Prato - Stelvio Pass - The Main Event - Poking Around Europe 5.0

September 4, 2018

Prato - Stelvio Pass - The Main Event

Glurns, Prato Allo Stelvio, Stelvio Pass, Prato Allo Stelvio

What a day. It dawned bright and sunny and that meant there were no excuses not to do the Stelvio Pass. We both fuelled up at breakfast and headed out on the bikes for a quick 11 km warm up between Glurns and Prato.

Our hotel. We will be cycling the 11 km back in the morning. We discovered we had forgotten to return their key this evening. We like to do that at least once every trip.

We checked in to our hotel and dropped our panniers off in the storage room. We took the bare minimum with us, water, food and warm clothes for the ride down. The CN carried it all. The bikes felt road bike light to us without the panniers, even though they are steel workhorses. They were feeling a little less road bike light towards the top though.

Traffic jam between Glurns and Prato. Cycle tourism is a real economic driver here.

The nice flat ride to Prato. It was a perfect warm up for the main event.

The Stelvio was a wonderful grind. Very shortly after the start we were both in granny gear and we stayed that way for the rest of the ride. It has an average grade of 7.6%. It is less than that at the bottom and really kicks up at the top...when you are getting tired. It is a 24.5 km unrelenting climb with 48 hairpins and we are so glad we did it. It was a tough climb though!

There was a unique sculpture garden shortly after we started out.

We stopped here for a cold coke. We felt we could use the sugar and the caffeine 😜.

There were many, many cyclists and motorcycles on the pass.

The scenery is beautiful and there were many, many cyclists on the road. The camaraderie among the cyclists was fun. We were all encouraging each other. We stopped whenever we felt we needed to and frequently stopped for pictures so ours was not a record setting climb.

Looking back down at one of the switchbacks.

See me going up? I am the dot in the distance.

Once you clear the tree line looking up at the switchbacks was intimidating. We were also worrying about our water supply, but had met a cyclist on a supported tour and passed him as his van was doling out snacks and they kindly refilled our water bottles. It was very warm at this point.

Something to look at while you ride up a mountain.

The hairpins were so tight the buses sometimes had to start around and then back up to make it around the corner. Several times there were jams at a switchback. Once there was a motorcycle that miscalculated and went over. He was rescued by cyclists.

You never know what kind of a vehicle you are going to see.

Yup, that is our way up, and you can’t see the top in this picture.

It just kept getting better in terms of the scenery and the engineering that went into the road. The legs were starting to feel it though, and we live at sea level and were starting to notice the rarified air up there.

And again. It was just an amazing climb and road.

The pass is marked km by km all the way up, and then suddenly it was in metres and then we were there. It was a bit like Disneyland at the top and everyone was excited to have made it. Lots of cameras and phones were changing hands as the all important summit photo was taken.

Made it 😀. And yes, we both bought a jersey.

The descent wasn’t easy either as we were rarely off the brakes and that is tiring. I kept thinking of the way the pros descend in the Tour de France and believe me, our descent bore little resemblance to theirs. We both put on every piece of warm clothing we brought with us and I was wishing I had my full finger gloves. We were both amused when we arrived back into town to discover we were still in granny gear. Neither of us had turned the pedals once on the way down other than to adjust the pedals on the hairpins.

We have had a huge dinner with multiple desserts and should sleep well tonight. It has felt really, really good to physically challenge ourselves today.

While researching for this ride Keith came across a site called ClimbbyBike which ranks all the major climbs in the world. Stelvio approached from Prato is ranked at 146 in the world compared to Mt Ventoux approached from Bedoin at 235. Hurricane Ridge in our neck of the woods near Port Angeles is ranked at 833.

Here is the description on Stelvio in ClimbbyBike:

“The Passo dello Stelvio (Stilfserjoch) is one of the great mountain passes of the Alps. One that should be on any cyclist's bucket list. Prato allo Stelvio (Prad am Stilfserjoch) is the starting point of the most well-know Stelvio approach, the one with the bends. Following the SS38 to the south, the first kilometers are pretty easy. Amidst the trees, the road slowly ascends via Ponte di Stelvio and Stelvio after which the climb is called. A road hangar announces the first of the 48 bends. After you reach the bridge over the Rio Trafoi, it gets tougher. Only one kilometer below 7% is left to recuperate. The other 17 kilometers are north of 7%. But good news, your first reward will soon follow. The properly named Bella Vista (Schöne Aussicht) Hotel announces a fantastic view on the peaks along the pass. Don't drive into the hotel in front of you, but take the two hairpins to get a better view yourself. The climb gets steeper, but hasn't shown his real face yet. After 15 kilometers of climbing, you reach another landmark; the Rocca Bianca restaurant (zum Weissen Knot). You are at about 1861 meter above sealevel now, more or less on top of the Mont Ventoux. The Stelvio yet has to start... Cause still, despite many hairpins, you haven't reached nor seen the so typical hairpin section with the stony bends. But that will soon change. The col now reaches its hardest part and opens up. Stones to the right annouce the final section. Before you know, you're on it. Many only realize after a couple of kilometers, but the first hairpin to the right gives way to one of the most infamous climb stretches on our globe. All of a sudden, right in front of you, you can see the top of the pass behind the Hotel Franzenhöhe. You're at tornante 24, so 23 more hairpins to go and still more than 600 heightmeters. It's a long way to the top. But the views and environment now inspire you to pull the best out of yourself. It's still over 8% on average, but, unless you lost your pace, hairpins now follow eachother ever closer. Motorbikes spoil your fresh air, cars your perfect line to the left. Finally you reach the top with the typical shops. Sometimes it can be a "casino" there with all the bikers, motorbikers and tourists searching for food, views and selfies. To the left, you can see the Restaurant Albergo Tibet with its typical... well, Tibethian construction. Looking down you finally get the best view over all those hairpins you just rounded. You're there.”

Today's ride: 64 km (40 miles)
Total: 446 km (277 miles)

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Jacquie GaudetCongratulations! So glad you had such good weather to do it. Clearly not too hot, either, since you appear to have worn your jacket all the way up.
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5 years ago

Kathleen JonesBravo! What a great experience.
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5 years ago

Helen StarkI would be interested to know what your resting heart rate is after all this conditioning. Can't believe you can do this! Good for you!
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5 years ago

Tricia GrahamAmazed by your youth and fitness! What wonderful scenary there is in the Tyrol we were blown away by it when we came over from naunders a few years ago. This part of germany is a real surprise to us - really very remote and not a word of English spoken. As it is german perfectly marked cycle tracks
Keep it up
Tricia and Ken
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5 years ago

Kathleen ClassenTo Jacquie GaudetI wore my light vest all the way, more for visibility reasons than anything. It was warm at the bottom, and most of the way up. I added my light jacket for the last push. We had been sweating so much that when we stopped to take photos we got cold very quickly towards the top. Then I added the warm jacket and still nearly froze until half way down. Next time I am taking my toque and full fingered gloves for the descent. We are so lucky we had such great weather.
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5 years ago

Kathleen ClassenTo Helen StarkKeith says he worried he wouldn’t have a pulse at the top. I told him no jokes like that!
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5 years ago

Kathleen ClassenTo Tricia GrahamI am one day behind in my reading. Too tired last night. We have a beautiful day today and gloriously flat 😎. Our legs are going to appreciate it.
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5 years ago

Joy DavisHi from St Malo - you guys are amazing! Well done! Joy
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5 years ago