Passo delle Stelvio is one of the very highest and – perhaps – the most spectacular road cycling climb in Europe.

There are three ways up to this incredible pass. The north-east side is the most famous, I cycled it last July, details here. Truly amazing.

About 6 kms in, there is a long straightish stretch along the edge of a steep mountain. Likely due to avalanches, there are a series of tunnels. None too long, but sometimes dark and occasionally very narrow. I strongly suggest wearing something light coloured and reflective to ensure the cars (and numerous motorcycles) can see you.

After the tunnels the real fun begins. Hairpin after hairpin beside a beautiful waterfall as the road climbs and climbs. It’s one of those rare and truly special sections of road that cyclists dream of.

Next is a long straightish stretch that is less steep through an alpine valley heading towards Passo Umbrail.

Umbrail is in Switzerland on the Italian border. It sits in the shoulder of the Stelvio route about 3 kms from the top – similar to how Col du Glandon sits on the shoulder of Col de la Croix de Fer.

As I passed Umbrail, the steepest stretch to Stelvio begins. I could see the numerous buildings above as I approached – it must be the most built up high pass I have ever seen. Hotels, souvenir stores, restaurants, ski lifts, Tibetan retreat (!), etc. Crowded.

I had a bite to eat, peaked over the other famous side (see photo below), bought a Stelvio head scarf, rehydrated …. and headed down to Umbrail.

The legs felt OK, so I descended Umbrail into Switzerland.

It’s a superb, hair pinned descent – especially the top and nearing the bottom. There are no towns, just a few cows and great views.

Just one flaw! Although most of the road is surfaced like a billiard table – there are two kms in the middle that are gravel. WTF!

When I reached the gravel stretch I had no clue how long it lasted – but I could see that it was at least for a while. I flagged down an ascending car and asked. I was ready to give up when 2 road bikers went flying down past us, totally un-perturbed by the gravel. Fair enough, I followed.

It’s a shame, but not a show stopper. I went slowly and am glad I took the chance – because the bottom section is worth the effort (and PERFECTLY surfaced).

I skipped the first 4 easy kilometres on the main road (see profile) – but one can start at another Italian border near Mustair.

This has to be the quietest of the three ways up to Stelvio. A terrific climb, but if you hate gravel, bring a hybrid.

Another great day. Bormio is a true cycling Mecca.

Passo dello Stelvio and Passo Umbrail

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One of the greatest days ever on a bike. I’ve dreamed of doing Gavia forever, one of the most famous climbs in Italy (and Europe) – and it didn’t disappoint.

I am staying in Bormio, which is at the bottom of the easier, less famous side. Who knows if I’ll ever be here again, so the plan was to do both sides. Yep, I had a huge breakfast.

It’s cold here. Really cold. So I wore booties, leggings, full-fingered gloves, warm hat, sleeves, etc. And carried balaclava, glove liners, jackets, etc. Yep, I over-dressed again – but barely.

I started up the Bormio side before 9 am, and it took me a while to get warmed up – cold but sunny and clear – perfect day. Luckily the easiest climbing of the day is the first part of this side. It’s a lovely ride, so quiet and beautiful that I laughed out loud a couple of times.

A climb of three parts: flat to start, then steeper with hairpins through the woods, finally above the tree line — in the high mountains – awesome.

Near top is a great WW1 memorial (I deciphered the Roman Numerals, ha!) – my Italian is non-existant – perhaps a battle here?

The last couple of kms before the summit are easy ….. what a great feeling to be flying to such a famous Pass. Just short is a beautiful lake:

It was freezing at the top, and I congratulated myself as I put on 2 jackets and a couple of Dutch guys in shorts looked on longingly.

The descent of the south side is a little crazy. Steep, narrow, beautiful, occasionally badly surfaced. A few % grade signs including a 16% and a 14%. The tunnel 3 kms from top is truly terrifying. Dark, steep, gravelly, scary – I held my breath when a car passed me. I wasn’t looking forward to climbing it (see below for my elegant solution).

