To Oulx, Italy

June 29, 2025

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I counted eight motorcycles parked outside the breakfast room this morning. By the time we got the morning routine done, hauled the bikes and gear outside and were prepared to leave, I had a perspiration mustache! I hadn’t even walked the steep hill to the top. I declared last night I was walking. Jacinto wanted to ride. We both followed the plan.

Briancon was busy as we left town. I was happy when we turned left off of the. If road and started up the valley de Claree. We saw cyclists everywhere! If we saw one, there were 100. Isn’t this a great bicycling atmosphere?

Most of the climb was 2-4%. There were signs every kilometer giving the elevation and grade for the next km. We rode along the river for miles, then with two km left, the serious climb started. My GPS showed as much as 10-12%, although the official sign said 8.7%. I had given myself permission to walk as necessary, but managed to talk myself through the steep part with two stops. The steep piece only lasted to one switchback.

At the top a Frenchman who spoke English. He asked the usual questions, which we haven’t been getting at all, because no one speaks good enough English. He also commented my bike must be very difficult to ride in the mountains. It was a pleasure to have a casual conversation with someone. I miss that.

Jacinto and I shared a banana and then took off. There was supposed to be another col in 2.2 km, but we must have missed the sign. Today is Sunday, there were picnic goers at every pull out, escaping the heat. Jacinto noticed that there were gray haired women wearing bikinis, and good for them.

The downhill was much steeper. We stopped a couple of times to cool the brakes and to take photos. There were far fewer riders on this side of the pass. We soon found out why. Bardonecchia was chock full of cars and people. We saw one loaded couple at the top of the pass. In town, there was another very heavily loaded couple. Their black panniers had faded to light brown on top. The man had a stick with a rag hanging off to keep the cars away. Does that mean Italian drivers aren’t as considerate of cyclists as the French?

I had been rating this ride as one of my favorites, until we hit all of the tourist traffic. At least we were on the downhill and got to Oulx quickly. The wind had really come up and continued to blow strongly all evening until dark. Then the thunder and rain started! Evening is a good time for rain.

We had a lackluster lunch at an open cafe. Jacinto went to a grocery that had a deli and bought us an equally uninspired selection of foods for dinner. The deli food was just as expensive as a restaurant meal. I think French food has spoiled us. Let’s see what we get for breakfast at the hotel in the morning.

Big plus is that our bikes are in a room with a deep freeze. I asked the reception lady if I could put my water bottles in the freezer. She didn’t think I wanted to do that, but I definitely did!

tomorrow we descend to 800 feet. We are back into the oven.

The egg cooker in action. It started boiling quickly.

Jacinto got started in the hotel parking lot and rode up the steep hill. I walked the half mile, and then started riding when the road curved and leveled off to 6%. That’s a tough start to the day for 60 year old knees!

Let’s see if I can read French. Suaf velos means except bicycles. Does reserve velos also mean except bicycles? I sure wouldn’t want to ride 10 miles up the pass only to be turned around.

The randomly placed crosses have disappeared. Now each town seems to have a significant church.

This is the only free library I’ve seen in France. It was at a bus stop.

This cyclist was the first one to greet me in Italian - buon girono! We were ten km from the Italian border.

Here was a spring fountain that already had a cyclist. Notice he is all in yellow, his bike is all yellow. That's a coordinated man.

I just missed the photo. This man and his dog were moving a herd of goats from one pasture to the other.

I would have completely missed this herd of sheep in the shade, except I heard a bell tinkle.

There were pass information signs every kilometer. They helpfully included the upcoming grade.

I was happy to stop on the steep section to snap this photo.

This day was a top ten riding day for views, lack of car traffic, and the atmosphere amongst the many bicycle riders. Everyone seemed to be there to enjoy the day. There were go fast club riders, but there were also a significant number of cyclists with real people bodies, like me!

This is a road, not a bike path. At the top, it was skinny enough there were no lines at all. Going down the other side, there were a couple of spots cars had to take turns in each direction.

Jacinto said he’s hardly arrived at the top when I followed.

It was a revolving door of cyclists taking their photos at the summit sign.

We have reached the cobblestone part of the day.

I wanted to top my bottle with fresh water, but this spring had a sign that said non potable. It is located adjacent to our hotel. I later saw two people filling bottles there.

Even Jacinto walked the steep cobblestone road to the hotel.

It was nice and cool on the ground floor. We are on the third floor. Jacinto asked for a tour of the available rooms to judge which one had the best cross ventilation.

On the downhill there were two back to back tunnels.

Jacinto ordered turkey and vegetables. This was his meal. It wasn’t quite what he expected.

Today's ride: 28 miles (45 km)
Total: 785 miles (1,263 km)

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Scott AndersonI'm so proud of and happy for the both of you, nd of course just a bit envious because we planned to drop down this way if we hadn't felt we needed to come home about 7 months early.

Also though, I want to applaud you on this journal. Many interesting observations, some great photography from both of you. It's a joy to read, and even if you fry as you fly down the Po Valley to Venice, you two look like you're having the time of your lives.
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3 weeks ago

Kelly IniguezTo Scott AndersonThank you. We are definitely experiencing a new culture from the eyes of someone who grew up in very small towns.

I visited India and discovered I hated curry to the degree I would rather not eat at all. I lost weight that trip. A friend asked me why I would
Visit a country where I didn’t like the food. I grew up in tiny Delta, CO. When the Chinese food restaurant went in there, that was exotic! Even today, I don’t think Indian food is available in Grand Junction, the largest town on the western slope.
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3 weeks ago

Jacquie GaudetTo Kelly IniguezI spent 4 months in India back in 1986-87 and I think I gained weight!

On that trip, it was the week in Burma (as it was then called) where the food was bad.
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3 weeks ago