Random Notes Data & Details

2,605 kms driven in our leased Renault Kangoo, 1,618 miles.

Visited Carpentras, Bedoin, Bourg d'Oisans, Lake Como, Bormio, Arabba, Cortina d'Ampezzo, Lauro, Pagnano, Garda, Milan, and countless small towns in between on bike and in the car.


Next time, bring our own laptop. The internet cafes were fairly easy to find, but the performance of the computers was usually lacking. We'd buy an hour's worth of time and half of that would be used up waiting for pages to download. It was exasperating. Several of the machines wouldn't allow us to download photos. Also would have been very useful in investigating potential hotels.



Just about 900 miles ridden by bicycle, over 91,000 feet of climbing in 20 days of riding.

Days lost to rain: just 2



Days lost to travel: 7--3 in the air June 10-11, July 8, 3 driving from town-to-town, and 1 to Venice.



Climbs covered (most data came from http://climbbybike.com/ ):
1. Ventoux x 3:

• Bedoin 14.1 miles, 5322 ft climbed, 7.1% avg, 12% max
• Malaucene 13.2 miles, 5036ft climbed, 7.2% avg 12% max
• Sault 16.0 miles, 3780 ft climbed, 4.5% avg, 11% max

2. Croix de Fer, 17.1 miles, 4239 ft climbed, 4.7% avg
3. Col du Galibier & Telegraph combined 21.7 miles, 6312 ft climbed, 5.5% avg
4. Madonna del Ghisallo from Bellagio 6.6 miles, 1811 ft climbed, 5.2% avg
5. Climb from Onno to Ghisallo via Asso 10.1 miles, 1798 ft climbed 3.4% avg
6. Varenna to Esino Lario (and beyond) 7.5 miles, 2228 ft climbed, 5.7% avg
7. Stelvio from Bormio 13.4 miles, 5030 ft climbing, 7.1% avg
8. Stelvio from Prato allo Stelvio (the more famous approach) 15.1 miles, 5932 ft climbed, 7.4% avg
9. Mortirolo (Passo di Foppa) from Mazzo di Valtellina 7.7 miles, 4265 ft climbed, 10.5% avg 18% max
10. Passo Gavia, the "race face" from Ponte di Legno 10.7 miles, 4472 ft climbed, 7.9% avg 16% max
11. Passo Fedaia from Caprile, 8.8 miles, 3475 ft climbed, 7.5% avg 18% max
12. Passo Sella (both directions) 3.4 miles, 1309 ft & 3.4 miles, 1224 ft, 7.3% avg 6.8% avg
13. Passo Campolongo (both directions) from Arabba 2.5 miles, 968 feet; from Corvara (twice) 3.9 miles, 1007 ft
14. Passo Pordoi (both directions) from Arabba 5.8 miles, 2090 ft, 6.8% avg; 8.1 miles, 2579 ft, 6% avg
15. Passo Gardena (both directions) Corvara 6.0 miles, 1965 ft, 6.2% avg, 3.7 miles, 820 ft, 4.2% avg
16. Passo Giau from Selva di Cadore, 6.1 miles, 3025 ft, 9.1% avg
17. Passo Falzarego/Valporola 10.2 miles, 2995 ft, 5.6% avg
18. Tre Croci twice 5.0 miles, 1886 ft + 1886 ft, 7.1% avg
19. Passo Sant' Antonio 5.7 miles, 4885 ft (that sounds like an awful lot of vertical feet--I think the actual is closer to Tre Croci), 7.1% avg.
20. Tre Cime di Lavaredo, 4.7 miles, 1864 ft, 7.5% avg, last 4 k avg 11.7%
21. Monte Grappa, 16.5 miles, 5141 ft, 5.9% avg
22. Peri to Fosse, 5.7 miles, 2506 ft, 8.3% avg, 15% max.

Toughest climb? Stelvio from Prato. No breaks, 15 miles. And the last 4 km of Tre Cime.



Prettiest? Stelvio was the most impressive looking climb--gotta love switchbacks. 48 of them.

Flat tires: zero


Other mechanicals: zero. On the rainy day in the Alps (le Marmotte route) the rain cleaned my chain of every last bit of lube--it was squeaking like the Tin Man in Wizard of Oz--it was embarrassing, but it held and got me back.

