Arrival in Como
All participants arrived after more than 3000 kilometers at Madonna del Ghisallo, the pilgrimsite for cyclists in the middle of Lake Como. It was wonderful to see how all participants overwon the Dolomites and the impressive Passo dello Stelvio in the last week. Everyone had enjoyed the tour through Italy very much and arrived happy, healthy and with a lot of sweet memories.
Next year another "La Bella Italia".
Cyclists
and their eating habits
Cyclists
eat a lot. Really a LOT. And they can eat all day long, if food would
be served all day long! At the bike-dreams trip, we serve food 4 times
a day, every time hoping it will be enough!
We
start with breakfast, usually at 6.30 am. It is amusing to see that
people from different countries each have their different habits!
French
for example like their bread sliced very very thin. When not sliced
thin enough they will demonstrate how it should be done! Dutch are the
opposite, they don’t like the hassle of all those thin slices, thick
is better, easier, faster! English like their tea black as black, with
milk of course. Interesting to watch Australian and even Swiss taking
over the English way of drinking tea!
Peanut
butter is very popular kampongs everyone but unfortunately not
available in
Brazilians
don’t eat a lot for breakfast, is it too early? The Swiss drink cola
every time of the day.
Then
there is lunch, somewhere halfway down the stage usually on beautiful
places like fields full of poppy seeds, wine yards, beautiful views
overlooking the sea or the mountains, busy little squares on a Sunday
while the whole village goes to church and passes by, the cyclists eat
their lunch!
Beautiful
fresh Italian bread, cheese and meat includes lunch with everyday
something different on the side. Tuna salad, pasta salad, salmon
wraps, eggs, insalata carprese, whatever comes up to our mind we make
for lunch! Daily question from the cyclists is if we can leave some
salad for when they would arrive in camp to have with their soup. Even
though they do very hard work, to eat a lot halfway doesn’t seem to
work out very well for most of them.
Depending
on the weather cyclists stick around short or long, and as soon as the
first cyclists leave, Jaap and I take off to go to the campsite to
prepare soup and dinner, promising that we will not forget the
mayonnaise tomorrow (Another international habit that for some reason
we don’t get into our systems!!)
Soup
seems to be almost the most important ‘meal’ during these days.
Served with bread or home-made bruchettas the salt and liquid is a
very welcome thing to eat or drink when the cyclists arrive in the
camp. Some (Australian!) don’t even take their bag, raincoat or
helmet off and start eating straight away! Others prefer to put down
their tent first or take a shower to eat their soup clean and dry. It
is also a nice moment of the day to talk about the stage, the
climbing, the downhills, the weather, the ice-cream along the way, the
things to do around the campsite.
In
the mean time Jaap and I start preparing dinner.
While
Wilbert does his daily “Good evening people” briefing, we prepare
the dessert, coffee and tea. Dessert usually means yoghurt, or
tiramisu, fresh fruits of the season and region or some home-made
experiment which work out good!
Dessert
( by Wilbert Bonné )
We have seen already quite a lot of Italy in the last 31 days. We got a full menu which existed out of many courses: Sicily, Amalfi, Pompei, Roma, Tuscany, Florence, Venice, the Dolomites and a lot of unknown side dishes. The dessert of “La Bella Italia” is called the “Passo dello Stelvio”. 48 hairpins lead through the top at 2758 meter. Incredible. Unbelievable. The road zigzagged almost vertical through dark pine forest, between fresh green grassland and along giant rocks and snowfields.
Who built this road? And why? And how? For who? For some shepherds hundred years ago? For Fausti Coppi in the fifties ? For Marco Pantani a decade ago? For Bike-Dreams? Yes, for Bike-Dreams.
The scenery is hard to describe or to catch in a picture. Probably you’ll need a panorama camera in horizontal and vertical direction. And even than you don’t get it. It’s better to come here, especially by bicycle. Brilliant. 25 kilometers of climbing from the peaceful Adige valley to the snow at the top 2000 meters higher.
In the early morning everyone started out of Latsch in the valley and didn’t know what to expect. Yes, another mountain. It was struggling and fighting a way to the top of the Passo dello Stelvio. Erik made it in just over two hours; others needed longer, a lot, a lot longer. But, most important : everyone ( including Liani from Brasil ). Very impressive!!! Congratulations. What a dessert !! Painful, but sweet and ice cold.
Bike Dream ( by Wilbert Bonné )
Cortina d’Ampezzo to Canazei. It’s the heart of the Dolomites and a playground for cyclists ( unfortunaly also for motorists ). There are endless routes and many passes between the two towns. It doesn’t matter which roads or passes you take. It’s awesome !!! When the weather is fine. And the weather was fine. Every hairpin asked to stop for a photo. I guess that the centre of the Dolomites is world’s best area to cycle ( when you like climbing ). It’s almost like a bike dream !!! In the first weekend of July the roads are packed with more than 10.000 cyclists when the Dolomite Marathon is organized. Now we could enjoy the spectacular scenery with a handful of cars and a multiple of motorists.
