Trek Travel - peaceonabike

June 28, 2014September 20, 2020

San Pellegrino

MOENA, ITALY

My impressions thus far of riding in the Dolomites, a sub-chain of the Italian Alps, are they’re longer than the climbs we have in the eastern U.S. and steeper than the climbs in the Rockies. That makes for a formidable challenge.

Leaving Moena I left the group go up the group so I could take this photo — Leaving Moena I left the group go up the road so I could take this photo

We rolled out as one group at 9:00 a.m., 17 of us following James Shanahan, our Trek Tour Guide. Around 10 km into the ride my water bottle cage was very loose. I motioned I was dropping out and the group rolled on. I did a quick fix on the cage and then rode tempo back, catching back on. It was not my bike, of course, but a loaner from Trek Travel.

A view of the Dolomites and James Callahan and Sonja Schmidt

At 12 KM in we had a short water break. I arrived last, checked both bottle cages again, then got back on the road. James liked that, he was not a fan of long breaks, so he and Gary Zentmyer joined me up the road. Eventually I pulled over to take some pictures and noticed a sizable group was now climbing behind me. I took their pictures then caught back up to Gary and eventually passed him, riding with the father-son team of Chris and Jim Ashton.

Lake and snow shed at passo Fedia — Lake and snow shed at passo Fedaia

It was a sweaty ride to the top of passo Fedaia although the temperature dropped fast at the summit. At the top was a dam and I didn’t stay at the van for a break but instead rode across the dam apparently missing Team BMC and Tour de France rider Tejay van Garderen.

Pellegrin04 — Tejay Van Garderen (left) being trailed by Colin Giffney (Yellow) Credit: Trek Travel

The Trek Travel van was there with our supply of clothes and I grabbed my head cover, knee warmers, long fingered gloves and a jacket for the descent.

Pellegrin05 — A day dedicated to Jamie Roberts

The way down was through a lot of switchbacks and one straight section. If only I knew my conversions. I was displaying kilometers since those were our turn by turn directions. I hit 84.5 kmh which is about 52.5 mph. Still, it may be the second fast time I have ridden. On a bike I’m not used to.

Pellegrin06 — Soaking wet hair at Lago di Fedaia (passo Fedaia)

As we rolled into our lunch town of Alleghe, I told our guide, Sonja Schmidt, that I would not be eating lunch, instead preferring to roll on. Gary had made that decision too. Sonja’s main concern for us was lack of support. She asked us to call her when we got back to the hotel. Of course she assumed we could ride faster than they could eat lunch.

Gary and I began the 11-mile ascent by stopping and removing the outer layers we were wearing. Except for my head covering. As we started climbing Gary pulled away by 100 yards. Since I “beat” him up the first climb (Fedaia) I wasn’t sure how this would go. So much depends on length, grade, tiredness, and motive. I thought I would catch back up to him.

Pellegrin08 — Beautiful lake at Alleghe, Italy

Into the town of Falcad Auto I realized I was sweating hard and remembered I was still wearing my head cover. I worked to remove it at speed. I did but to buckle my helmet I had to stop. I saw a sign for Moena and followed it. Not sure why but it backtracked a little bit and I lost more distance on Gary. I was thinking I went the right way and wondered if he did although looking at the map later, either one was right. I just didn’t know it at the time.

We were on the climb of San Pellegrino. This climb was tough. The switchbacks were numerous and steep. They were all nestled in a deep forest so there were no grand vistas. I saw a sign for 15% grade and another for 18% grade. The bike wasn’t set up with the climbing gears I have on my normal bike and I struggled. Big time.

On one switchback I saw Gary two turns/switchbacks above. Maybe it was 300 yards, I don’t know, but they were straight up. I was hoping he didn’t look down and see me and want to wait for me as I was too tired to try to stay with anyone.

I fought the “Quit Monster” today – that voice that says stop and walk. I did not yield. It hurt. A lot. I kept going albeit slowly. I no longer moved the chain to the third gear to stand and climb. When I stood I stayed in the first gear. Once over the real steep section, I pulled over with 3 km to the summit to change the position on my seat. Once I got going I saw one of our riders coming behind me. Geez. They just spent an hour eating lunch. Was I an hour slower? I sucked.