Strudel consumed: 4 lbs.

The worst thing about riding bicycles in Europe: the motorcycles.

Self guided or supported tour? The downside we had to the do-it-yourself route was the travel days. Despite our best intentions, we rarely rode on days we were changing hotels. We'd say we'd ride after arriving at the next city, but we never did. We did ride the morning after leaving Arabba en route to Cortina, but Cortina was not very far away. It was still a hassle finding a place on the fly.

Supported tours avoid the transfer issue because you throw your bags in the van, it moves your stuff to the next hotel, and you ride to it. Also, supported tours have food at various locations throughout a ride and provide SAG support. Do-it-yourself and you're on your own. The tour companies also have plenty of knowledge of where to ride--although they're going off itineraries that are easily duplicatable--again, except for those one-way transfer days.

However, we spent four weeks, going where we wanted to go, when we wanted to go, rode as much or as little as we wanted, and spent the same we would have spent for 7-10 days of a guided tour (including airfare). That's the big difference in favor of do-it-yourself.


4 weeks? Too long? I didn't think so from a traveling standpoint. From a practical standpoint (employment, a house to take care of, loved ones, etc.) four weeks is a long time. But I'd do it again if everything worked out. . . otherwise, our next trips probably won't exceed two weeks.

Peri to Fosse--Nearing the End, Monday July 5, 2010

After leaving the area around Monte Grappa, we headed west towards Milan, our departure city, and hoped for some cooler weather. Nothin' doin'. We ended up in Garda, on its namesake lake, Lake Garda. The whole Lake Garda thing, and the weather once we left Cortina d'Ampezzo, will have to be another entry. Suffice it to say for now that the weather was, by our standards, miserable, and the riding along the shore of Lake Garda was, shall we say, memorable.

I'd read about the climb from Peri to Fosse and knew that it was near Lake Garda. The drive from Garda to Peri was about 30 minutes. The climb features in the Gran Fondo Luca Avesani in September http://www.lascaligera.it/GFAvesani/home.htm .

Verona's just on the other side of the hill from where we started so its a busily traveled area by cyclists.

We had already dealt with heat and humidity and climbing while on Monte Grappa. Monte Grappa wasn't as bad an experience as I feared. Sure, there was a lot of sweat, but I think we had a slight reprieve that day we climbed. Our day on the Peri-Fosse climb was also warm, but not so much as to cause unnecessary concerns over hydration. We lucked out. There were clouds overhead and, after we'd reached the summit and pedaled around some, there was even some thunder nearby. Plus, though not a short climb, it wasn't a 15 mile struggle, either.

The gradient was comfortable up until a few kms from the top where you could tell it had kicked up to somewhere around the claimed 15% maximum. There are 10 switchbacks to keep track of and track your progress. Very few cars passed on the way up, or down. Once over the crest at the town of Fosse there are dozens of different directions you can go. Head directly south and you'll end up in Verona. As we did head south, we saw many a rider headed north coming from that very city. Of course, being a Monday, there were far fewer than there probably were the two days prior.

The topside of this little mount is dotted with small towns, it's really quite pretty and must be a terrific training ground for those folks headed out of the flats of Verona. Summer weather around the area, though, is U.S. southeast-like. Hot and humid. Maybe not Miami humid, but far moreso than we're accustomed to in California.

Linda and I tootled around atop the little mountain for an hour, or so, and headed back the way we'd come. It was only a 40 mile day, but it had a fun climb, great views and those lovely switchbacks. If you ever end up in Garda, or around the lake, don't waste your time fighting traffic and risking your life. There are scores of other directions to go, away from the lake, into Verona, up to Fosse, etc., that would be far more rewarding.

Rating the Accommodations - Bormio

Hotel Alu, June 22-25, 2010, 4 nights

http://www.hotelalu.it/

Via Btg. Morbegno 20
23032 Bormio, Italy

Location: right at the base of Bormio 2000m gondola. It's away from the town center, but it's a close enough walk that it's no trouble. In the town center there are plenty of places to eat and there is a market nearby. Bormio's ideally situated for Stelvio, Morirolo, Gavia, Passo del Tonale, Passo del Bernina, Livigno, etc.

