Blogs from Bormio, Lombardy, Italy, Europe

Today we woke up to overcast skies, but still a beautiful view of the lake. I started my morning off with a bit of a glitch. our hair dryer decided to die about a quarter of the way in, so I ended up going down for breakfast with wet hair…attractive. The breakfast here unbelievably was even better than it was in France. There were assorted pastries , eggs, yogurt , fruit, you name it. The coffee was also delicious. After stuffing ourselves, (going to need to diet when we get back), we headed out to our next destination, Bormio, Italy. Once again we encountered tunnel after tunnel. Our views on this leg was mostly concrete. We ventured off the highway for a stop in Como in hopes of spending time viewing the lake. Once again there ... read more

Continuing the road trip, from Innsbruck we drove to northern Italy through the Stelvio Pass. Boy was that a tough journey in a manual car. The pass consists of 45 hairpin turns up, and another 45 down the mountain, while gaining 2800 m in elevation. It is so scary because when youre making a turn you can't see who is coming your way, and the road is so narrow in some parts that only one car can go at a time. It was a very scary, and incredibly fun drive through the mountains of northern Italy. I can definitely say my skills as a driver of a manual car have greatly improved. It was the ultimate test for myself. That evening (the 25th) we stayed in Santa Caterina, which is just near the bottom of the ... read more

So my big day in the Dolomites has ended up in disappointment, failing to make it up (or even start) the final climb of the day. As it turns out, the Passo di Gavia (2621m) is about as tough a climb as you will find anywhere and given the altitude, an absolutely freezing descent. I am now roughly 30 miles behind schedule, in Bormio when I had planned to be on the other side of the Passo dello Stelvio, so time for excuses... I have none, I think I may have found the limit of what I'm able to do which doesn't include 2 mountain climbs above 2,500m towards the end of 120 odd miles of cycling. That said, the last day or so I have been compelled to the the bathroom a lot more often ... read more