Looks like the only thing that would have made it better is comfy chairs.

Great post, and photographs. The moody sky really accentuates the landscape. It's worth the whole read though just for the Fiat 500 tale.

Thanks Rich, happy to hear that you’ve got the same feeling about Italy. It’s often just such a fun place.

Thanks Mike, the single track sections were totally due to a bit of freelance route adjustments we were making ‘on the fly’. Most of the time these work out and provide a little bit of excitement and variation.

Thanks Michael, glad that my old ‘war’ stories of misspent youth have some appeal to a few others. Thanks for following along.

You’ve put something into words that we’ve felt, too. There’s something special about Italy. I can imagine that it would be an incredibly frustrating place to live for North Americans, but there’s something essentially human about it. We love being there, too.

This brings back recent (and good) memories - I rode much of this route out and back from Colico in the fall of 2023. Same donkeys, same straight-as-an-arrow bike paths, although I don’t recall the single-track sections. I didn’t spend much time in Chiavenna as I was short on time, but I’ll make a point of exploring the town more the next time I’m there. Enjoy Varenna, it’s lovely (although hilly, yes).

Riveting reading! Wonderful backgrounding and such vivid on the spot descriptions. Bonne route!

of the bottom... off the bottom

Terrific write-up, Lyle. I'd never heard of this pass but it looks like a phenomenal experience, both times. I don't doubt that the memory of that first time hasn't faded over all this time. And you're right, Northern Italy is much changed. Reading this brings back my own memory of dropping down into Domodossola from Simplon Pass in '93 - it was a shock to drop into such a foreign land.

Fantastic report - thank you!

Hey, we biked up Albula Pass twenty-some years ago, on our ride from Innsbruck to Geneva. I've still got the photos and half a journal from that tour. This is just the prompt I've been waiting for to finally put that journal together.

And smart choice! I wouldn't want to bike that pass in the rain either.

I love this town - the whole valley, really.

Amazing !! Great write-up and fantastic pictures. So glad it lived up to your memories!

Just WOW!