Rate: 65 euros per person per day, mezza pensione (half board). Very reasonable, I thought, for a quality hotel. 50-70 euros per person per day was the going range for the time of year we were there. Rates increased towards the end of June into early July.

Rooms: Hotel Alu had the most updated, modern rooms we found on this trip. They had been completely renovated within the last couple of years and they looked great. Kind of Ikea-like, but very comfortable and just, well, clean. At the same time, maybe too sterile? It seemed a little devoid of atmosphere.

Large, clean bathroom. Didn't try the bidet.

I thought the bed was quite comfortable.

Food: Hotel Alu had, I think, the best food of the hotels we visited. Breakfast was still the usual muesli, yogurt, breads, etc., but they always had a couple of extra things. Dinners were superb. Each of these places would give a 4-course meal. Start w/salad and appetizers. Then a soup or small plate, then a main entree, then dessert. At breakfast each morning the staff left the choices for that evening's dinner. There would always be three items to choose from in each of the second and third courses. They knew we spoke English so they'd have an English version for us--they did the same for the German, Dutch, and Italian speakers. We never struck out on the choices, i.e. we were always find something that was very agreeable. For dessert, they had the best strawberry gelato I've ever tasted. And a big ol' bowl full of it, too.

Staff: The meal staff was very friendly, though they didn't speak much English. We got on well and enjoyed their service. Chiara Pedranzini of the owners and she was really the face of the hotel for us. She's young, but very good at running the business. She's very attentive, speaks English very well (as does Katia and some of the other front desk staff we dealt with).

Hotel Alu is trying to extend its reach out to cyclists, though I expect cyclists are still new for them. They are looking for ways to attract them. There were several while we there, but they had room for more. One cool thing they do is wash you r cycling gear for you. At the end of each day you bring your dirty clothes down to the front desk and they'd have it clean and dry by next morning, no charge. Unfortunately, it was limited to just the cycling clothes.

Recommend? Yes, it was a nice hotel, very good food. Great staff. Next time, though, I would be very interested in trying Hotel Funivia:

http://www.hotelfunivia.it/en_hotel.aspx

It was located just a block away from Hotel Alu. Funivia seems to be very in-tune with cyclists. While we were climbing the Stelvio we saw numerous Funivia staff, on bikes (easily recognizable in their Hotel Funivia kit), riding with guests and a Hotel Funivia van running up and down the mountain urging people on, helping with mechanicals, carrying food and gear, it was impressive. I don't know if that was a service included in room cost, or if it was extra. Funivia's rates were very similar to Alu's. Hotel Alu's trying to attract cyclists, Funivia seems to be way ahead of Alu's efforts.

Another hotel that was recommended, and looked impressive was Hotel Baita dei Pini:

http://www.baitadeipini.com/

It was a pretty location, a little closer to town. It was a little more than Alu and Funivia, but not much more--maybe 5 euros/day/person more.

So if/when we go again, Funivia's next. Then after that Baita dei Pini.

Oh no, they're here. . . .

I was checking my e-mail tonight. JC Penney had sent me an ad. . . free shipping, 15% off, etc.

I clicked on it and what showed up?

Not only the due in the red shirt, bit what's the guy in the black shirt wearing? Look almost like Capris! Okay, maybe not. But they're edging that way!

Then there was this one. Looks like there's no escaping it.

Maybe they could call them "musette's" or "courier bags".

MP of the Day #10

So THIS is where you buy them. . . .

Garda, Italy.

Rating the Accommodations - Lake Como

Il Perlo Panorama, June 18-21, 4 nights

http://ilperlo.com/

Carlo Sancassano
Il Perlo
Via Valassina 180
22021 Bellagio, Italy

I first read about Il Perlo in a entry by Richard Pestes on his website http://pezcyclingnews.com/ .

His more specific report, and interview with Il Perlo's proprietor, is here:

http://pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=7375

We couldn't have been more pleased with the experience. Il Perlo and Le Velo Jaune were our two best experiences and certain "will do again" destinations (in our humble opinion).

Location: Smack dab on the climb to Madonna del Ghisallo. See this pic of Fausto Coppi in the 1950 Giro di Lombardia? That building in the upper left corner is Il Perlo.