Day 2 Italy Itinerary – I did the avid option

Reaching the summit of San Pellegrino, drenched, I again dressed with full gear (warmers) for the next descent. It was a nice ride down and a great way to end the ride. When I got back, Garmin showed I had gone 90 km. I thought another 10 would round it to 100. That’s only three miles out then back.

But there were no flat roads. I started out by going “up” so I could come back and there was no more power in the legs. I went 3 km more (total) then called it a day. Too tired to add a measly 10km more but at least claiming “victory” in my 53 mph descent.

So awesome it even has its own drink (Photo from Woodbridge, Va.)

To make it worse, I just went to Climbybike.com and see they have ranked our ascent of Passo San Pellegrino as the 94th most difficult climb in the Dolomites. Crap. What is worse that is out there waiting for us?

June 27, 2014September 19, 2020

Classic Climbs of the Dolomites

MOENA, ITALY

I came to Italy for the Trek Travel trip called Classic Climbs of the Dolomites. I arrived in Milan yesterday, and wasn’t too impressed, mostly because everywhere I walked I had to breathe in second-hand smoke. It was worse than Heinz Field after a Steelers win.

I took the train today to Verona then switched to Bolzano. I met our Trek Travel guide, Sonja Schmidt, at the train station where we were shuttled out to Nova Levante. On the mini-bus, I met Don Sheppard and we discovered we had a mutual friend in Lauren Hunt.

After grabbing our bikes, James Shanahan, had us introduce ourselves by offering a safety announcement. We had to choose one so I chose “watch out for cars, even while off the road,” offering up the case Jamie Roberts who was killed June 13 in Kentucky.

I brought a decal to put on my bike to remember Jamie

As I talked about Jamie we were showered on with tears from heaven. Lots of tears and it felt good.

I missed a group announcement at having an “avid” riding option, which I hoped to do, and the whole group rolled out as one. We began a 5.5-mile climb, pretty easy. We mostly rolled together. Then we rolled over the top and down a number of switchbacks to Moena and our hotel, the Hotel Dolomiti, for the next three days.

Not much more to say. Met the group. Short ride. Looking forward to tomorrow

July 21, 2010July 18, 2024

Lost on our way to Luchon

ST. LARY-SOULON, FRANCE

We woke up to a chilly overcast day. A pretty loud thunderstorm visited in the middle of the night and the low cloud cover was here to stay. Our Trek Travel group met and discussed riding options for the day. At breakfast, a number of people were already discussing taking a day off from riding. And why not? Because the Tour de France is having a rest day there was no viewing location to bike to.

I am one-dimensional. I am here to ride. But not everyone was. For some, it was a vacation and the riding was cool but it wasn’t everything. We were in a neat small town in the French Pyrenees and some wanted to stay behind and enjoy the town.

Why not take a day off the bike? Because of this. Going up the Azet out of St. Lary.

We could climb the Col d’ Azet and Col d’ Peyresourde, eat lunch in Luchon, then return over the Peyresourde. Or skip the Azet and take a valley road leading right to the Peyresourde so only one climb would be needed. Trek Travel would shuttle people back from Luchon if you wanted to ride one way.

We discussed our options. Some were staying back at the hotel and visiting St. Lary to go shopping. Some were staying back but riding locally. Some were going out to the Peyresourde to Luchon. And only a handful, perhaps five, were going to the entire route. Yea, that would be me.

Because groups formed in the parking lot and I was unsure who was in which group, I just sort of jumped in and started asking where they were going. I joined Rich McCrea and James Hartzberg and we went flying down the road to Arreau. We had gone the wrong direction.

By the time we realized we weren’t supposed to be following the other groups, that they were skipping the Azet, we had to turn around and go back to St. Lary to start our climb from there. These are called bonus miles. I love them! We added 14 bonus miles returning to St. Lary before beginning the climb up the Azet.

The mountains had a low cloud cover. The climb up the Col d’ Azet was almost seven miles. We went through a couple old and small villages past farms. We passed some big dogs and no dog yet has shown us any attention. No barking. No growling. No chasing.

At the summit, the cover moved rapidly. When I arrived it was covered and I could barely see the sign at the summit 25 meters away. In seconds the entire mountain had cleared. And just as quickly, it disappeared again.

