Life In The Saddle

I left my little wild camp at the side of the river Durance this morning, as the sun rose over the Haute Alps, and cast that magical lighting. The decent down through the valley was chilly, but fast. I stopped briefly in a patisserie in Embrum, to grab a pain au raisin. The first roads of the day were main B-roads for the most part, but before long I was taken onto quieter lanes. At around mid-day, just as I was thinking it was time for another fuel stop, I came down with some horrendous stomach cramps. I am not sure of the cause, but suspect either a dodgy village water tap, or some dodgy road-side fruit. Either way, it slowed me to a crawl. Sat in the next village, I force fed myself plain baguette and water. Eventually the cramps seemed to decrease, and I got back on the road. Progress was slow, and the Col de l'Homme Mort seemed like an appropriate climb to be doing this afternoon (it translates as the mountain of the dead man). By late afternoon though, I had rea...

Turin by coffee time. Susa, at the foot of the Montgenevre pass, for a late lunch of olive bread, gelato and coffee. Then, the climbing began... Straight out of Susa, I was hit by a 10 percent gradient, with the temperature rising to 35'C in some exposed areas. I was crawling. Luckily, the sign that had read 40 kilometres to 'Francia' (the border is at the top of the pass), didn't indicate 40 kilometres of solid climbing; there were some respite areas and even downhills in that mileage. Nethertheless, the Montgenevre is a monster. It took me a good 2.5 hours of climbing. I eventually reached the summit, and the border into France, at about 17:00. Descending down to Briançon in the setting sun, I grabbed some supplies from the supermarché, then continued on down the valley. I called it a day a little earlier than normal, with 185km on the clock. I found a great wild camp spot though, and even had time for a very refreshing wash before dinner. Good to be b...

Yesterday, I was blessed with challenging climbs, incredible descents, and secluded traffic-free bike paths. Today, had many good highlights, but it also unfortunately featured many opposites of the above. The day began with a ride down the western edge of Lake Como. I have always loved the Italian lakes, ever since visiting them on family camping holidays. The lake sat beautifully quiet and still in the early morning, and although my legs weren't being overly energetic, it didn't matter too much, as the route was flat or downhill for the most part. I stopped once at the side of the lake, for a coffee and Italian pastry. On reaching the southern end of Como, I turned south west. Suprisingly, my route actually took me back into Switzerland for a half hour. Thankfully I was quickly returned to Italia. The afternoon was mostly spent on quite busy B-roads, and navigating through cities like Varesa. Once out of the Lombardy region though, and fulled by some afternoon G...

Sometimes things just all seem to go to plan; today was, unusually, one of those days. Yesterday was a superb rest day in Merano. I enjoyed a large leisurely breakfast, and spa at the Hotel Therm. The rest of the day included lunch with family, a walk to a waterfall, and plenty of coffee and relaxing. This morning, I had my last hot shower until most likely Sunday night, and once again made the most of the hotel buffet. Then, I set off back up the bike path that I had descended down on Day 7's finish. Direction: Stelvio Pass. After a good two hours of winding up through the apple orchards that cover South Tyrol's valleys, I eventually came to the foot of the pass. At over 2,700 metres above sea level, the Stelvio is a summit well in the Haute Categorie. I have ridden it before, when I raced up it in 2015. There would be no KOMs today though, on my 26kg fully laden touring set-up. The climb seemed to be challenging, but manageable. The weather conditions were pretty ...