The driveway is about, oh, a half mile from the start of the climb on a 14% pitch. So, to ride the entire climb, you have to ride downhill a little bit and turn around and come back up. Or, like we did, we climbed to the top and caught the first section as we ended our loop. Kind of a tough way to end a ride, but it was worth the views:

(You can click on the images to enlarge)

This never got old.

There is a whole bunch to see around Lake Como. Bellagio was just a short distance away. All of the little towns surrounding the lake are incredibly picturesque.

Rate: We paid in advance to receive a 15% discount. After that discount, the rate was 94 euros/day, about $118, bed & breakfast. I didn't do a lot of looking around for hotels on Lake Como--there are hundreds of them and certainly many wonderful locations there. I liked what I'd read of Il Perlo and settled on it fairly quickly. Making the reservation was easy, on-line, and credit cards are accepted.

Rooms: Our room was on the 2nd of 3 floors, corner closest to the road, facing Lake Como. It had French doors that overlooked the lake and opened onto a large balcony.

My new bride on the balcony.

Our rather unkempt room (that was my fault, most of that stuff you see lying around is mine).

The rooms were plenty large enough. Linda thought the bed a little uncomfortable--I thought every bed we slept in on this trip was great. It was kept nicely, the bathroom was large and the shower worked wonderfully. Don't know about the bidet. . . didn't try it.

Food: Breakfasts were as we'd come to expect in our short time in Europe to this date. There was plenty to eat--and it was the usual. Cereal (they had a good granola, not just muesli), fruit, yogurt, bread, juice, coffee, hot chocolate. No complaints. Although the hotel did not have a full restaurant, they did offer a nightly special that we took advantage of on two nights. Restaurants are close by and Carlo recommended a half dozen, or so, several of which offered free shuttle service to/from Il Perlo.

View from one of the restaurants near Il Perlo.

Staff: Carlo Sancassano, his mother Piera, are lovely people and were wonderful to deal with. Both speak English (and other languages--we saw Dutch, German, French, and Belgian guests while we were there) very well. The two women we met that were, I guess, hostesses--one in the a.m., the other p.m., were very nice, though their English was not as good.

Piera Sancassano, la famiglia matriarch, and Linda.

The economy is taking a noticeable toll on the area. The night we ate out, pictured above, we were the ONLY guests at the restaurant, on a Friday night no less. We spoke with the owners for a little bit and they said it was like that too often lately. Things should pick up in July, August, but you could tell they were hurting.

Carlo Sancassano is working on ways to bring in clients, and he's looking at catering to cyclists. He knows the area well and, though he is not a cyclist himself, can recommend many routes. He would have been very helpful, had I asked him beforehand, at clarifying the Giro di Lombardia route for me. We got it mostly right, but missed a key turn that would have kept us on the actual route. We ended up a at the right place, but it was not as pleasant a ride. Plus we missed the famous Civiglio climb that plays a part at the end of the race. Also, Carlo is involved with a local group called Como Lago Bike that is interested in focusing on cycling in the Lake Como area. Carlo even gave me a comolagobike jersey and windvest (I assure you, however, that the kit had nothing to do with my positive review of Il Perlo).

http://www.comolagobike.com/

My cool "comolagobike" jersey.

Language: Not an issue.

Recommend? Yes, I loved it. Great views. Terrific owners. Downside? A little far to walk to Bellagio if you don't have a car, but I think the hotel offers a free shuttle (or ride the bike if you brought it!).

Rating the Ride - 2010 Renault Kangoo

Because we were going to be in Europe for more than three weeks, there was a significant cost advantage to leasing the car, versus renting. I went with Renault's Eurodrive option because of the car offered. I specifically zeroed in on the Kangoo because I thought it would give us the space to carry two bikes inside the car, along with our two bags, and the two bike boxes and the miscellaneous bunch of stuff we dumped into the bike boxes that wouldn't fit anywhere else.

http://www.renaultusa.com/

http://www.renault.com/en/Vehicules/renault/Pages/kangoo.aspx

I was right, although we ended up loading the vehicle differently than I envisioned before the trip.

Out front of Hotel Safari ready to be loaded.

