Milano San Remo final stage 12

San Remo to San Remo

Strava: 26.6 km, 110m, 1:10, 21 shifts

Today’s stage was a sort of bonus stage. The idea was to ride back along the bike path in the direction of Milano, then turn around and ride the last, most exciting part of the famous Milano San Remo bike race that our tour is named after. The race has been run since 1907 and covers 294 km via a very different route from that of our tour. The last part includes two small but interesting passes, the Cipressa and the Poggio.

Milano San Remo Race: 294 km, approx 2,200-2,300m climbing, fastest time 6:14:44
Milano San Remo Bike Dreams: 1,090 km, approx 23,000m climbing, 12 days

After breakfast, we met out in front of the hotel for a group photo. Then we were free to ride as much of the course as we liked. The recommended route was out and back, 46 km total, with the two passes. There was another track provided that is 117 km, and some people did various other routes. I didn’t want to strain my lungs at all, so stuck to the flat part along the coastline and didn’t do the passes. My route was 26 km, mostly on the bike path.

The official Bike Dreams San Remo last stage photo

I rode with a group, then split off to check out the coast line, and eventually rode back solo. I think my favorite part was the tunnels. There were several, and they really reminded me of unicycling from Nice to Aix-en-Provence back in 2007 when we rode through many similar tunnels. Nice and cool inside! I got back in the late morning and spent time packing my bike box. I disassembled my bike to fit in the box, then packed in other stuff: helmet, tools, lock, spares etc. It’s really nice to have that job done.

In the early afternoon once everyone was back we got together for a champagne lunch, no speeches or anything, just toasts and a nice time. Reflecting on the trip was fun and while a number of us may meet again on future tours, this exact group will never be together again.

I checked into my flight in the afternoon and hung out downstairs for a while. Then it was dinner time and we had one last big meal together. Tonight’s veggie option was much better and I sat at a table that really liked wine. Peter was a star and just picked up the tab for all the bottles at the end! Eddy gave a touching talk about how great the tour was and how much fun the group was. Each of the people who sign up for a trip like this are amazing individuals. It was such a pleasure to get to know more of the tribe and reconnect with the people I knew from previous tours. I hope I can do another one someday.

On these tours I maintained my flat-free record using tubeless tires. These two tours added to my other recent four tours total nearly 25,000 km in 245 stages, all with no tire changes or repairs during a tour. Tubeless really is the way!

On this tour, we also maintained the hospital-free record from Tutti Dolomiti (actually all three Bike Dreams trips so far this season have been accident-free). I’m really happy about that. I hope everyone makes it home safely too. Tomorrow we will scatter all over the planet.

Milano San Remo Stage 10

Vinadio, Italy to Valdeblore, France

Strava (to lunch only): 43.66 km, 1,483m, 3:01, 116 shifts, max speed 75.4 kph

It seemed like a great morning. We could wake up half an hour late due to breakfast not starting until 7:30. When I looked out the window the weather was perfect. And I felt pretty good. After breakfast we started out at 8:45, with a 1 km warm-up, descending to the road up the famous Colle della Lombarda, a 2,347m high pass that’s been included in the Tour de France as an HC (beyond categorization) climb and has also been included in the Giro d’Italia. The climb is almost 1,500m in 22 km.

The climb was never too steep but the first 800m of it was consistent, around 9-10%. After we got going, I wasn’t feeling great, couldn’t breathe properly, but kept at it. A bunch of us stopped halfway, but I wasn’t watching the stats and thought it was maybe a third of the way. I got energized finding out we were half done. I had a banana and lots of water. A little later we stopped at a beautiful fountain with fresh mountain water to refill. I talked to a local cyclist who was really proud of his region and this pass in particular.

The second half was a little easier with a couple of sections of less steep riding. At the end the angle eased off and it was quite nice. I caught up to Louis and Carien for that section and we got to the top together. My time was 2:38:45 from the hotel, probably the slowest person as I was really not feeling well. I hiked up a little from the pass (which was crawling with motorcyclists) and took a photo at the giant ibex we had seen from far down the hill.

After more food and water it was time to blast down. It was quite warm so no need for more clothes. The top part had lots of switchbacks, very steep and sharp. There was one straight section where I could let the bike do its thing for a while, then I got to Isola 2000, a ski area at 2,000m. From there we’d been told the road was steep and straight but actually there were straight-ish sections with lots and lots of very sharp and steep pairs of switchbacks and I had to really brake a lot. There were some exciting tunnels – exciting if you don’t take off your glasses or touch your brakes!

