Day 19- Bormio to Prato Allo Stelvio ( over the Stelvio Pass)

Yes I made a mistake with the day numbers on my last blog posting! Here I am a retired accountant who can’t keep count! Today is day 19….

With the sense of real anticipation we rose early at 5.30 am to get on the road early for the climb up Stelvio.

The weather was cool early at about 12 degrees and as we made our way through the day the weather warmed then cooled at the top of Stelvio then cooled for a fair part of the descent and was warm when we reached our destination.

The Garmin navigation was easy today as all we needed to do was to get to the main road and stay on it until Prato! There was one minor deviation only.

The ride up to Stelvio was an uphill all the way with an average gradient of 7.5% and there were some sections of of about 15% .

Initially the road was very quiet as we were on the road a little after 6.30 am. As the morning went on the traffic of motorcycles in particular increased dramatically. I reckon throughout the day we would have seen around 10,000 of them! They ranged from “ hoons” racing up and down the road passing 3 wide in many cases. There were also a range of motor vehicles travelling up the road ranging from expensive Porsche’s, Audi’s, Jaguars, Ferrari’s and many other makes and models. Most of the cars were convertibles with pretty young ladies in the passenger seats…. This reminds me of the exploits of one of our fellow riders in Melbourne who goes on these motor runs in his Bolwell… Ric you need to try this.

Also, of course there were many riders on the road. We got the jump on a lot of them by leaving early but the younger riders started to pass us as the morning went on. Most had expensive bikes and were in the latest bike apparel… I think I only saw one adventure cyclist on the way up the mountain!

The scenery again on the ride up and descent was again spectacular! The photos give you some idea of this.

As I made my way up to the summit of the climb at 2758 metres above sea level, the gradient appeared to increase…. Or was it my legs getting tired…. I think it was a bit of both!

At the top we spent some time taking photos and videos near the sign which appeared to be the top but blow me there was another 50 odd metres of climbing to reach the top and the collection of souvenir shops and cafes. It was mayhem there with motorcyclists, cyclists and cars everywhere…so after a brief stop we went on the descent….. wow wasn’t this a great relief after grinding for 24 kms uphill!

The only issues were the number of switchbacks and the traffic coming up the hill! I took the descent quite slowly and guys on bikes roared past me at high speed…. Thankfully my brakes were okay and I was pleased that I got them checked in Bormio.

The other interesting traffic on the road was a parade of vintage tractors of makes I could not work out. They were driven by their owners who were enjoying the day but most wore ear protection due to the noise!

I don’t know how many switchbacks we went through on the descent but there was many…. You get some idea of this in the photos.

We made a short stop on the way down at Trafoi to make sure we were all okay then shortly after we resumed the ride Steve had a tumble on the bike courtesy of a large pothole. Steve sustained some scratches and a bruise to his ribs and after a short time resting he appeared ok to ride on…. Thankfully he appeared fine.

A little further on we stopped at Gamagoi where we found a lovely cafe for lunch. To be frank, I was starved following the big ascent and having breakfast at 6.00 am… it was now around 1.30pm! We ordered spaghetti which really hit the spot.

Chris realised he had left his battery pack at the last accomodation in Bormio… bit of a blow! The host had tried to arrange for the battery to be sent to the top of Stelvio which was great but we were now down by 1000 metres from the top. Chris tried to sort out the battery to be delivered by one of the many bike riders on the road but to no avail.

Steve and I made our way to our accommodation in Prato leaving Chris to see whether the battery issue could be resolved…

We checked in to a lovely Pensione in Prato and had our showers to clean up and reflect on the day of achievement!

I have now signed off on the bucket list item of Stelvio!!! We made a climb of 1642 metres up from Bormio. We did this in 3 hours 45 minutes…. The professional riders do this in about 90 minutes … not bad for a 72 year old with a full load of bags on the bike.

This was a most satisfying day and I am most pleased we have done this second the ride.

The pictures today are

The route

A few photos on the way up the climb

At the top….me and the bike

The scene in the village area at the top.

The classic view of the Stelvio descent

A view of my Garmin showing the switchbacks on the descent…. Just some of them!

A view back up the hill on the descent

Lunch at last!

Steves’ scratches following his fall…. Looks he is okay