Had a good time in Rome, despite the heat, taking in all the usual tourist hotspots. From there we went to Florence and then on to Bormio. Some navigation glitch sent us up and over a switchback route over the mountain to Bormio.
Meeting up with Stephen Kenny the first night, adding in Hamid and Shab the next, our time was pretty short before we were off and riding.
The ride was horrendous. Giro mountaintop finishes packed together, lots of gravel, way way too much hors difficulty to be fun. The Italians criticized the route - degree of difficulty, dangerous gallerias (tunnels), sleeping on chairs midway up a 43km climb (yes, 43kn), more walking than I care to admit - they took a spectacular 2018 route and in their Covid induced desire to avoid border crossings, strung climbs together. There were descents that were worse than the climbs with steep grades, rapid switchbacks, broken pavement, traffic …
But we finished in time, albeit exhausted. Hamid resolved to skip RAA Bordeaux ride, I carried on. In retrospect he was the smart one. I never really recovered from Alpi, squandered time sleeping on the RAA route (better than weaving into traffic), made the call partway through day 3 of RAA that I could only finish in time with no more sleep, knew that wasn't going to be safe. I also confess to a lack of motivation, exhaustion having taken its toll. A couple of hours of thunderstorm, cold heavy rain and wind on the way to Col Soulor and d'Aubisque.
Memorable moments abound:
- slow climbs in the dark on Alpi
- end of the Stelvio climb
- commiserate with Mark and Bob re difficulty
- control staffing on RAA
- riding into a waterfall on Aubisque tunnel
- Wolfgang and Rainer
And much more.
Now in St Medard, heading to Bordeaux shortly.
Onward.
-- From my iwdt
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