We knew that the famous bike racing team UAE Team Emirates XRG was doing its high altitude pre-Tour de France training based in Isola 2000, so we were all on the lookout for their jerseys as we descended. Right as I pulled into the lower town of Isola I spied one of their team cars with some great looking bikes on the roof. I saw one of their riders by a café as I headed through town but didn’t stop as I was heading to lunch, just below. Several of our riders did stop and got to see a number of the team members including their most famous guy, Slovenian Tadej Pogačar. Tom asked for a selfie with him but was denied. Nina got to watch him wheelie down the road and sat next to him for a while at the café. She said it was the most exciting thing ever. Curt shot the best photo that I saw – Nina was ready to pay any amount for it, but in the end he graciously posted it on WhatsApp for everyone to enjoy.

Lunch was at the bottom of the town, in a place where Bike Dreams has lunch on various tours. Lex said he’s eaten there 4-5 times. Hans served up his usual masterpiece and we ate in the shade, right next to the Land Rover with Monaco plates that Nina swore was owned by another famous UAE Team member, Adam Yates. Unfortunately I was coughing and quite weak, even after an uplifting descent. I decided to bail on the afternoon session even though it was short. I wanted to avoid breathing hard on the final 600m climb to the hotel. So after everyone left, Hans and I started a nice drive down the river, then up steeply to the little village of Valdeblore. We actually missed the turn so got to have a more extended scenic tour of the area. We passed the last few riders on their way up the steep, hot, winding road. Then we arrived and had soup with red-faced riders.

We don’t all fit in the one hotel in town so about half the people are spread in three more hotels five km up the hill – Wilbert and Hans shuttled them after soup and snacks. Curt and I ended up in the garden across the street from the hotel with a bunch of the others staying in Hotel Valdeblore, sipping beers in the shade. We decided that everywhere should have a beer garden, and if that were implemented, the world would be a much better place.

I relaxed a bit in the afternoon then we all had a long, loud dinner at 19:30. It was cold veggie pasta salad followed by a main course of polenta with fish & veggies for the non-meat eaters and with some kind of curried meat for most people. Delicious ice-cream for dessert. While looking at the profile for tomorrow’s big ride back to Italy ending in San Remo, based on how I felt, I booked a ride with Hans in the lunch van for the morning. That way I can ride ~70 km of mostly downhill to our final city of this tour.

Milano San Remo Stage 9

Sampeyre to Vinadio

Strava (to lunch only): 37.18 km, 1,374m, 2:56, 67 shifts, max speed 69.9 kph

I woke up at 6:30 after probably the worst sleep of the trip – it was so hot in our room, that even in the morning, neither of us had even a sheet over us. And there were dogs and the hourly and half hourly church bells, what a complainer! It was cool outside at least as we assembled after breakfast. We left at the normal time and had a one or two minute warm-up, then the first climb started straight away. The Colle de Sampeyre is a 1,350m climb in 14 km up to 2,284m. The very narrow road winds through forests and a ski slope for most of the way, getting a little rocky and more open at the top. There wasn’t much traffic, but there were occasional large cattle trucks.

Riggo’s shot of me climbing in the clouds with Louis and Carien

I resolved to make it without straining so went slow and steady. My pace suited Carien and Louis so we ended up doing the whole climb together. We stopped twice, once for photos and once for drinks and bananas. Even though the air was cool up high, some would say cold, I was sweating up a storm and arrived at the top in 2:23, pretty wet.

Fog was coming across the summit as we arrived so the view back to Sampeyre was not visible but we could see down the other way. We stayed only for a few photos, then headed down. It was chilly which felt great to me. We had some sections of thick fog, one of them included a construction zone where we rode on bumpy gravel. Then we got below the fog and it pretty quickly warmed up. There were lots of steep switchbacks, and a couple of difficult cars to pass – it’s one narrow lane so when two cars meet, someone has to back up and that’s tedious to get by.

Lower down it was warm and fast, past several villages with beautiful church towers. But the road stayed very narrow and you really have to pay full attention as you never know what large vehicle will be lurking behind any corner and there are a lot of corners. I cruised behind one car with a bike rack for a while and then he graciously pulled over to let me go my own speed. Cars just can’t hang with bikes on this type of descent.

