Swiss Cycling Tour

 Last Day. Albulapass, ofenpass, and Umbrailpass (I’m scared) My recon map for today More detailed profile of Umbrailpass and continuation to Passo Della Stelvio At the end of Umbrailpass Scotty tells us if we are feeling good we can keep going to the top of Stelvio. Stelvio is legendary in Italy for cycling. It’s the highest paved pass in all of Europe. It’s an absolute monster. From Bormio it’s like a 25km climb. From where we started it was 16.5 km and only the top of Umbrailpass is easy. I knew this was going to really challenge me and I knew it was going to have to take me about 2 hours or so to get up this thing and I was determined to get past it and climb the final 3 or so km to Stelvio who knows if I’ll ever come back here.  We only had marky riding today and Scotty in the van. Aitor was getting things ready for the next group that arrives tomorrow morning. Mark takes my mind off things by telling me stories of the greatest technical attacks in all of climbing. I’m su...

 Furkapass, Oberallpass, Obersaxen I feel pretty good today. I finished middle of the group or higher on every climb. Climbs were long but not that steep. 130km and 2845m of climbing. To give you an idea, when I do 100 miles at home I usually get around 1000-1500 meters of climbing. These are really tough days, either going up or going down.  Today we rode out of the hotel and went back up the furkapass which is where we came down yesterday. Second to last day and prep for the hardest last day. Getting sad that I won’t get to ride with Mark and Aitor much longer.  Mark rode with me up some of the climbs and told me stories about famous Spanish riders. He has gotten to meet his idol Vincenzo Nibali when he was 12 and he has been studying cyclists ever since. Cycling is different in Spain, they grow up with cycling sport being much more prominent. He has a YouTube channel and has 40,000 subscribers and he narrates the tactics of the tour of Spain. He has even gotten some of...

Ulrichen We stayed in the same hotel for 2 nights in a row. I’ve had trouble falling asleep so the extra time we had because we didn’t have to pack up suitcases I used to sleep in. I think I’m starting to get used to as much effort as I’m having to put in.  We usually leave around 8:15 and don’t get back to the hotel I til 4:30-5:30.  Shower, change, wash clothes.  6:15 is team meeting to preview the next day. 6:30 dinner.  I try to get to bed at 10… dinner takes forever and I always am fighting falling asleep.  Today’s photos. .Our view at lunch St. Gotthard pass. Swiss cobbles... very different from Belgian cobbles. Belgian cobbles are much bigger (the Belgians refer to them as “têtes des moines” or monk’s heads...) which makes their bike races very tough especially in the spring when it’s wet.  the Swiss cobbles are all very uniform and much smoother.  Looking down the switchbacks of St. Gotthard. This was my favorite climb of the week. The views we...