I thought we would collapse the two boxes, lay them flat in the back of the car, and then place everything else on top of them. It turned out better to just place the boxes in the car, one on top of the other, and then placed my bike to the side of the boxes, and Linda's bike was small enough to place sideways behind the front seats. The boxes then served to hold the bikes upright, instead of them lying on top of one another and falling/sliding around the back. Our suitcases and other paraphernalia fit around the boxes, on top of the boxes, and into the many nooks and crannies Renault built into the vehicle.

Final configuration--boxes on top of one another, my bike to the left. . .

. . . Linda's sideways across the front of the boxes, behind the front seats.

I was able to find the interior dimensions of the car on-line, but I was never 100% certain they were accurate. Turns out the car was perfectly suited to what we needed.

Easy access all around--sliding doors both sides, hatch rear.

Price? It was about $1884 for 28 days. We paid an extra fee to drop the car off in Milan, vs. returning it to a French location. We would have opted to return the car at Marco Polo Airport in Venice, but Renault didn't have arrangements available there. Milan was the closest to us, thus we had to drive back to Milan from Venice, but that wasn't too bad. We could have driven it easily in about 5 hours, but we broke it up into two days, stopping at Lake Garda en route.

We put 2605 kms on the car, about 1, 618 miles. It performed great, though it wasn't sexy or fast. The gas mileage was pretty good, too. It, like many cars in Europe, was diesel powered and diesel was a little cheaper than regular gas.

Gas stations there are interesting. There's none of the fume-capture technology used here. The nozzles are frequently dripping and/or leaking. At our first fuel-up, there was diesel and gasoline puddled all over the ground and on the pumps. It was a little bizarre. And don't look to Europe as the cutting edge for auto emissions control. Their cars spew, spit, fog and belch smoke with impunity. Plus there's a reason California was without diesel vehicles for so long. . . they're dirty.

Anyway, back to the car. It served us well. Gave us no problems. Was easy to drive. Never caused us any problems in the mountains (not that it was powerful) and it did its job. I suppose there's a reason Renault's aren't sold in the U.S. and I can't speak for the long-term viability of the car. For 1,618 miles it was perfect.

At the end of the trip, we called Renault, I told them the flight number and departure time, they said they'd meet us in front of the Swiss Air door #16 at Milan's Malpensa airport at 6:30. We did, they were there, handed over the keys, and that was that. Easy.

If you want to have a car, and you'll be there long enough, leasing's a great way to go. The Kangoo won't impress with its o-60 times, or amaze with its cornering abilities. If I was single, it is not the car to impress women. In the end, it did exactly what we needed--allowed us to travel with the bikes inside the car with plenty of room for everything else. It is the exact same reason I drive a Honda Element at home: its utility. It does exactly what I bought it for--carries my wife, me, and our bikes wherever we want to go.

MP of the Day #9

Wow, look at 'em all.

Venice.

Rating the Accommodations - Bourg d'Oisans

Le Velo Jaune, July 14-17, 4 nights

http://www.bourgdoisansbandb.com/index.html

Alan & Lynne Coldray
Le Velo Jaune Chambres d' Hotes
Le Clapier d'Auris
38142 Auris en Oisans
France

A great find--the Coldray's are originally from England. Alan was a mechanic, Lynne was involved in the hospitality industry. They were active cyclists, took a trip to the Alps one year not too long ago, fell in love with it and decided they'd like to live and work in France. So they did, buying a house, renovating it, and opening it as a B&B. God bless 'em. Their knowledge of the area is superb and, they speak English!!

Location: ~3 miles south of Bourg d'Oisans on N91, between l'Alpe d'Huez and Les Deux Alpes (plus you have Galibier, Glandon, Telegraph, Croix de Fer, Ornon, Madeleine, and countless others so close by). Beautiful setting. Because the B&B backs right up to N91 you'd think there would be a lot of traffic noise. We didn't hear a thing.

Rate: we paid 65 euros for both Linda and I, for bed & breakfast. For 18 euros apiece, dinner was also an option--which we took advantage of on 3 of the 4 nights. I thought it was a tremendous bargain, but Alan said it was right in line with the rates of many other B&B's in the area. Truthfully, I thought the rate was too good to be true and I was a little nervous about what I'd find when we get there. Completely unfounded. The total rate, including dinner, was just 101 euros--the lowest rate we paid the entire trip.