Looking up from the bottom at two villages I had just blasted through

At the bottom, I spied Eddy, sipping coffee across the road warming up. I sat with him a while then headed to lunch, just up the canyon. It was a narrow, deep canyon with a strong wind blowing. Lunch was in a great spot as usual, delicious food. I was planning on riding the second half and my heart really wanted to. But honestly my body was saying no. So I had a nap on the grass while the guys packed up after lunch, then got in the van with Wilbert again. A number of riders had taken the vans to lunch and were doing the second climb, and some were not riding either climb. I may have been the only one who just rode the first one.

We drove down the valley to the Po Plain again, south a little, then up the same road as yesterday back to Vinadio. It took an hour and 20 minutes and I slept part of the way and chatted with Wilbert the rest of the time. We are spread about equally into two hotels in town; it’s a very small village of 570 people at 900m. Wijnand already had soup ready and Blair, one of the “second pass only” guys, was the only rider there. He had tales of 20% grades, rough gravel and an amazing 40 km descent that made me wish I could’ve climbed that one as well. The Colle di Fauniera is 2,481m high and has been in the Giro d’Italia.

I had a relaxing afternoon at the hotel, helped the Bike Dreams staff with dish-washing, had more snacks, chatted, did laundry, etc. Dinner was in our hotel at 19:30, decent but a little small. Curt left early to sleep and his dessert was shared out around the table. Wilbert presented tomorrow’s stage, where we start with a giant climb back up to the French border. I am hoping to be able to do the whole stage. It’s nice and cool in this town, so I think I’ll sleep well tonight.

Milano San Remo Stage 8

Briançon, France to Sampeyre, Italy

Strava (to lunch only): 38.25 km, 1,286m, 2:32, 93 shifts, max speed 80 kph

On waking up this morning I felt the best of any day on the whole trip. Could it be I am finally shaking this sickness? We had a nice breakfast, I made sure to sample the pastries since that is one thing that is typically amazing in France. 9.5 out of 10 there. Then we packed up and headed out at 8:15 as usual.

Getting ready to roll once again, in Briançon

The stage had two climbs and the first one, to Col d’Izoard, started practically in town. Right away my Garmin said 19 km with a bit over 1,100m climbing. So up we went. The air temperature was pretty nice, cool in the shade, but it wasn’t long before I was sweating mightily. I had hoped my power would be back but no, I was still stuck in the slow lane. It didn’t matter though, I just kept going, climbing with Louis, Carien and Curt. We stopped for snacks etc. after about 850m of climbing, then continued to the top. It wasn’t too steep which was nice. The weather was perfect and it was really nice rolling up that last switchback to the summit.

There were lots of people up there, I’d say more motorcyclists than bicyclists. We took some photos, ate and drank and checked out the gorgeous view in either direction. This pass is pretty famous since it’s been included in the Tour de France many times, and is an HC (beyond categorization) type climb. I almost bought a souvenir in the shop on top but somehow avoided it.

We started down and right away it seemed steeper on this side. There was a spicy little climb in there and some gorgeous rock towers, then a bunch of steep, sharp switchbacks. My new pads were squeaking a little – they got pretty hot! Lower down the road straightened out and I had the extreme pleasure of blasting through a red light at 80 kph! There were a number of these one-way sections for cars and in this case I could see the whole section was vacant so shot it in seconds.

We had some more descending, then I rode to lunch with Eddy who is awesome to draft behind. He’s so tall and strong! We got to lunch, at another gorgeous shady spot. I had a great meal then had to decide whether to join others in the vans or crank out the second climb, the Col Agnel, which at 2,744m is the highest point of the tour. I went back and forth and finally decided to not kill myself and to take it easy. The downside of this was that the vans couldn’t go over the Col and the route around was 200 km, but the upside was (I hoped) that my body would recover more and faster.

After everyone finished lunch, we packed up and I went with Graham in Wilbert’s van, and three others went with Hans. The route was long, first over the Col de Vars and then the Col de Larche where we reentered Italy. We ended up arriving at the hotel after 4pm, I think just after the last rider. I was told I did the right thing, evidently the last part of the second climb was a harder than the numbers let us to expect. Anyway, I’m happy with my decision, nothing to prove, I just want to enjoy cycling and get healthy again. I made an appointment to see my doctor a week from today at home, if I’m still feeling bad.

