10th Stelvio Bike - 2010 Stelvio Pass Italy
Alarm goes off at 5.45. Out of the door 45 minutes later.
28th August 2010, the 10th annual Stelvio Bike ride to the Stelvio Pass (2760m), the second highest in the Alps. The road is traffic-free for the day, 48 hairpins, 25kms and a rise in altitude of approximately 1810 m, the average incline is therefore about 7.4%.
I've done it a few times before by bike (and once in a 20 yr old camper) but this is the first time with a GoPro camera strapped to my chest. See other posts about this camera and tests.
Living so close to Stelvio meant that we could arrive and start early before the 7000 other cyclists turning up throughout the day. Even though we were early, there were many locals already enroute to the 'official start' in the town of Prato allo Stelvio (Prad am Stilsferjoch). You could tell they were locals because they weren't wearing helmets.
I dropped Sabrina off in Prato to meet with friends who would then cycle the full route together, whilst I drove on up to my starting point in Trafoi. I did this in order to be arriving at the pass about the time they did, it takes me longer because I stop frequently along the route to take pictures, and in this case video. I stuck in my ear phones and pressed play for one of my favourite cycling albums by Orbital.
If you are cycling this road for the first time, and you begin here then you will be starting straight into the steep climb without any warm up... and you'll miss the breakfast at the real start ;-)
The Hotel Bella Vista (ran by the Gustav Toni family) is on hairpin 46 and this is where I began after an espresso in the hotel bar. It was then almost 8am.
For me, on the way up the temperature was perfect for this ride, apart from about 20 minutes of light rain from about turn 20. At this time of the morning one doesn't reach the sunshine until about turn 30 and this is welcome because it can get quite hot when you're burning the calories. Along route there are few refreshment stops and a National Park 'cabin' where you can buy your souvenir cyclist shirt (10 Euro) so that you have something dry to wear on the way down :-)
It's uncanny, but Sabrina always catches me up and overtakes me at hairpin turn 4, just before the top. This time I caught her on video heading for the last turn.
At the top there was a growing crowd of people and bicycles with still space to get through and lean my bike against a wall somewhere. Later people just leave them piled up against each other or lay them on the floor.
The low cloud began to arrive, a sure sign that the rain would too, so after a brief refreshment, and the obligatory photo by the sign, we left to descend again. They went down the other side of the pass and back through Switzerland, therefore avoiding all the cycle traffic still coming up. I went back the same way, as I wanted to make the following video... plus I had to get back to my car at turn 46 and a warming cup of tea with the lovely bar staff at Bella Vista.
My back light fell off and bounced over the wall soon after setting off so I had to stop and go mountain climbing to get it back. After that it was 30 mins of free wheeling, cold fingers and dodging those coming up on the wrong side of the road. The video you will see is 5 times faster than normal and for a while there is a rain drop smack bang in the middle, which makes it look like one of my migraines.
See you there next year!
From Stelvio Pass to hairpin turn number 46 in 6 and a half minutes.
Music track: "Steel Cube Idolatry" by Orbital, from the 1996 album Orbital - BUY it, it's a great album to cycle to.
I've done it a few times before by bike (and once in a 20 yr old camper) but this is the first time with a GoPro camera strapped to my chest. See other posts about this camera and tests.
Living so close to Stelvio meant that we could arrive and start early before the 7000 other cyclists turning up throughout the day. Even though we were early, there were many locals already enroute to the 'official start' in the town of Prato allo Stelvio (Prad am Stilsferjoch). You could tell they were locals because they weren't wearing helmets.
I dropped Sabrina off in Prato to meet with friends who would then cycle the full route together, whilst I drove on up to my starting point in Trafoi. I did this in order to be arriving at the pass about the time they did, it takes me longer because I stop frequently along the route to take pictures, and in this case video. I stuck in my ear phones and pressed play for one of my favourite cycling albums by Orbital.
If you are cycling this road for the first time, and you begin here then you will be starting straight into the steep climb without any warm up... and you'll miss the breakfast at the real start ;-)
The Hotel Bella Vista (ran by the Gustav Toni family) is on hairpin 46 and this is where I began after an espresso in the hotel bar. It was then almost 8am.
For me, on the way up the temperature was perfect for this ride, apart from about 20 minutes of light rain from about turn 20. At this time of the morning one doesn't reach the sunshine until about turn 30 and this is welcome because it can get quite hot when you're burning the calories. Along route there are few refreshment stops and a National Park 'cabin' where you can buy your souvenir cyclist shirt (10 Euro) so that you have something dry to wear on the way down :-)
It's uncanny, but Sabrina always catches me up and overtakes me at hairpin turn 4, just before the top. This time I caught her on video heading for the last turn.
At the top there was a growing crowd of people and bicycles with still space to get through and lean my bike against a wall somewhere. Later people just leave them piled up against each other or lay them on the floor.
The low cloud began to arrive, a sure sign that the rain would too, so after a brief refreshment, and the obligatory photo by the sign, we left to descend again. They went down the other side of the pass and back through Switzerland, therefore avoiding all the cycle traffic still coming up. I went back the same way, as I wanted to make the following video... plus I had to get back to my car at turn 46 and a warming cup of tea with the lovely bar staff at Bella Vista.
My back light fell off and bounced over the wall soon after setting off so I had to stop and go mountain climbing to get it back. After that it was 30 mins of free wheeling, cold fingers and dodging those coming up on the wrong side of the road. The video you will see is 5 times faster than normal and for a while there is a rain drop smack bang in the middle, which makes it look like one of my migraines.
See you there next year!
From Stelvio Pass to hairpin turn number 46 in 6 and a half minutes.
Have you got a really big bell ?
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