The Coldray's accept cash only, which was not a problem at all. What was very convenient, and superior, I thought, to trying to get credit card information to the hotels, was their use of Paypal for the deposit. Quick, easy, immediate, no mysteries, and no fees if you pay from your checking account.

Rooms: if I recall correctly, the Coldray's said they had 4 guest rooms, and could accommodate up to 8 people. I know they had one guest room upstairs, and I thought they had 4 downstairs, but maybe it was only 3, because I'm sure I'm recalling the "up to 8 people" number correctly. Anyway, if you're going with a group of more than 8, double-check. I remember they said they went 1-2 people over that once when a group showed up with a couple extra people.



The building is a converted barn. The rock walls are at least 18" thick--perhaps as much as 24". They provide great insulation from the heat and cold (though we had mostly cold while we were there) and they shut out almost all outside noise. We slept like logs.

I thought that the rooms were comfortable, a good size, and offered plenty of room. The rooms were recently partitioned into their current configuration after the Coldray's bought the place a couple of years ago so everything's new. I remember Lynne said that this is their first full season of operation (a partial season in 2009). The Coldray's garage was the bike storage area.

Meals were in the Coldray's main living area. TV was available there, too, but not in the rooms. Wifi was also available.

Food: Alan and Lynne trade off meal duties. Both are very good cooks and do a wonderful job with both the menu, and the amount! Being cyclists, they know what to serve up. Who'd think a truck mechanic could cook? Dinners were 3 courses each night. Before we arrived at Le Velo Jaune I thought that 18 euros was kind of steep (about $23). I don't drink, but Linda was offered wine and it was included in the meal. In retrospect, the dinner meals were fairly priced and very good. Breakfasts were standard fare and met expectations.

Beer and soft drinks were in a small fridge in the hallway operated on the honor system. Thumbs up.

Staff: Staff would be Alan and Lynne. They were great to visit with at mealtime and were a wealth of information about where to ride, what to expect, where to find some new rides you may not have considered. There's more than l'Alpe d'Huez.

Language: English! And they speak enough French to be able to answer questions about things you may have seen--signs, etc.

Recommend? Wholeheartedly, unequivocally, yes. Downside (if it can be called that) it is a 3 mile walk to town. You'll want to ride your bike or have a car. If you have a group larger than 8 they may not be able to accommodate you.

Rating the Accomodations--Provence/Ventoux

Hotel Safari, Carpentras, France, July 11, 2010, one night.

http://www.safarihotel.fr/

Location: We backed into Hotel Safari because we couldn't find anyplace closer to one of the three main towns at the foot of Mt. Ventoux (Sault, Malaucene, and Bedoin) for all three nights we were to be in the area. We were able to arrange for two nights in Bedoin at Hotel des Pins, but they didn't have space for us our first night.

We arrived in Lyon and didn't get headed towards Carpentras until after 9 pm (because Linda's bike arrived on a separate flight--it least it was the same day. If we hadn't waited for it, the airline was talking about 4-5 days to get it to us. So we waited. It really did show up on the next flight). It was a little over 2 hours' drive. We just needed a place to crash, and a location to put the bikes back together. I knew Safari's layout from having stayed there in 2006 and I knew it would fit the bill. If we could have booked all three nights in Bedoin we would have, but Hotel Safari worked out just fine.

Carpentras is only 12 kms to Bedoin, thus a nice warm-up if you were to begin a ride to Ventoux from the hotel. There were two supermarkets nearby, a sporting goods store with a pretty good selection of cycling gear, tools, parts--which came in handy in 2006 when we needed a derailleur pulley. Downtown Carpentras was a fairly long walk, but reasonable.

Rate: 95 euros for a double facing the back of the hotel, 120 euros for a pool view, 180-280 euros for a suite. No meals included, no demi-pension option (demi pension = half board, breakfast and dinner. In Italy the term is "mezza pensione"). We ate breakfast there thinking it was included only to discover it was 10 euros apiece when we checked out. The pool view has a balcony--worth an extra 25 euros? I didn't think so. We were going to be there for just one night anyway.