The only thing going through my head as I raced downhill was “this will be hard work on the way back!”

The south side is legendary, the site of several snow filled Giro stages – the restaurant at the top has a great set of pics of various Giro visits (photo at left).

I took my time climbing it – but was pleased at how my legs responded on the narrow, fun(!?) 14% and 16% stretches.

As I approached the much-feared tunnel, I noticed the old cliff road on the left. Collapsed cliff roads replaced by tunnels are a fairly common thing in the Alps, but they are usually fenced off. This looked open, so I explored.

A terrible surface, so I pushed my bike. But unbelievable cliff views. As I continued I came upon several memorials for a military truck that fell off the road in 1954 killing 20 or so young soldiers.

Amazingly the road was still passable. And as I neared the main road, three mountain bikers came flying down:

Above the tunnel, the last 2+ kms are steep, but superb. Hairpins, views, cliffs, etc. How can one not enjoy suffering here?

Passo Gavia! (both sides)

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A very fun day cycling the Gruyère Cycling Tour with Xavier and Philippe (the best pics here are his).

This was my third time doing this well organized event. It’s an absolutely beautiful route, surrounded by Swiss mountains throughout.

Early on we came across Jean-Marc Berset, a world hand-biking champion, multiple Olympic medalist, and local legend.

There are three climbs. The first, Mittelberg, is easily the toughest, with the last 5 or so kms a steady 10% along a superb, single lane road.

It’s nice to get the toughest part out of the way early – the other two climbs are much easier.

After descending to Gstaad it’s a long, false flat into the wind, before starting the climbs to Col du Pillon from Gsteig. I love this climb. It’s pretty short, and only has one very steep kilometre, but the views are great.

It was supposed to be very cold, and I had several more layers than needed. While 95% of the riders wore shorts, I had leg warmers …. and received much mocking while riding with them around my ankles (note in photo below, I also have pockets stashed with extra clothing). It seems that a few too many freezing rides in the mountains have made me an over-dresser.

After descending through Diablerets, the final climb to Col des Mosses is the easiest. But the Col sign at the top was easily the best.

After Mosses is a very fast 40 + kilometres generally downhill. Roughly 10 kms from the finish, I flatted. I kept hoping it was just a leak. But ended up needing to add air every couple of kilometres and finally even considered carrying the bike over the line- I was determined not to bother fixing it before finishing.

Despite the flat, a great day in the Swiss Alps with friends.

The 2010 Gruyère Cycling Tour

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Beautiful mountains and some great cycling.

Thanks to the guys at Cycols for suggesting this loop. For better photos than mine and a (French) description of the loop in the opposite direction see here.

The first climb, Col de Marcieu heads up to a sort of plateau between the high peaks on one side and the plain below. Very nice. After descending (and convincing some work men to let me cross a closed bridge), I joined the route up the east side of Col du Granier. Chatting with some locals they had warned me this was steep. No lie. Very uneven with a few nasty ramps.

At Col du Granier, I refueled with water and a tasty bacon-cheese omelette.

Descending the south side of Granier, the route rides through the center of the Chartreuse region. Lovely. With some very nice villages – St Pierre-de-Chartreuse looked particularly charming.

Col du Cucheron is the least interesting of the 4 climbs – a straightish drag – or maybe I was just feeling tired.

This stretch of the route through the centre of the Chartreuse has appeared many times in pro races like the Tour de France, The Dauphiné, etc. But usually it includes Col de Porte on the way to/from Grenoble.

As the road started climbing to Col de Porte I turned off onto a tiny road up the west side of Col du Coq. It was the worst surface of the loop, but no problem for climbing at my speed. Again, some scarily steep ramps, but a superb climb up through the woods and finally over the top, for a hair-raising descent back to the start.

The other – east – side of Col du Coq is a very tough and interesting climb. Details here.

Hard work, but I can’t recommend this loop enough.

Col Hunting in the Chartreuse Alps

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Col du Sabot starts just a few kilometres from Alpe d’Huez. But it’s higher, harder, prettier, and has a fraction of the traffic. On the downside? Beware of gangs of sheep.

