Giro d’Italia

Campolongo & Falzarego

We arrived just after 13:00 at our destination in Corvara, App. La Flu.

The stunning view from the balcony of the apartment set me in the right mood immediately and the Campolongo practically runs through the backyard.

So after settling in – sorta – I got on “ze baik” for a short prologue…

I went up the Campolongo, which I hadn’t climbed in 2011 from this side.

As they are still working on the road, I had to get through some gravel-like patches, which in the first steep(er) section of the climb was not that easy.

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Cyclopaat constructed his own Giro d’Italia 2015.

You can read his original “road book” for this part to see what he planned.

This are the links to the post stage reports of part 1, the stages from Corvara.

• Prologue – Falzarego
• Stage 1 – Fedaia
• Stage 2 – Würzjoch
• Stage 3 – Half a Sella
• Stage 4 – Tre Cime & Giau
• Stage 5 – Alpe di Siusi
• Stage 6 – Furcia

Yes, I am completely bonkers and yes, I do know that UCI’s Giro d’Italia has finished.

And I have enjoyed watching that very much, with Contador’s comeback on the Mortirolo probably being the most exciting hour of an overall eventful race.

However, that was just to warm me up for my own Giro d’Italia 2015, which will obviously be even more epic and I am counting down the days left to the start…

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Planning Stages Part 2: Valdisotto

For the second part of the Giro d’Italia 2015, we’ve booked an apartment in Valdisotto.

Valdisotto is located just south of Bormio, on the road to Grosio and Mazzo di Valtellina, two starting points for the climb up the Mortirolo.

Other than the Mortirolo from Mazzo, I already cycled a couple of other passes in the area four years ago.

Most notably the Gavia (both ends), the Foscagno, the Umbrail and of course the Stelvio.

The latter I cycled up twice, but I’m pretty sure that one of the stages will include it again this year, for instance if/when I decide to ride my own version of the Dreiländergiro*.

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Planning Stages Part 1: Corvara

May is “Bike Month” according to several (overseas) organizations like the League of American Bicyclists.

I’ve also joined Team Slackers in the National Bike Challenge – I don’t see my rides on the Strava heat map so far, but anyway.

Speaking of Strava: they continue their MTS, Climbing and Gran Fondo challenges.

The latter is only 100 kilometers this month, so that was accomplished last Saturday, when I fought my way through herds of “fellow” cyclists who were participating in the Boretti Classic.

Sadly, that course has been relocated to just the area where I wanted to ride and they were doing long stretches of “my” route, but going in the opposite direction, which was no fun at all.

I rode that classic once and decided “never again”, like I now avoid most rides where you may expect over 5,500 participants.

The Amstel Gold and Limburg Mooiste usually attract between 14,000 and 20,000 participants…

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