So last night we had thunder and lightning, strong winds and heavy rain. This morning, it was dry and not as hot as recent mornings. The end of the day would be somewhat different.
We're into the last week of the tour now, heading North/Northwest for the next few days, with a mountain range or two to cross. Time on tour seems to fly by and we always lose track of what day of the week it is. It's Day 24 today, that's what matters, so we'd have to look at the phone to know what day it is!
The day started OK. I'd sorted out the connection problems with helmet and Tomtom last night, so everything was good. Today's ride would take us up the western side of Lake Garda, before heading up into the Dolomite Mountains. Well, that was the plan, anyway.
We'd been bowling along nicely, then we hit the back of a traffic jam. We managed to work our way to the cause, our exit from a roundabout blocked by local police. It was chaos! Cars were going onto the roundabout, only to find their exit was blocked once it was too late. We had the same problem but went right round and worked our way into the queue going into the town centre. I checked the map on Tomtom and could see there was an alternative way but most of the cars were going that way anyway, so I filtered through them. I thought Grizzly was with me, he wasn't. The next time I saw him was when I arrived at the hotel. Failing to stick to my tail, always has consequences and this time Grizzly's wonderful Garmin couldn't help him out. Somehow he managed to go round the same traffic queue 3 times, before taking an alternative route. Meanwhile, I was on the original route and at our first stop.
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| Lake Garda, 2/3 the way up |
I got a voicemail from Grizzly, to say he was going a different way and would meet me at our 3rd scheduled stop. Next for me was the fuel stop. When I got there, I was told the card system wasn't working, so it was cash only. I had €15 in my wallet, so that's what went in.
From the fuel stop on I was climbing into the mountains. There were some really nice roads, varying in twistiness and some impressive views of the mountains. I came round one bend though, to see a small landslide had covered half the road, not my side, but it was still trickling some earth down, as I went by! Best not to hang around.
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| The Dolomite Mountains |
I was enjoying not having to keep checking behind me and being able to ride the roads at my own pace. As I climbed into the mountains the temperature gradually dropped. I can't remember the last time I saw that low, about 17 degrees. I reached the 3rd scheduled stop. Grizzly had messaged to say carry on to the hotel. He said his eta was 14:40. Mine showed 15:15, so I knew he wasn't taking the same roads as me. Just as well.
The pass over the mountains started out really nice, a smoothe wide road but then turned into something completely different. It narrowed to half its width, with passing places, and the surface wasn't half as good. Throw into the mix, a liberal sprinkling of very, and I mean VERY tight hairpin bends and the fun stopped. As I continued to climb, I entered the clouds, so that meant I and the road surface were now damp. Then throw in a sheer drop of hundreds and hundreds of feet, with no barriers and the ride became scary too. By the time I got to the summit, I had come out of the cloud, was now at the snow level and the temperature was only 9 degrees.
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| The Summit, Scary Pass or Passo del Gavia |
Going down wasn't much better. The hairpins are easier but obviously you are on the brakes the whole time. I survived to tell the tale, once again though. š
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| From our room balcony |
We ate just up the road, a 3 course tourist menu, with a couple of local beers. Tomorrow we hit one of the most famous passes in Europe, Stelvio Pass, the highest tarmac pass in the Eastern Alps. Hopefully it won't be as scary as Gavia! We'll end the day in Austria.
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| 32,000 miles and over 3,000 for the tour so far |
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