Cyclotourists flock to Alpe d’Huez and the Route des Grande Alpes often forgetting that there are many other interesting choices.

Sabot is hard work. Throughout, there are some very steep stretches on this beautiful route.

The first few kilometres climb to Vaujany – a small ski station. A couple of kilometres after Vaujany the route surface becomes fairly mediocre. It’s just a little single lane road – but it’s definitely fine on a road bike. Just descend prudently.

But this top part is certainly the best part. Wonderful hairpins, mountains everywhere, great views.

Hairpins above Vaujany:

Col du Sabot

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One doesn’t cycle as much as I do without a loving and supportive wife. Doreen prefers running – and has a marathon under her belt. But she has cheerfully tolerated endless cycling trips and often bravely “attacks” some of the biggest climbs in the Alps.

So I proudly present the 10 best climbs cycled by my wife!

#1 Col du Galibier

In fact she’s done each side, but last summer’s perfect ride with friends up the classic north side was one of our funnest rides ever.

More details on Galibier here.

#2 Col de la Bonette

The road signs proudly claim this as the highest road in Europe. In fact, there are a couple of paved roads slightly higher in Spain and Austria.

Doreen joined us for the last few days of the Tour d’Enfer in 2008. And while all us “want-to-be”s rode fancy carbon bikes, she cheerfully reached the summit on her old, heavy touring bike.

More details on Bonette here.

#3 Alpe d’Huez

On a beautiful May day a few years back, it was just us and a bunch of Dutch cyclists on the Alpe. While eating pizza at the top waiting for the girls, I was impressed to see that my wife beat the Dutch guy’s wife.

More details on Alpe d’Huez here.

#4 Mont Ventoux

In June, while Philippe and I did a Ventoux Cyclosportive, Doreen had breakfast at a café in Bédoin, cheered us as we passed …… then proceeded to climb Ventoux herself. Chapeau!

For more on Ventoux see here.

#5 Col de la Colombière

Despite bigger climbs on her list of accomplishments, Doreen will swear that Colombière is the hardest climb she’s ever done. Perhaps due to the brutal last three kms or the fact that it always seems to be against the wind.

See more on Colombière here.

#6 Col de l’Iseran

The highest paved Col in France (The top of Bonette is above the Col). Another favourite ride of ours.

For more on Iseran see here.

#7 Col d’Allos

A beautiful south Alps climb. One of our favourites.

We’ve happily done this a couple of times.

For more on Allos see here.

#8 Col de la Cayolle

In between Bonette and Allos, this very high Col is a wonderfully long and easiesh ride. Doreen had a flat tire near the top and despite the efforts of 6 of us, no one could fix it.

While she waited under threatening skies, we had to descend back to Barcelonnete and fetch the car. Apparently, friends tell me, it’s the fastest I have ever descended.

For more on Cayolle see here.

#9 Col d’Izoard

One of the most famous climbs in the Alps. On a perfect sunny day, Doreen climbed the south side.

I awaiited her at the Napoleon house near the top with ice cream as a reward.

For more on Izoard clicke here.

#10 Cormet de Roselend

One of the best rides up past an alpine lake/dam.

For more on Roselend see here.

The 10 Best Climbs Cycled By My Wife

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A superb day climbing in the French Alps. The plan was for two long, beautiful, but not too steep, climbs.

Starting from Bourg-St-Maurice, I started up the south side route to Cormet de Roselend.

But after 13.5 kms I turned off to explore the little road to La Ville des Glaciers – I’d wanted to check this out for quite a long time. Beautiful. Another great little detour off the Route des Grandes Alpes.

I was able to get above the town to about 1870 metres before the road turned to gravel. It’s certainly possible to go much higher – a future hiking or mountain biking project.

The end of the road above La Ville des Glaciers:

After descending the beautiful Roselend hairpins back to Bourg-St-Maurice, it was time to cycle up to Les Arcs.

