to Bormio

My last ride from Moena on Friday was to the Passo Pordoi.
It turned out to be test day for the Maratona degli Dolomiti which happened on Sunday and so the road was swamped not only with sports cars, cars, motorbikes but also a gazillion cyclists.  Any thought of doing the circuit evaporated very quickly.

Passo Pordoi ride

I heard te Passo Fedaia was closed due to a landslide..luckily Alex had ridden it the day before.

Our final full day in Moena was Saturday and it was to be an off the bike day.  We drove over the Passo Rolle back into Feltre to stow Alex’s bike box in the garage I have rented for just that purpose.  It joins my TT bike and wheels and all the stuff I just dont need with me here in the mountains….a really worthwhile expense.  We also caught up with Deborah my former language teacher and had a nice lunch in a re-vamped caff in the centre of town.
Sunday was lemming day for us, but we were ahead of the crowd for most of the journey, although our GPS played up twice…completely sending us off track at one point and desperately trying to get us to visit every small village instead of using the bypass road at another point.

Moena to Bormio..we chose not to go the northern route..been there, done that got stuck in a queue both times!

Snow was visible fairly soon..although we’ve not yet worked out exactly where it was.  PS I was the passenger!

Gotta find out which range this is

Our apartment in Bormio was easily found..close to the bike shop and opposite the thermal baths.  Our host wasn’t there but his uncle and aunt were and they not only welcomed us but also took me by car to the supermarket…I said I wanted to walk but they insisted…and let me walk back!  The apartment is on the third floor…groan!..there are 2 apartments on the third floor…ours is a 2 bedroomed one that can house 6, although that would be VERY  squeezy. 
Bormio pix




For me today’s ride was the Stelvio..the odd sticking out bits must be where I was going through tunnels and lost satellite reception.

Bormio to Passo Stelvio..big climb, many tornanti

I missed doing it last year as I spent far too much time having root canals sorted following a broken tooth on the first day here.  I was hampered today by back pain, which I hope has been sorted by a very good but somewhat expensive massage this evening.
I got there eventually and there was quite alot of snow as evidenced by the 3 downhill skiers I saw.

Proof!

On the way up..needed a rest!

Ditto

The other side

ditto

View from the caff that was recommended to me..up the wooden steps..just about managed it!

Moena-Pradazzo–Cavalese-Passo Lavaze’

4 days of rest and recuperation and it’s time to test the legs again, although perhaps I chose a test too far! On the profile below red indicates a 10% climb or worse and in this climb it was worse!  Just like  x rays, these profiles are really a shadow of the truth  and here the red is telling porkies and should actually extend  almost to the top. Also  I  saw 14% on my garmin, so maybe the next worse colour should hae been present too…and yes I was still on the bike at the time of the 14% and no I wasn’t hallucinating.

Later on I struggled and had to walk a short while as I just couldn’t keep going without a rest.

profile of the 10km climb red -tough

doesn't look very hard does it!

Proof I was there and able to take a photo!

It was grey and cold up on top, but very pleasant lower down.


Good to know we (Aussies) are included but actually it was an invite for motor cyclists not us,


On the way up I paused to take these pix in Cavalese:

Dolomiti climbs then flat valley rides in Sankt Johann

 

In the days post granfondo I was shattered. 

Monday I drove here to Moena and didn’t ride at all…what I did do was eat eat eat eat and continued to do continuously  for 3 days…I just could not get enough food   and fluid inside me!

Tuesday I did a couple of valley rides up to Canazei and then the other way to Pradazzo, but valley rides here are rather lumpy.

Wednesday I rode the Passo Fedaia…the easier side from Canazei below is the  profile

 

Thursday the Passo San Pellegrini

and Friday the Passo Costalungo , although on this last ride I needed a rest part way as my back was painful. 

There were also far too many motorbikes on the road and as my legs needed a rest from all that  climbing, I decided to retreat to Sankt Johann in Tirol for the weekend.  The valleys there are much flatter and really isn’t much else apart from climbing in the dolomiti!

I had a great 2 days on well known roads and rediscovered a cadence greater than “grind” and return here refreshed and ready to add climbing metres to my year’s total.  Maybe something a bit longer if the weather permits.

Yesterday was pick up Alex from Munich airport day and all went very smoothly until we were trying to get off the autostrada at Bolzano, where at the toll booth we encountered a long queue of apparently stuck army vehicles

As with all queues like this first there is silence, then much horn tooting and eventually impatient drivers emerge from their cars to asked WTF. It turned out the army were to be escorted through Bolzano city by the Carabinieri but had taken the wrong exit from the autostrada!

We arrived too late to discover whether it was the army or the  Carabinieri  who had led them down the wrong path but that matters not really...jokes abound.

Next week we’re in Bormio where climbing the Stelvio and the Mortirolo feature strongly in our plans…yet again.  Last year  I had a dental issue while in Bormio and so spent more hours in the dentist’s chair than on my bike.