Some hotels may back away from a reservation if it's not a minimum number of days (3-5), but if it's the slower season, it's not a big deal. Check when school's out (in France the school year ends early July), check schedules of big races. We added an additional day in Bedoin before leaving for the Alps because the Criterium du Dauphine was in the Alps through the 13th. The Dauphine at weekend--plus it occasionally uses Mt. Ventoux. Check for Gran Fondos and cyclosportifs--Le Marmotte, for instance, is the first weekend in July every year). July and August are BIG vacation months in Europe.

Most hotels' rates change as they get deeper into summer. In France, their rates jump earlier in the year than they do in Italy. By the time we arrived on June 11, the French hotels had already gone to their in-season rates. The French hotel high-season rates began in late May/early June. In Italy, it was usually the last weekend in June, or very early July.

Many of these hotels close in fall and reopen in spring. To avoid running into availability issues, arrange your room before the fall closure with the French hotels, at least in Provence. If you wait for them to reopen in the spring it's a much more difficult search and can be frustrating. We didn't have any trouble finding hotels in Italy in spring.

Rooms: They have remodeled since we were last there. It looks very good. It's clean, comfortable, if not a little sterile. No complaints.

Food: Breakfast was probably the weakest of the trip, particularly when considering how much it cost--10 euros--about $12.50. The selection was limited, no muesli, no granola, no other cereals, minimal bread choices. You could boil your own eggs. I don't like boiled eggs--soft or hard.

Staff: Sophie Rieu speaks English and works the front counter during the day. She's very nice and was helpful arranging the room. I corresponded with her via e-mail and spoke with her twice by phone. Otherwise, being we were there just the one day, our contact with the remainder of the staff was very limited. The young man staffing the counter when we arrived at 11:30 pm was a college student, and he also spoke English. One of the young men in the restaurant next morning was also a college student but from Germany and earning money for the next school year. He also spoke English. No complaints.

Language: No hassles here with communication.

Recommend?

+ Clean, recently renovated, English speaking staff
- Its price, room only, was on the high side and their food is fairly expensive. Breakfast offerings were not that great.

I'd look elsewhere first.


Hotel des Pins, Bedoin, France, July 12-13, 2010, two nights.

http://www.hotel-des-pins.fr/eng/accueil.htm

Location: excellent, just a couple of kms from downtown Bedoin.

Rate: 140 euros for two, demi-pension (half board). We booked the "little room 18", as it is described in their website, because it was the cheapest. Their standard, larger rooms were 150-170 euros for two, half board. Exchange rate running about $1.25 at the time. 140 euros for two was the most we paid for half-board on the trip--but not by a lot. We paid 65 euros each at another location. The least we paid, in Italy, was 55 euros/person in Arabba.

Rooms: Room 18 was, in fact, small, but large enough for us. We left the bikes in the car freeing up space. I had trouble sleeping just two nights our entire trip. The first night was the first night at Hotel des Pins because of the wall AC unit's odd sounds. But just that first night. The next night we figured out how to set the thing, plus we were exhausted from riding our bikes all over Mt. Ventoux.

Food: The breakfast was what we came to find as pretty standard just about everywhere we went thereafter: breads, croissants, jams, muesli, juices, yogurt. There was plenty to choose from and, I thought, it was certainly adequate. The dinners here were decent, but not spectacular.

Staff: The owner and his wife (I only remember her name, Anne Sophie) spoke English. The remainder of the staff did not, which really was not a problem since the few times we tried to speak with them we were just trying to strike up a conversation. We did have trouble once with the key to the room--it wouldn't unlock the door. Trying to describe what was happening to the desk clerk was difficult and we eventually had to simply bring her to the door and show her. No big deal, though. They were friendly and we smiled and shook our heads at each other a lot.

Language: it was not an issue on this visit. Nothing happened to warrant an in depth conversation, i.e. we didn't have to complain to them about anything, ask for anything unusual, etc.

Recommend?
+ Owner spoke some English. Breakfast was decent, on par with others later in the trip.
- Dinners were so-so, the room was small (but I asked for "little room 18", so I can't really blame them). It just didn't have a great feel, or atmosphere, about it, overall. But, they were the only ones to respond with a vacancy.


This website has links to several other Ventoux area hotels. Several looked promising, but they didn't have a room for the dates we needed.

http://www.ventoux-hotel.fr/

Hotel Safari dining room.