Rich McCrea and James Hartzbger. Stopped for a photo op and remounting.

The top of the Azet is a pastoral grazing area and being France, I’m not sure if that means a number of monks are walking around or — yes, judging from the number of cow patties — it is a free-roaming area for cattle. We had to stop and pass carefully by two huge cows on our descent off Azet.

The descent, while obviously steep, was pretty cold. For each climb, it was strip down to as little as possible, sweat your ass off, even though the temperature was around 15°C (59° F), and then stop at the summit to put on as much clothing as possible before the descent. And then freeze.

At the bottom of the descent, one comes to Loudenville. We went around a pretty lake and made our way over to the base of the climb of the Peyresourde. This climb was used yesterday in the Tour de France. It was hot, while cold, ascending. At the top was the Trek Travel van where I pulled over to refill my two bottles — both empty. I ate some pretzels, some energy bars, and found the super-secret stash of Snickers. Mmm, Snickers.

Actually, the van had been at the top of Azet earlier but because of our bonus miles, we had missed it. But not now.

One of our riders had already decided to ride in the van and he lent his rain slicker to James for the descent. James had only a jersey and arm warmers. I had a jacket with removable sleeves which made it a vest. It rocked.

Dave Thackrey, Donna Thackrey, Peter Pellicano

The descent off the Peyresourde to Luchon would have been great in good weather conditions. But the cloud cover was so thick we were getting soaked descending and were on the verge of hypothermia. This side of the mountain had straight roads but visibility was so bad, plus the roads were wet, one could not let go of the brakes. It was a shame. When you could see the line in the road change slightly you weren’t sure if it was merely a subtle change in the road or a nasty 180° hairpin curve. And I have yet to see a single sign in the Pyrenees warning of a curve ahead and a recommended safe speed to use.

Luchon – Our group ate at the restaurant on the right

We reached Luchon about the time most of our group was getting ready to roll out. They had just finished a big lunch and some had already called it quits for the day. The van was taking them back. I met our tour guide, Nicole Kimborowicz, plus Matt McDonald and Peter Pellicano who were going back over the Peyresourde. I didn’t want to abandon Rich and James but Rich had basically declared that, after lunch, he was taking a shuttle and James was unsure.

I didn’t want to eat lunch and then have no one to bike back with and I was riding back. And I was afraid sitting outside I would get too cold.

So I skipped lunch and jumped in with the Nicole group. That was an excellent idea. The worst thing I could have done was to sit down, get something heavy in my stomach, get cold in my wet clothes, stiffen up, and then attack the Peyresourde — the same HC climb the Tour used yesterday.

The same recipe followed — climb the Peyresourde, put on as many warm clothes for the descent, then let ‘er rip. Although not let it go too fast. It was just yesterday off the descent of the Peyresourde that Jens Voigt had his front tire blow out and he crashed hard.

Nicole and I rode together while Matt and Peter flew up the mountain. Nicole probably wanted to go with them but was a good trooper and stayed with me.

After our safe descent of the Peyresourde, my group didn’t want to return the route we came — that is, up and over the Azet again. So we took the valley road back to Arreau and St. Lary. On our way into St. Lary, I went ahead solo through town and climbed partially back up the Azet to take pictures.

I finished the day with the most miles (74) and vertical feet of climbing (9600) of anyone in the group today. It was a great day on the bike.

DISTANCE: 73.8 miles
ALTITUDE GAIN: 10,502′

CLIMB DIFFICULTY

PJAMM – Peyresourde. We turned onto the climb in Loudenvielle

July 19, 2010July 17, 2024

Pla d’Adet

SAINT LARY-SOULAN, FRANCE

From my hotel in Toulouse, I had about 500 meters to walk to our meeting place, the Novotel Hotel. Inside the lobby were some of our riders about to embark on a week-long Trek Travel trip in the Pyrenees. It was also the last week of the Tour de France.

It was a beautiful morning and I had just my one suitcase to wheel to the hotel. Trek Travel would supply the bikes. I saw a couple of our group from Northern Virginia as well as some strange faces. We boarded a motorcoach for a two-hour ride to Arreau in the Pyrenees.