We had dinner in the hotel, pretty good with opportunities for seconds and double or more desserts. Wilbert showed us tomorrow’s stage, very similar to today’s with two giant passes and lunch between. But both passes are longer and steeper. Oh boy. I might have to half-stage it again…

Milano San Remo Stage 7

Sestriere, Italy to Briançon, France

Strava: 73.45 km, 998m, 3:21, 167 shifts

Today’s stage was a pretty easy one so even though I wasn’t feeling strong I knew it would be doable. We left at 8:30, starting with a 200m climb to the top of the town of Sestriere. I followed the track for the descent but there was a better route available – should’ve paid more attention. Still any downhill is a good downhill in my book. A bunch of us stopped at a café in Oulx so as to not arrive at lunch too early.

We had even more downhill after that, but eventually the climb for the day started, up to the Col de l’Échelle. It was about 8.5 km and somewhere I didn’t notice, just before the switchbacks, we passed into France. The climb was relatively moderate, just under 600m and had a couple of really cool tunnels hacked out of the rock.

Looking back while climbing to Col de l’Échelle

Lunch was a couple of km along the road from what felt like the pass, in the most beautiful spot we’ve had yet. I sought out the shade but some people actually moved into the sun – the mountain air was very nice. I had a relaxed time, savoring the food and the views, knowing early check-in to the hotel was unlikely.

The last 20 km of the ride was downhill but into the wind. At the end the route snaked an intricate path through the old part of Briançon which felt like a little sightseeing. Soon I arrived at the hotel for a round of soup and snacks. Even though it was early I could check-in and after a shower and laundry had a long, very deep sleep. We are on our own for dinner tonight, but it’s Sunday, when many restaurants are closed. After checking about 20 closed restaurants, I made a reservation for four of us at l’Alpin even though I couldn’t really read the online menu.

We walked over at 7 and sat outside. Using Google translate we were able to figure out the menu and got started with a round of drinks. We talked Blair into ordering his beer avec sirop – I told him it was a local specialty. He picked peach and claimed it was really good. When our food came, I think we were all happily impressed. Afterwards Tom said it’s the fullest he’d been since he left home, and he gave me one of his pieces of toast with blue cheese. It’s great to go local and go big sometimes. The Bike Dreams staff saw us and attempted to get a table but were sent off. We told the waiter they were the Dutch Mafia. After a round of digestif – Curt had Armagnac, Blair and I limoncello, Tom beer – we walked home and called it a night. Big day tomorrow!

Milano San Remo Stage 6 – the Finestre!

Susa to Sestriere via the Colle delle Finestre

Strava: 45.2 km, 2,153m, 4:21, 56 shifts

Phew, I am tired and used up from a 45 km ride! Now I can tell you from personal experience that it’s very different riding the Colle delle Finestre vs watching the Giro d’Italia coverage of it. Those guys are something else. Some of our fastest riders were talking about a goal of climbing in double the new Giro record time. [Simon Yates, in “the climbing performance of his career”, summited in 59:23 on May 31, 2025.] I found out later that our Portuguese hotshot, Raul, was the only one of us who managed double – he did it in 1:54:14. Sick old Nathan was trying for triple, beating ~3 hours, and I made it considering moving time, but not considering total time. Read this page describing the new record and the climb, “one of the hardest and longest climbs in cycling”.

Doesn’t look too bad on paper, today’s route sheet

We had a two km warm up, gently downhill from the center of Susa. Then the Finestre starts and the first section is the steepest. Something like two km at 14%. Since I was expecting it to be insane, it didn’t actually feel that bad but it woke me up, that’s for sure. Then there’s a section of about 30 switchbacks some of them ridiculously short. I think it averages 9-10%, but it goes through a nice forest and wasn’t super bad for me, although I was sweating a lot. At about 10 km, the pavement ends and there is a beautiful place to stop for cool, fresh mountain water. That was my first stop, after about 1,000m of climbing. I drank a whole bottle, had an electrolyte pill and a banana, then carried on, up the very famous 7.8 km long gravel section.

I was imagining that it would be all dusty but for most of the way it was somehow a little wet and lots of the way was pretty smooth. There were a ton of other cyclists riding up, some on E, some on mountain bikes, some on gravel bikes, but mostly on road bikes. There were also motorcyclists, and since it averages 10%, their tires spin a bit and kick up dirt and rocks. I really liked the signs every kilometer, although thanks to my recomputed GPS track, all the climbing features on my Garmin were working perfectly. The 7.8 km counted down and I made it to the top, with a couple of photo stops – it is stunning once you leave the trees. The final switchbacks do not let up but by then you can see the summit with lots of riders gathered.