 

 

 

…

Moena..just a few odd pix

Moena, located in the north of Italy shows huge influences of Austrian architecture, language and culture.  Parts of the north of Italy were in fact Austria before and during the 1st WW.
As well as this influence there is also a significant minority cultural group who speak Ladin.  As a result signs in this part of Italy  are in at least 2 languages,sometimes 3 and although I’ve not asked the question, the spelling of my apartment seems less Italian and more Ladin to me
. 
As ever I’m mistaken for a German speaking person here..no-one would ever pick   me  as being an Italian!
I thought, in fact I am certain I had asked for a small/klein/piccolo glass of coca cola!!  sort of glad I did

and here we have a small issue:

I’ll keep an eye on things and let you know if the prodigal son returns.

and finally…dont you just love the colour of glacier melt water

Granfondo time

I entered the Sportful Dolomiti which starts and finishes in Feltre some time ago but it was only as I got closer to the day that I realised quite what I had let myself in for.  There are 2 courses in this event but I was only allowed to enter the shorter one and that one was said to be about 135km long with over 3000m climb.

I had hoped to stay in Feltre itself but the rooms left by the time I got round to searching were all waaay too expensive, so I stayed 22km out of town in a hotel at Primolano. Just like many regular events, people book their favourite accomm a year ahead.  I’ve sorted this problem out by doing just that as I plan on returning next year.

On the day the weather was cool with just a small amount of rain on the final ascent for me, although others on the longer course got wetter.  I had my goretex fronted under shirt plus arm warmers on  so didn't need to stop before every descent.


Over 4000 riders and the organisation was brilliant. Coloured coded signs all around town directed riders to the rear of the start queue with a side corridor to allow passage to the more forward pens.
The start was essentially very slow for those of us at the back even after we had crossed over the first transponder mat (there were mats at every climb) and the start roads were totally closed.  The rest of the course also had closed roads, but only for specific periods of the day and so when I was descending my second last descent, which was only on the shorter course,I had traffic to contend with but the last descent was on both courses and so was closed…hence a PB descent!



I was going ok until 5km from the top of the Passo Brocon when I had an explosive rear wheel puncture.  I had tossed up which of my clincher wheels to bring and while the ones that got the nod are just a bit difficult to change, recently I’ve managed it ok. However in the cold and in the heat of the moment  I struggled.  A good samaritan stopped to help  but when using the CO2 had failed to seat the tyre properly and so I ended up having to deflate it and re-do….more time and CO2.



In all, looking at the graph I lost about 20 minutes + the time lost later on when stopping at the mechanics van asking for a spare tube  That was sad as I had been with a group of riders going at my pace, whereas when I re-started I was with slower riders and so ended up being solo more than previously.  My downfall came over the final climb up Passo Croce d’Aune where my strength finally gave out and  as I was going so slowly  had to get off and  walk a short while  or fall off!
 
Nutrition and hydration during long rides has always been an issue for me but thanks to advice from the dietitian at Rise Health Performance I got the hydration bit sorted by adding 2 or 3 SIS, Multipower or Enervit runny types of gel to my water bottle, and diluting it with water.

And for nutrition rather than dealing with small gel packets and ending up with sticky fingers I bought one of these and filled it with 5 gels,which is what it's for.....

There was a plea in the GF info book asking for no littering, mentioning that empty gel packets weighed little…totally ignored of course(!) and missing the point completely ..its not the weight, it’s the stickyness that causes people to chuck them.

Post ride I was very tired and struggled to  my chew evening meal!

My next stop is where I am right now for 2 weeks, in the Dolomites at Moena, staying a rather nice apartment although I’d prefer it if the TV had more English speaking channels..I think I've had enough of Brexit stories.  Of the approx 600 channels available at least 1/3  have either "sex", "porn" or "erotic" as a title...I think if I was tempted at all it's be the one labelled "Mobile Sex" that would get the nod.

The apartment's owner lives on the top floor and the apartment is so “nice” I’m not allowed to bring my bikes inside, instead there is a secure garage where both bike and car are living.  There is a festival on from Thursday to Sunday and I've been warned there will be much noise/music....Probably of the oompah oompah variety



Valley  recovery rides were all I could mange yesterday, although even valley rides have 10% gradients here.  Today?  perhaps Passo Fedaia..the easier side then maybe Passo San Pellegrini tomorrow....sort of depends on the weather and how I feel.

Alex joins me on Monday and, given the weather forecasts back home, I suspect he wishes it was a day or two earlier.

Feltre and the Sportful Dolomiti Granfondo

Here it is:
133.8km long for me…the lower loop and it’s a bit lumpy.


the first climb is the worst at 18km long…and so is the last one!


These pix were taken on the reconnaissance ride and are 6km from the top of the first climb …133km and >2000m climb is considered “medium”.

this is the weather forecast at the same place..you know the type ..if you can’t see it, it’s foggy, if it’s horizontal it’s windy etc etc!
and now for something different  and it’s nothing to do  with the Doctor!!

it’s a community book exchange…saw one in Sankt Johann too.  Honesty system.