Milano San Remo Stage 5

Ceresole Reale to Susa

Strava (to lunch only): 79.89 km, 789m, 3:06, 200 shifts, 84.3 kph max speed

After the worst night of sleep on the whole trip, I didn’t feel great at breakfast, but knew the first part of the ride, at least, was going to be fun and easy. We took off at 8:10, headed downhill. Within less than a kilometer we had to choose: tunnel or the bypass route from two days ago. Wilbert strongly recommended the bypass as the safe option since the tunnel is 3.5 km long and steep. But I had done it before and knew it was smooth, clean, well lit and safe. So I didn’t hesitate, straight in. Almost right away the angle increases and you are suddenly going fast. Once I passed the gallery window I looked down and was already at 80. It was so well lit I could keep my sunglasses on. I did slow down a tiny bit for one slight curve but then was back to over 80. The whole thing was over in less than three minutes, so fun. It’s a speed record for my new bike and also my all-time underground speed record. The bike felt like part of me, so solid, without a hint of vibration. I wonder how fast we could go if I pedaled all out at the start, tucked and never touched the brakes? Next time!

After the tunnel it’s another 30 km of descent, although most of it is not very steep. A few hammerheads passed me as I was not putting out much power. Traffic was light but the air got hotter and more humid as we descended. I rode with Geoff and Graham for a good long way, through a bunch of towns, up and down, very nice country roads for the most part. Geoff found us a nice café at 60 km and lots of riders ended up stopping there.

The last 20 km to lunch had more climbing but I felt weak and slow. It was getting really hot and I was melting on arrival. I hoped shade, food and drink would help things but in the end I felt too weak to crank out another 70+ km with over 1,000m of climbing. So I accompanied Hans in the lunch van again. We took the rider’s route and cheered them on as we passed. At the top of the Colle del Lys we stopped for a little while and loved the cool, dry air. Then we drove down to the valley and did a final 30 km gently up to Susa. When we got out at the soup spot, oh man, the temperature felt like 38° with humidity. Brutal riding conditions. Raul was already there but headed off to the hotel for a cold shower without waiting for soup. Soon the other hammerheads arrived, John said he was at his limit. After soup and snacks I rode the final 1.5 km to the hotel. We checked in and I was really glad to see our room has functional A/C. After a cold shower and doing laundry, I felt a bit better. Curt arrived later having had a little mishap similar to my crash in Spain two years ago – you’ve got to watch those cars that suddenly stop right in front of you! I’m hoping he’s not too sore tomorrow. He had to ride 45 km post-crash.

We were on our own for dinner so walked around the corner to a pizzeria. After two rounds of beer, great pizzas, and a round of amaro, things were looking up. Back at the hotel the bartender showed off the local beers he had and I tried a dry-hopped Pils that was quite good. It’s still very light at 21:20 and it’s time for bed. Just another Milano San Remo day.