Curt was up on top, having completed the climb despite barely being able to walk due to his crash the other day. Hard man. We took some photos and talked to some other riders and tried to dry off – my clothes were all soaked. I ate and drank, then headed down on the paved road.

There’s our paved road descending toward Sestriere

The descent was nice, such a difference! I dried out but got stuck behind slow motorcyclists and one slow car for a while. My new brakes were breaking in, and all was good. I hit the main road far below and had a last 14 km section to go to our hotel, just before Sestriere. There were a few cooling rain drops at the bottom, but that dried up all too quickly. It got slowly steeper and hotter, and wow, was I working hard. When I finally got to the turn off and coasted down to the hotel I was so happy! I was cheered and sat in the shade for a few minutes before having a great lunch with a nice asparagus soup by Wijnand.

Our room is pretty nice but has the small kind of shower stall. It’s square shaped, tiny, and the doors open barely wide enough for me to get in. Is it not-so-subtle encouragement to stay slim and light? After putting my laundry out on the deck I went downstairs to the spacious living room and we hung out for a long time in the afternoon. I had one beer but bought lots and we ran out the whole supply (well, he was down to only Heineken which is essentially the same thing).

I wrote up this post, video chatted with Katie and did some reading before dinner. I don’t think anyone particularly loved it. The vegetarians were definitely an afterthought and ended up with various non-meat options. I had unseasoned tofu and vegetables. We all had to eat the lasagna course which the waiter swore had no meat but … maybe it did. Dessert was a chocolate blob for most but a couple of the vegetarians like me received a large serving of delicious berry ice-cream. I could see I wasn’t the only one pretty flamed from the ride. Luckily our ride to France tomorrow looks relatively easy on paper… I am going to sleep like a stone tonight.

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.

Cold drinks are so great on a hot humid day

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.

Dinner time across the street – Graham, Nina, Curt and Nathan

Pizza tonno e cipolla (Tuna and onion pizza)

Milano San Remo Stage 4

Ceresole Reale → Colle del Nivolet → Ceresole Reale

Strava: 40.69 km, 1,296m, 2:53, 108 shifts

When I looked out the window this morning the crystal clear view of the peaks was stunning. The weather looked perfect for a climb up high in the mountains. I walked over for breakfast at 8 then we started out. Everyone went at their own pace and I fell in with Louis and Carien and ended up doing the whole climb with them. It’s about 20 km each way, starting up the gorgeous valley, then winding past the last trees, and up into a series of switchbacks ending at the first of the lakes that feed Torino’s hydro power system. Then we climbed past a couple more lakes, and finally up to the summit nearly 2,600m up. Today’s trivia: if you add up the number of times Louis, Carien and I have gone around the sun, you get 213, which is exactly triple one of our ages.

Hans drove up and shot photos of us climbing

The road is closed to all but foot and bike traffic for the last six km which made it really nice. But even down where it’s open I was surprised at the lack of traffic on a 100% perfect weather day. There was lots of snow alongside the road up high and near the top, you had to be careful since the shady side had ice on the road. I saw one hiker take a tumble.

Since there was no time pressure, as we climbed we stopped for photos and snacks several times. At the first snowbank, Louis started a snowball fight with Carien, kids will be kids. When the fight started again on the summit, someone said, “Louis is 76??? Do you think he’ll ever grow up?”. I said, “I hope not!”

From the top I went a little way down the other side to watch the snowplows working hard down below on the high dirt road I rode last September with Wytze, Andrew and Daniel. That was such a different day than today, amazing it was really just a few months ago. After more photos, it was time to head down. Since I had stopped so many times on the way up, I went straight down and was back at the hotel in 36 minutes, that’s vs two hours and 36 minutes for the climb! I had snacks, then went to the other hotel for a shower. Finishing by noon feels like a rest day! Then I realized I was still hungry so I headed back down for a long, relaxed second lunch with Wijnand’s best-ever soup – mushroom! Eventually I went back and napped heavily.

Dinner was similar to last night, filling and good. Pasta with asparagus and shrimp, then a spinach “omelette”, and a chocolaty dessert. With lots of water. Wilbert gave us the briefing for tomorrow’s longer stage, 153 km. If we survive that, we have the single rest day of the tour to look forward to.