We have skied here a lot and love the 1950 village. At about 1800 metres is the most amazing gourmet restaurant – in the middle of no-where. It’s Doreen’s favourite and was her cycling goal while I did my two climbs.

The route to Les Arcs is never steep, but it’s a long way. There are milestones showing the distance and grade up to Les Arcs 1800. To 2000 is much further as the route goes around the mountain, with a few flattish kilometres.

After meeting Doreen at her feast (wow was she happy!), I did the last few steeper kilometres to the top. I suddenly found myself in the middle of a cyclosportive. I shamelessly crossed the finish to cheers heading immediately to the great French-Irish pub ‘Les Belles-Pintes” for a beverage.

Perfect day.

La Ville des Glaciers and Les Arcs 2000

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It’s becoming the summer of beautiful Alpine Lake / Dam rides. But this time I went another 14 kilometres past the dam on a small gravel road up into beautiful deserted valleys surrounded by glaciers.

I used a hybrid satellite map above to show how deserted the route is – apart from mountains and glaciers.

The profile above only includes the paved road from Le Chable up to the dam itself at 1,970 metres. It’s a long, sometimes steep, but beautiful climb.

But from the dam, it’s possible to continue much higher on an unpaved road after first passing through perhaps a mile long wet and muddy tunnel that runs uphill beside the lake.

View of the lake from a window in one of the tunnels:

After the tunnel the route winds up and down beside the lake – occasionally on slightly vertiginous roads. I passed several cyclists enjoying the day:

At the end of the lake, I had no clue how far the road would continue, but decided to keep following it. The surface remained fairly good as I continued up through a beautiful valley, again often on slightly vertiginous roads. And just as I expected the road to end it suddenly turned sharply up some great hairpins:

Ultimately, I was able to reach 2500 metres, with the high point being near the alpine “Cabane de Chanrion” – see here for details.

Wonderful views of glaciers and cows:

Lac de Mauvoisin and up to Chanrion

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This is one of my very favourite cycling routes. A steep, beautiful climb, surrounded by high mountains. After a perfect Saturday climbing Grosse Scheidegg, the weather held out for one more stunning ride in the high Swiss Alps.

The ride starts in Lauterbrunnen and turns immediately uphill. The road alternates between paved and good quality gravel. It’s a steady, steep climb through light woods with occasional views of Wengen, the valley below, and snow topped mountains.

At about 1500 metres the views open up as the route approaches the car-free town of Murren. The views are just unbelievable for the rest of the ride.

It’s flattish passing through Murren (1630 metres) – and then things get fun. Following a beautiful little signed mountain bike path to Shiltalp the road keeps going higher and higher.

Just past the little farm at Shiltalp it’s possible to do one more kilometre and reach 2000 metres before the trail ends.

To descend, I double backed to Murren and followed the superb paved path down to the quaint perched village of Gimmelwald. From here it’s

possible to continue on rougher trails down to Stechelberger (I’ve done this a couple of times), but I decided to take a cable car down instead.

At the bottom, I bumped into Doreen, and we rode back to Lauterbrunnen through the amazing water-fall filled valley.

Murren and Above

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Perhaps the best ride of the year. Certainly the most beautiful. Doreen and I spent the weekend in central Switzerland in Grindelwald – right in front of the famous Eiger north face.

Saturday’s ride, started in Grindelwald and climbed to Grosse Scheidegg. It’s a steep, stunning route – and car free for the last 8 or so kilometres. While Doreen did the climb at her own pace, I rode ahead and at the top continued higher along non-paved farm roads.

The profile above is just for the climb to Grosse Scheidegg. The road is suitable for road bikes. But beyond requires a mountain bike.

The path I followed led to First. The top of a ski lift. It’s a wonderful route. Sometimes very steep, sometimes downhill, always with the Eiger and other peaks in my face.

Descending from First, I took the direct route back to Grindelwald. Parts of this descent (above Bort) are extremely steep. My GPS once flashed 31%. No idea if correct, but I did have to push twice as too steep to safely descend – admittedly, in part due to a dire need for new brake pads.

Grosse Scheidegg and above to First

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