Our route was just 71 kilometer and leaded us over the Passo di Falzarego ( 2192 m. ), Passo di Campolongo ( 1875 m. ) and the Passo Pordoi ( 2289 m. ). At the top of the Passo di Falzerego we had to stop for a commercial shooting of the new Alfa Romeo. The red ( of course red ) car was racing over the winding roads followed by a helicopter which was hanging tens of meters above it. It’s waiting till Bike-Dreams can do a commercial shooting with a helicopter in the Dolomites. We have to stick to photos. It’s difficult to shoot bad pictures in an area like this. One time I was too late to make a pictures. Five 2 meter tall deer crossed the road on the Passo di Campolongo. I had the time to brake, but not to take my camera.
Everyone made it to Canazei and enjoyed themselves thoroughly. The Dutchies enjoyed the day even a bit more. Watching the European Championships Football in an Italian bar full of locals : Italia – Olanda : result ZERO – TRE.
The first few seconds ( by Wilbert Bonné )
Sunday June 8th was said to be the most difficult stage of the tour. 120 kilometres to Cortina d’Ampezzo and three serious passes with in total 3.250 altitude meters. We planned an early start at 7.30 in the morning because it would be a long day for the most of us. 7.30 AM was actually too early; the barriers of the campsite were still closed ( we thought ). We organised with a few ladders a way out. When almost everyone had climbed the improvised exit, the owner of the campsite just arrived. She shoved the barrier with a bit more strength open. Yes, thank you; we already risked our limbs with bicycle shoes on the slippery ladders. The first climb was already done before the stage even started.
The real first climb was the Passo Rest. Countless short hairpins leaded us through a forest from 400 meter to an altitude of 1150 meter. On the whole climb no car passed me or came down. Only the hum of rolling bicycle tyres on good tarmac and little waterfalls on the side of the road. After a tricky downhill the second climb started; the Sella di Razzo, altitude 1760 meter. Once more quite roads, wonderful scenery, poor lighted tunnels, a beautiful reservoir, and as a “nice” surprise : the last kilometre an ascent of 18 per cent !! And I already was using my smallest gear since the last 10 kilometres. It was struggling and fighting to top. Luckily Marco, Madeleine and Kirsten were waiting with the lunch. Great views despite the dark clouds and a few drops.
I dropped 25 kilometres down to Auronzo together with Christian where the last climb started : Passo Tre Croci. 20 kilometres uphill. The sun was shining and the views superb. The legs didn’t spin around easily anymore, but with a bit of determination I reach the top at 1805 meter. Erik, Phillip, Christian and Jorgen ( who did an extra climb ) managed also to cycle the full distance. The others took the van for a bit, but they were also full of persistence. Chapeau!!!
As a welcome in Cortina d’Ampezzo we got once more a “little” shower. Let I say it like this : We have seen more rain the last couple of weeks. The camp owner told me that it hasn’t been since 40 years such a bad weather in Italy. The country is used to rain, but not almost every day in May and June. It’s hard to call a tour than “La Bella Italia”. No one in the group really complains and the spirit is very positive. Putting on wet cycling shoes every morning isn’t a real problem. Only the first few seconds!!!
MacMarco ( by Wilbert Bonné )
The final week of “La Bella Italia” is quite a challenge with a few stages through the Dolomites with several passes, the Passo dello Stelvio and a last long day into Como. In total 700 kilometres and a lot of climbing. The day out of Venice started easy with flat roads along the peninsula of Lido di Jesolo. It’s a stretch of 30 kilometres to accommodate thousands and thousands of tourists. We pass the campsites, hotels and resorts quickly and turn inland in northern direction. The stage is mainly flat and I cycled together with Erik, Liani, Theresa, Jorgen and Christian to the lunch spot. We agreed with Marco to have the lunch between 70 and 80 kilometres. The lunch spot is called MacMarco because the preference of Marco for the food ( is it actually food ?? ) of the American company. Fortunately the lunch is not prepared by Marco, but by Kirsten who makes tasty pasta, tuna and couscous salads or surprises us with other delicacies to keep the engines running. The planned lunch was not at 70, not at 80 and even not at 90 kilometres. The temperatures made that the bottles were running empty. Erik already stopped to buy special pastries for Liani and Theresa. We tried to phone Marco; without success. No MacMarco today. We decided to rob a supermarket. Coke, bread, water, cheese, meat and some pastries. Engines were refilled and we could pass MacMarco ( at 96 kilometres ) with high speed.
The Dolomites doomed up in the distance, packed in dark clouds. As soon as we entered the Tramonti valley the rain came down in buckets and we could put on our rain jackets once more. The campsite was beautifully situated in the nature of the Tramonti valley. Only the sound of a running mountain brook and the whistles of birds.