Milano San Remo Stage 2

Lago d’Orta to Santuario di Oropa

Strava (to lunch only): 51.22 km, 752m, 2:36, 123 shifts

I slept pretty well but felt like I could’ve used more. Breakfast was at 7am, and we left as usual at 8:15. The first part of the ride was nice and cool, easy riding around the lake, nearly flat. After a 12 km warmup, we started climbing Passo della Colma, 640m up in 15 km. I felt weaker than yesterday and kept telling myself to take it easy. I rode with Curt, Carien, Louis and a few others, nice and easy. I wasn’t looking at the distance so when we made it I was a little surprised. We took some photos, then headed down.

I enjoyed the descent and got ahead, then continued solo to a town where I had a banana break but it was only a few more km to lunch from there. I did not really feel right…but told myself I’d be better after lunch. That didn’t work at all so I decided to listen to my body and not push. After lunch there was almost 1,500m more to climb, some of it steep. So opting out seemed like a good idea.

After everyone ate, we cleaned up and I rode with Hans in the extra van. We talked for a while then I fell asleep and never saw the hard climb, but I woke up just as we arrived at the monastery where we’re staying, the Sanctuary of Oropa. It’s quite impressive and large and as soon as I got out I felt the cooler, drier air and it felt good. I checked in and took some photos, had a shower, then soup with the early riders. They’re all so tough and it feels bad I wasn’t myself riding today. I took a nap and read a book in the afternoon.

We had dinner at 7 and got a laugh at the first course. The monastery is somewhat austere and each person was served a very plain white plate with plain white risotto on it. The pescatarians were identified with name tags too. My second course was trout with veggies.

First dinner course and my special name tag

After dinner Wilbert explained tomorrow’s stage and I retired early to try and get healthy for a big ride tomorrow.

Milano San Remo Stage 1

Milano to Lago d’Orta

Strava: 109.03 km, 721m, 4:55, 199 shifts

I slept reasonably well and then we were back into the rhythm from the Tutti Dolomiti tour: breakfast at 7, dress, pack, check-out, luggage in the truck, pack the bike, and take off before 8:30. Today was Sunday morning, so Milano was pretty quiet. The stage was split into two tracks. First we followed track zero for three km to the Duomo di Milano for the official start, then the rest of the way was track one. It was nice to see the beautiful Cathedral again, first time since 2013 when I visited my son Beau who was living in Milano then. Wilbert organized us into a line for the photo, snapped once, and said, “Have at it” or something to that effect. Today’s trivia: this stage is my 219th Bike Dreams stage, the start of my fifth tour. There were 109 stages in the Andes Trail and another 109 in the Balkan Boulevard, Paris Dakar and Tutti Dolomiti combined.

The official Milano San Remo starting photo at the Duomo di Milano – I’m in the middle

Off we went, a few km on mellow city streets, then onto a bike path. We followed the path for about 65 km, all the way to lunch and it was definitely well used on a Sunday morning. Cyclists, runners and walkers were all out. The path follows a canal so it very gently climbs – the Naviglio Grande canal climbs only 34m in 49.9 km. So the riding was pretty easy. We changed sides often and I cruised at an easy speed. At 48 km, the fast guys called out and I joined them for cold drinks and a banana, then headed up to lunch at 69 km. It was the normal Bike Dreams lunch, but the overcast by then had burned off and it was sunny and pretty hot. The humidity makes it feel hotter than it is. Someone said it was 31° which sounds about right.

After lunch we had another 40 km, on normal roads, but without a lot of traffic. Toward the end, we did have a bit of climbing, seven short climbs of 50-100m each. Then suddenly I could see the lake and knew I was close. One final descent and I rolled into the hotel. Sitting in the shade, sipping Wijnand’s excellent soup was great. Then a cold shower! Awesome. I was planning a swim in the nice looking pool but relaxed in the A/C instead. A few ambitious riders did some extra today, but I’m saving power for tomorrow, when the real climbing starts and it will probably still be hot. I recharged a little in the afternoon with a nap.

I went down an hour before dinner and had some drinks with riders; the bartender also gave us some snacks. Dinner was at 7, on a covered outdoor patio with a gorgeous view of the lake and the very pretty island of San Giulio. It was a long, relaxed dinner, with four bottles of wine for our table of eight wine drinkers. Seconds were available for each course and we probably ate way more than they are used to. All in all it was a great first day of the tour.