Simplon to Stresa

August 20, 2016

Another day of bad weather predictions! Nearly 100% chance of rain most of the day, all the way to Stresa. And I was so looking forward to seeing the Gondo Gorge in bright weather!

The morning view from the front of our hotel.

But for now, it was just a tad overcast, and the sun was trying to come out. Unfortunately, without luck. But it was a bit warmer than we expected, although the descent was sure to be chilling — in more respects than one.

Dressed for warmth but not the coming rain . . . not yet! A long-sleeved base layer and a bright short-sleeved jersey for visibility.

And there would be many tunnels. The first three or four almost from the get-go. So we checked our brakes and pushed off.

Today's ride to Stresa.

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A note on the link to today's ride in the caption for the map. At MP 18 or so, my Garmin got so soaked that it started to malfunction just outside of Domodossola, and I had to perform a hard reset. At the time, I thought that meant I had lost my tracking up to that point. I started a second track and re-established my route and recorded it as a ride. As it turned out, somehow the first track survived, and I was able to marry them into one unified track! And, of course, the pictures are geo-positioned, and they imported to the unified RWGPS track relatively accurately.

The first tunnel had a bypass road, but traffic was so light and the bypass looked iffy that we skipped it. Some of the tunnels are really more appropriately called avalanche tunnels, as most of the down slope side is open to the elements. Although subsequent tunnels were more enclosed and longer. Much longer.

Halfway down the second leg of the first switchback (after the first turn) and looking back on what was already the third tunnel. It actually wrapped around the turn (which is behind me) as well. The fourth tunnel is just ahead.

After the first four tunnels, and right before the fifth, we pulled over and took pics and let a truck followed by a string of cars pass. This was in Gabi. We had not gone far, but then, the gorge is beautiful and shouldn't be rushed. But we also used it as an opportunity to confer with each other about how we would handle road conditions and traffic.

Our fifth tunnel was a bit shorter but fully enclosed.

Looking back on the exit from the sixth tunnel . . .

The view looking ahead between the sixth and seventh tunnels. As you can see, there are ample places to pull over.

A close-up of one of the sheer rock faces.

After the eighth tunnel, but before the ninth, I stopped to put on my additional light system. For me that means an additional light looking forward in addition to a second rear light, both helmet-mounted. Even though it was not needed for me to see where I was going, a forward light lets oncoming traffic see you, which is just as important on narrow mountain roads and in the tunnels, which were getting quite long now.

Putting on the helmet light just before the ninth tunnel.

The bypass road beside the ninth tunnel, which leads to Fort Gondo.

And looking ahead towards the ninth tunnel.

Along the route, we found many places to stop and pull over, allowing us to take photographs and let traffic pass by. And traffic was well-behaved, amazingly so, and patient, although I have to say we kept up a reasonably good pace; it was all downhill after all.

On our second switchback between the eleventh and twelfth tunnels.

After the second and last switchback, we passed through the twelfth tunnel, and that's when the rain came. That also happened to be when we entered Gondo proper, so we stopped at a BP station, which had a covered area, and put on our rain jackets. It started light but picked up fast and then became a pretty steady drench!

So all told, twelve tunnels to descend from Simplon. All in about six miles. So if you plan to ride this route, be comfortable in tunnels and traffic! The gorge is beautiful but hard to photograph. At least from the roadside. And with cloud cover. Even on a bright day, you would get lots of shadows. I guess at least for today, the light was relatively uniform.

We crossed the Swiss-Italian border without stopping or being asked to stop. Actually, I think it was only incoming traffic to Switzerland that was of concern. I don't think there were any Italians out because we passed through a second station, this one in Italy, with no one present.

I have to say, with some disappointment, that things deteriorated somewhat once we crossed into Italy. Most noticeable, right away, was the road condition. It was very rough on the right side of the lane. Rough enough that we often had to swerve closer to the center to avoid very bad sections. But as we progressed (and I cannot explain this), traffic seemed to lighten up significantly, so swerving did not become an issue per se.

Actually, the same held true for the tunnels we passed through as well. We would take a break, let traffic pass, and then continue. And little or no traffic would accumulate behind us. In fact, there were times I would stop, assuming there was a queue, only to find no one behind Mark. Mark says we were keeping pace with them; hence, no backup! OK, I will go with that.

So back to entering Italy. What I noticed first and foremost was that we were beyond the gorge and the valley started to open up. Second, it seemed a little dowdy. Very functional and not geared towards tourism. Merely a pass-through point from the Lago Maggiore to Gondo Gorge. But then, this is a major trade route, so maybe functionality exceeds aesthetics!

Also, given the rain, we skipped some of the bypass roads that would have taken us off the mainline but extended our day, notably at Bertonio, which would have given us about two miles off the mainline. We also started picking up some shoulder width the further we progressed, and that made the cycling easier, especially when avoiding rough parts of the main road.

So there is not much to say beyond that. We passed through two relatively short tunnels after entering Italy, and the terrain gradually flattened out even though we were still headed downhill as we followed the Torrente Diveria out of the Alps.

The most notable diversion was the turn at about MP 16 off of SS33 onto SS659 to avoid a very long and totally enclosed tunnel. We took the old road, as planned, and had a very pleasant ride along the river that included the only "climb" of the day. After that, it was a long and steep descent into Domodossola, which sits on the Fiume Toce.

As we turned to cross the Torrente Diveria, there was a great vista looking up the gorge we had just passed through. Unfortunately, the rain had just opened up again to a drenching downpour, and in spite of my efforts, I could not get my camera to work. And honestly, we just wanted some place dry where we could sit out what is typically a rainfall of short intensity. So it was good we had arrived in Domodossola, as lunch places were pretty available, especially on a Sunday.

As is Tom. Not really. No drying occurred. We just stopped the soaking.

So we had a hearty lunch. Three courses even. And it was amazingly cheap. Not the best Italian food I've had, but our first this trip. And it helped stoke the engine; we weren't even halfway yet. But as we dried off (or tried to) and ate, the rain relented. It even stopped for a bit. And while it warmed up a bit, warmer than when we started, the sun never came out.

And the riding, now that we were on the plains and further down the valley, was much easier with road choices that had little or no traffic. Not particularly pretty but passable. The most striking imagery was the low-hanging clouds in the mountains. Very pretty at times, in its own gloomy way!

The Feriolo waterfront. It looks spectacular even on an overcast day.

It was fun to finally be on the lake . . . again! I biked the Lake District back in the mid-90s and am sure we stayed in Stresa. But from there I'm sure we took the ferry to Verbania, so I was not quite on old stomping grounds yet!

But our only real thought now was to get to a dry place and change clothes! On to Stresa.

Our hotel for the night. Very bike-friendly, even when soaking wet and covered in road grime.

But we got changed, and the sun came out, and all was well.

And then there's the great Italian food . . . I was missing Italy!

Today's ride: 47 miles (76 km)
Total: 791 miles (1,273 km)

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