My first introduction on the bus was to Derek and Aimee from Redding, California. When I told them they probably knew a friend of mine I could see them scoffing. But they did know my friend, Tamy.

Then I met Ed and Nancy. Nancy was studying museum science and told me about a person she wanted to meet, Nina Simon. I told her I was good friends with Nina. (True). It’s truly a small world – even on our bus.

I could overhear some introductions. Name. Location. Occupation. Someone asked Nancy what she did and she seemed taken aback. And then she said, “go on bike trips.”

Around noon we arrived in the French village of Arreau. We had two of our Trek Tavel guides on the bus and two were in Arreau. Dave and Marquette had unloaded all our bikes for the week plus set up a beautiful-looking lunch for us in a small park. It was perfect – except there seemed to be dog poop everywhere. For all the Euro-loving in the U.S. there is one thing we do better in the U.S. than they do in France – pick up after our pets.

Our bikes were all on racks with our names affixed to labels on each bike. Many of us brought our own pedals and saddle and the guides were willing to install them but most, including me, did our own installation. And fitting. We got a brief overview of the week and did a group introduction. I could never remember all the names.

Guide Marquette Kelly speaking to the Group

After lunch, we rolled out of Arreau and stayed together for eight miles as the road followed the valley. I looked over to the mountainside and saw a wonderful road cutting through the mountainside and said I hoped we would ride up that hill.

And then we did. I thought we were headed to the hotel in St. Lary and may have not heard the full plan for the day. We rolled past the hotel where we would stay for three days and exited St. Lary.

Rolling through the valley from Arreau to St. Lary. The bikes with the placards on the handlebars are carrying directions.

We turned to find the base to the climb up Pla d’Adet. It was a steep one. It averaged more than 8% with a mile section of more than 12%. It was 6.6 miles (11km) to the summit.

And it was HOT. It was 96° (or 35° C). This was the most I ever sweated on a bike. I was drenched when I reached the summit. BTW, this is where George Hincapie won Stage 15 in 2005. Lance Armstrong also won here, in 2001. Until today I had never heard of, or remembered, Pla d’Adet. But I won’t forget.

I hadn’t read up on the climb and thought I was near the summit (I wasn’t looking up — that’s an old climber trick) when I saw the sign to the summit — 7km (4 miles) to go. Average grade 9%. Well. it was in French but I knew what it said – “you’re going to die.”*

At the summit – the guy wearing the Brooklyn jersey was actually from Madrid

That was enough to make you want to stop and drink the mountain water coming out of the side of the hills (it’s OK unless it’s marked NON). But I kept going and dragged my butt up the mountain.

Summit of the Pla d’Adet seeing the last sunshine of the day

After 30-45 minutes on the summit, we got to ride back down the mountain on the same road we just climbed. I gained a great appreciation for the professional cyclists. I always admired how fast they could climb but going down these roads — wow! — they descend almost twice as fast as me. The ride down was scary. I was very technical (lots of hairpin curves that one had to slow down for) and could be very dangerous. My average speed down was only 20 mph. That was a lot of slowing in sharp curves.

Today would offer me a life lesson. I always knew that I could never climb like the pros but always thought that when I got to France I could descend like them. It wasn’t even close. And while they have the advantage of racing on a closed road and I had to stay to the right of the yellow center line, it was much more than that. They take death-defying risks for their glory and our entertainment. We brake. They lean. I gained a new appreciation for their bike-handling skills today.

After a shower, we went to La Grange, a pretty neat restaurant which took the rest of the evening. And it was non-smoking although I wonder if it was that way just for us. Doesn’t matter. Thank you, France!

Actually, I would discover later that all of France is non-smoking in restaurants. However, many restaurants have expansive open areas in the front, sidewalk cafes, and the smoke will find its way back into the restaurant.

Tomorrow: Col d’Aspin (twice) and the Col du Tourmalet. Our private viewing will be in LaMongie, a ski village just before the summit of the Tourmalet. Trek Travel has a private restaurant reserved and may be out on the roof (so I’ve been told) to see them come by. And to yell bad things at Alberto Contador.

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*In the Pyrenees the signs are marked for the next kilometer. So the sign I saw that indicated 9% average gradient was for the next kilometer and not to the summit.