Tutti Dolomiti Stage 11 – the Gavia

Bormio to Mezzana

Strava: 72.64 km, 2,048m, 4:36, 136 shifts

Our perfect weather has departed and we set out under cloudy skies with cool temps at 8:50 this morning from Bormio. The famous 26 km Passo di Gavia climb starts right away although it’s not 100% continuously climbing. By pure chance, we had a super good luck thing happen today: The pass is still closed due to snow, but is rideable by bike! Our fearless leader Wilbert rode it on the rest day. From km 18 to the summit and then down to km 35, the pass was physically closed so there could be no motor vehicles!

I wasn’t feeling particularly strong but was able to keep pedaling for a long time. It took me about 2.5 hours to make the whole climb, colder and colder as we pushed up to over 2,600m. It wasn’t perfect like the Stelvio but it was pretty great. When I rode past the frozen lake on top and got to the summit, what was there? A warm and welcoming Refuge (restaurant) of course! Mike was inside parked in front of the heater and everyone was enjoying the warm. We all put on more clothing for the descent; I even used my thick leg warmers for the first time on the trip. A few drops of rain fell at the end of the climb but not much.

After summit photos we took off – down into the fog. Pretty soon it was so thick, I am pretty sure I’ve never seen thicker. The road is a very narrow single lane (feels like 2m wide!) and you really had to be careful not being able to see much. Two km from the summit we hit the infamous tunnel. It’s super dark, due to a curve near the beginning and is long. It also had a weird fog effect inside. And it’s guarded by a giant bulldozer in the left half of the lane. This jumped out of the fog at me and I’m lucky I wasn’t going fast. It was completely surreal in the tunnel. Mike had a single, tiny headlight which lit up the fog a little, but we basically went slow, then could see an eerie shape of the exit far ahead. It was also quite steep downhill. I can barely imagine riding this with motorcycles and cars going in both directions. This must be INSANE in summer – that is, starting in a few days.

We finally popped out of the tunnel, then soon emerged from the fog and really enjoyed the descent, faster from there. We got down into the trees and there were pine needles all over the road. And there were a number of bikers toiling upwards as we whizzed down. We crossed the barrier at 35 km, then continued to lunch at 42 km. The vans had a three hour epic drive, a much longer route. But thanks to Ben and Dion, we had a great lunch. We were already a little bit up the second climb of the day, the Passo di Tonale, lower and not as exciting or famous. To make up for that, the rain started pouring as we set out, and I resigned myself to climbing 500m in nine km very wet. In the end, it didn’t pour for long and wasn’t that bad.

From that second pass, we had an easy 20 km descent to the town of Mezzana. I got stuck behind a truck and ended up having to stop at least six times to check out the view, take a photo, relax and let him get ahead. This way I got to ride at speed rather than riding the brakes and being frustrated. When I was about four km from the end, the entire sky ahead turned very dark gray, almost black – it was like a wall of cloud and rain right where I was headed. I put on some speed to try and race it to the hotel. One km from the end a few drops started but I arrived almost completely dry. Soup was under a big overhang at the hotel and it was wonderful to be done. I felt more tired than the numbers for the ride would indicate.

After snacks, I stashed my bike in the garage and checked in with Mike. We had an even better than usual room, with a big balcony and a sitting room. I video chatted with Katie, starting her day in Santa Cruz. I’ve said it before but WhatsApp is the best app on my phone! It was pouring outside. Then a very nice shower. I couldn’t be bothered with laundry so just hung up my clothes to dry. Downstairs the bartender showed us a room full of free snacks, pizza, cheese, bread, chocolate cake etc., so along with our celebratory drinks we had a fourth meal. Dinner was not for three hours after all.

In the afternoon I relaxed, wrote this up, then went to dinner at 7. Again there was an incredible salad bar, then two big courses and dessert. Wilbert briefed us for tomorrow’s final mountain stage to Lake Garda. I think it’s time for a massive sleep tonight! What a ride!