rons bikes blog dot com

MOGAST: “MOrtirolo” “GAvia” “STelvio” /// 106 miles and nearly 16,000 ft in elevation gained. a monster of a roadie day, and a small event put on by a lovely guy from Tirano named Bruno. all three of the most infamous climbs of the Giro in one day. iyeeee!

many of you have seen the photos of the Andy Hampsten, the first American to win the Giro, in 1988 cresting the Gavia in snow and sleet en route to an epic stage win. (see photo below) — I had this image burned in my memory, and really looked forward to ticking this climb off the list. and while all dirt sections have since been paved, and much of the romance has been swallowed up by the thousands of motorcycles that tourists ride up each day — this climb is still much more than just a formidable opponent. a friend at times. a friend who flogs you over and over in my experience. we will get to that!

the day began with me being late as always. my friends rolled out of our apartment up the bike path to where about hundred campers, mostly euro bike messengers, were staged for the weekend at a lovely little grassy glade next to an old house. by the time I got there, no one was left except for bruno looking at his watch. he told me they left about 20 minutes ago … okay!

I began stomping on the pedals in an attempt to make up some time and maybe ride with a few folks … the third way I’d gone up Mortirolo pass in a week awaited me, and I was feeling good. to that point, I did begin to pass the slower folks of the group as the switchbacks steepened. being the slowest in the group I’d been riding with all week, it felt so good to finally pass people again! albeit the folks I was passing were mostly on cargo bikes they’d ridden to the base camp with all their stuff. their bikes were unloaded now, but dang! who attempts a 16,000 ft day on an Omnium!? one of them told me that they’d done this ride on brakeless fixed gears twice. I was boggled. a different class of rider here.

I met up with my friends right at the very top at the aid station, but only for a brief moment. i sucked down a few bananas and looked behind me and they were gone. already dropping down the other side. I leapt on my saddle and chased, having one of the best descents of my life weaving through oncoming motorcycles and jammed up cars in the switchbacks. I LOVE these extended mountain descents. the 42mm tires on my Alumax and the direct mount center pull brakes gave me a district advantage over the skinny tires and disc brakes. my friends on disc brakes had to replace their brand new pads midway through this trip, and their brakes were making all sorts of weird nosies and rubbing most of the time from the friction heat and warping of their rotors. I had year old pads that still have plenty of life in em, even after dropping all of these descents. my rims never heated up enough to be an issue, and my modulation remained extremely predictable. I was unsure how they would do, but dang I am very pleasantly impressed! not sure how caliper brakes on carbon rims would have done though. seems sketchy — so I get that.

down to the valley I sent, not finding my friends anywhere, but passing many folks again that made me feel good about myself. whatever it takes! my ego has had a rough go of it this trip.

I got in with some life Germans who bent my ear and kept me company to the base of the Gavia. I was still feeling pretty good, but I knew the longest one day climb (I did the 10,000 ft Letras in 2 days several years ago) awaited me. it would be a challenge, especially with Mortirolo already in the legs. onward!

I stopped a few switchbacks up to take on some almonds and prunes I’d packed, and then there were my friends climbing up behind me! guess they’d stopped at a market and I’d gotten ahead of them. i leapt on the saddle again and pedaled hard to catch them.

when not being buzzed by motorcycles (it was a Saturday), the climb was heaven. basically a bike path to the sky. but dang those motos. thats being a roadie though!

I managed to snap a few photos with my Ricoh GRIIIx from the saddle — but I was barely hanging on here. I drifted further and further back as my friends floated up the switchbacks.

I did manage to get this one photo of UD cofounder PATZ. he is 46 and in the best shape I’ve seen him. pretty impressive. I think this effort to get this photo was my last match to burn, and oh did it burn!

I was toasted now. had to take several stops and regain my composure. luckily I had nothing but stunning views in every direction. this place is another world! I slumpt down behind some rocks and took on some more prunes and a sandwich. stretched the aching muscles a bit and hopped back on —

next was this tunnel. here I was chasing a guy on a hybrid with flat pedals. I could not catch him. so it goes….

this climb does not end. it does end, but it does not end!

food at the top, and Patz had waited nearby for me and found me at the aid station. I was seeing stars — he was fine and was like, “come fund us at the Rufugio 2k away, we will get some nice snacks.”

I slump onto the saddle this time (no jump left in me), and took a photo of my bike at the top.

onward to the Refugio.

friends were having a grand ol’ time. i proclaimed I couldn’t sit down and needed to get the heck off this mountain. I bid them a fine day, and knew I was not going to attempt the Stelvio and was instead going to main line that bike path from Bormio back to Tirano. they were all planning on finishing the route. champions!

the bike path back was downhill trending after a lovely descent down the much less technical side of the Gavia — but I had a headwind that really made it drag on. nit bad views though! I got back to the apartment and made myself some squash ravioli and spinach after downing a half tub of greek yogurt and honey. felt better pretty quick. 86 miles and 11,500ft of climbing, still the biggest uphill day of my riding career! the rest of my friends gradually rolled in through the afternoon — cooked with 16k ft in their legs. Clayton had just begun cycling a year ago — Rookie of the year! goes to show you some folks just HAVE IT. I have rarely missed a few days of cycling in a row since I was 13, but I certainly have some mental blocks. and I like to take photos.

we cleaned up and headed to the afterparty.

what a day! what a cool event! thanks Bruno!!!!!!

XO RR