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 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!