by Jack Chang

Riding a bike is like being a kid again, it means freedom and escape from the daily grind, riding in a fast bunch is an exhilarating experience.

Going on a bike holiday takes it up to the next level, it’s when for the entirety of your trip, you live and breath cycling, exploring new roads, taking in spectacular scenery and totally immerse yourself in cycling passion!

The battle scenes on stage 16 of the Giro d’ Italia really captured my imagination, the mythical heights of Stelvio with steep banks of snow along either side of the narrow ascent, the face of Cadel as he collapses onto soigneur’s arms on the summit with snow falling in the background, the monstrous gradient of the Mortirolo and the majestic Passo Gavia…

So fellow SPRers, I would like to share with you my recent trip to Italy and my 8 days of cycling in the Italian Alps.

Glancing at my Garmin, it’s around 230 in the afternoon, the road has dried up a little, you can still see the silvery reflection of the silhouette of riders in front of you, looking at the elevation gain on the garmin, it’s a whopping 3000+ metres, and the distance of measly 70 km, a quick calculation based on altitude, switchback numbers and road signs I know I still have good 8 km to go before the summit, climbing from the Prato side of Stelvio, the gradient starts off a little gentler but kicks up more of less to an average of 10% over the final 10 km.
My legs are screaming… my breathing erratic, it’s coldish, sweat has soaked through my undershirt, I can feel the heart rate monitor strap, the uncomfortable cold plastic/ rubber section onto my sternum as my chest heaved.

My quadriceps are starting to cramp, I am on my rescue gear 29 on the back, my cadence is about 50 and I am climbing at a grand speed on 8 km an hour, the gradient is a respectful 13%. I can see a gap starting to stretch between my front wheel and Pete’s rear wheel. He is tapping out a much higher cadence with a 32 cog on the back, I know then I had to let that wheel go….

I am pedalling in squares, my back is starting to ache, I keep turning the pedals, I arch my back to stretch out, hoping it will relieve some of the pain. The thought of getting off the bike briefly entered my head, it quickly left, because I know if I stop, I will not be able to get back on again. My mind drifts, I am recalling my last 10km of my first marathon run, the cramps in my calves. A voice in my head yelling ‘Keep pushing, keep drinking, time for another gel….’ I follow .

Then my thoughts turns into my family, I thought of my wife Meike, how lucky I am that she supports and understands; she allows me to indulge in my passion for cycling. My boy Chris, who drew a picture of me riding up a mountain to take to this trip; my daughter Anna, her beautiful smile as she hugged me goodbye,; my mother Lily, who is an inspiration for me. I started to chant their names in my head,’ Meike, Chris, Lily , Anna, Meike Chris Lily , Anna….’ I imagine them on the side of the road cheering me on. I grab a wheel that passes me and try to hang on. My hamstrings starts to cramp, I keep pushing and pedalling. I say ‘shut up legs’. I think of last few kilometres of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, I chant ‘Pole pole (Swahili for slowly slowly) in my head… I go back to chant the names of my family, I add names of my brother, my in laws, my sister in law, her family… i imagine all of them cheering me on….

My cramps are starting to ease, the energy gels has brought my muscles back to life! I increase my cadence, at 3 km to summit, my cramps were gone! My eyes grew wide, and I could see Pete, my cycling buddy a hairpin or so ahead of me, I started to chase. I knew however 3km of climbing is still another 20+ min of riding, I settled in a more steady tempo , I sucked down my last Gu gel, lucky it was an espresso flavour, just what I needed, a shot of caffeine. I started passing riders, ‘I feel alive !!!’

I never caught Pete, but as I approached the 500 metres to go mark, tears started to well in my eyes, I wanted to cry, i wanted to shout, I was overcome with emotions….

As I reached the summit, I saw a sea of cyclists, and with bikes strewn along the street and shops with cycling jersey souvenirs and stands selling cold beer and bratwurst . I found the guys who summitted before me and picked up my warm/ dry gear. We had a nice cold beer and bratwurst with the lot. Pete says ‘ It’s the best wurst I have tasted in my life.” As we finished the beer, blue sky started to open up and a glimpse of the sun peeped through the clouds, what a sensational view, and for the first time whole day we could see the zig zag of the switchbacks from the summit.

That was the second day of my cycling adventure, when we summited Stelvio twice, once from Bormio side, and the second time from Prato , Tyrol side, with the road closed for most of the day accompanied by 8000 or so other cyclists tackling the iconic pass, the second highest in Europe at 2760 meters. Due to my poor navigational skills and being fuelled with adrenaline after first ascent, I got a bit lost with the others and doubled back a few kilometres which meant a total of just short of 100km of riding and 4000 metres of climbing after we returned to our hotel. I was completely empty, but had the biggest smile on my face.

I dreamt about cycling that night, my legs were turning in my sleep.

So over the 8 days, I cycled 750 kilometres, rode up Stelvio 3 times, Mortirolo 3 times, Gavia twice, plus Umbrail pass, and a few minor climbs , Bormio 2000, Foscagno, del Forno, Teglio.

Going down the mountain and riding through those dark tunnels at 60km an hour was a rather spine tingling experience. Some of the tunnels were up to 200 metres in length, with no lighting inside and quite bumpy with potholes scattered around. It took a bit of leap of faith and a few expletives to get over them. Climbing through those tunnels was equally unnerving , you just pray inside and hope there are no cars going down at speed from the opposite direction, I was saying in my head ‘Don’t end up like Chris Horner….’

Seeing those snow capped mountains in the distance framed by cloudless deep blue sky, riding through dense pine forrest along butter smooth Swiss roads was like being in an iMax movie, or you feel like you are on the set of a Rapha photo shoot, just breathtaking!

Any trip to Italy won’t be complete without indulging in all the amazing food it has to offer. Italians call it ‘ La Dolce Vita’ . Simple things like fruit, bread and cheese tasted just so amazing. My gastronomic highlight include chocolate croissant with thick layer of Nutella smeared over it for breakfast, hot chocolate so thick you can almost stand the spoon up, salami of pickled octopus, and a buckwheat and cheese baked dish, with the name escaped me.

The hotel we stayed was beyond words, beautiful pine covered air conditioned rooms with free laundering of cycling clothes, full board with buffet breakfast and 4 course gourmet dinner, plus afternoon tea for cyclists, packed lunch, cycling clothes dropped at summit for you to collect, anything you could think of they will do it for you, and not to mention the amazing fully equipped bike shed/storage area.

So fellow cyclists, I urge you to make plans to visit this amazing bit of cycling heaven, don’t put it on your bucket list, put it on your to do list in the next 12 months!

Drop me a line if you want to know more.

Remember ‘ It never gets easier, you just go faster.’ – Greg Lemond