Garden view from dining area at Hotel des Pins.

I used Google to locate hotels. I'd type in "carpentras france hotels", for instance, and Google would present a list of hotels, plus a map of the locale with hotels highlighted. If you place the cursor on these locations, it would show the hotel and whether it had a website. No website? Off the list. Next, did the website have an English language option? If not, off the list. Next I'd check the rates. If the rates were not readily available on the site, they were off the list. If prices and location, etc., looked good, I'd e-mail them in English. If they responded in English, great, if not, they were off the list. It worked out pretty well--Used this method to find lodging in Provence, Bourg d'Oisans, and Bormio.

It's official! I'm a "Nut".

http://www.clubcinglesventoux.org/index.php?pcr=3&PHPSESSID=787cdaf21a6561211beaaa17cd095964

(If my name doesn't readily appear after clicking the link, then click on "laureats" on the left margin, then click on "date" arrow twice to sort by date--first click sorts by oldest to newest, 2nd click sorts from newest to oldest. The scan the pages looking for #3081, 13 June 2010).

I've been welcomed into the Club des Cingles du Mont Ventoux (Nuts of the Ventoux)!

#3081, 13 June, 2010.

So what comes with the honor?

#1, my name on the Internet!! (Look at all the Dutch!!)

#2: this fine medallion:

Front

Back (note 3081 matches my listing on the website)!

And #3 this letter signed by the president and founder of Club des Cingles du Mont Ventoux, Christian PIC (click on images for larger view):



I don't have an exact translation, but it says something welcoming me to the club for having made three trips up the "Mythical Mountain". Bravo and congratulations. Together with this letter is your well-deserved medallion of Nuts of Mont Ventoux.

I'd had the medallion and the letter for some time, the listing on the website just occurred today.

Is it still a "medallion" if it's plastic?

Is it worth 15 euros? I don't know. Mr. PIC didn't have to do any of this stuff. One of the Bedoin bike shops poo-pooed the deal because it's easy to cheat. The controls are very loose and completely on the honor system. You have to have it signed at each of the three starting points--Bedoin, Malaucene, and Sault--but you could as easily (more easily) drive to each location as ride your bike. No one checks. And you have to have the summit stamp done just once.

Do people drive it and not ride it? I don't know. Probably. But Mr. PIC's put together a cool little deal, maintains it on his own--probably compensated more than just his costs, but I don't know that. How much does it cost to maintain the website? The letter and medallion don't cost much. I think it's fun, he does a good job and he's well-meaning.

http://ridewithgps.com/routes/269742

So what's next?? How about this?

http://www.felesducolombier.fr/Anglais.index.html

Confrerie des Feles du Grand Colombier!! "Feles" means "cracked", so I guess this means something like, the Cracked Brotherhood of the Grand Colombier" (I'm detecting a theme here).

Grand Colombier's not too far from Lyon, about 2 1/2 hours drive south of Bourg d'Oisans. The Wife says okay! Looks like it'll have to be 2012, though. The guy running this show, Michel Pelissier, charges only 7 euros, but you get just the certificate and your name added to brotherhood (on the Internet!!). For 8 euros more, you can buy a metallic medallion, and/or 13 more euros gets you a t-shirt.

Four ways to summit Grand Colombier: 138 kms (about 86 miles--43 up, 43 down), 15,643 feet of climbing. Same distance as Ventoux's 3 main roads, but a little bit more climbing, but on 4 approaches. Piece of cake.

MP of the Day #8

Venice, Italy.

I really AM an Idiot (Mom, don't read this)

Memo to self: learn these skills

Training for Gran Fondos Part 4, Descending
Velonews, June 21, 2010

Rule 1: Look ahead. The key is to look where you want to go.

Rule 2: Hand Positioning. In this way your steering will be more controlled. Probably the safest, most reliable position is in the drops.

Rule 3: Braking
--You should be able to “cover the brakes” keeping them partially engaged but with little or no pad/rim contact until your fingers are partially bent, thereby allowing greater use of hand strength.
--Control your speed.
--to avoid skidding and losing control, feather the front brake and don’t over brake on the rear wheel.

Rule 4: Cornering
--Look ahead
--Outside pedal down
--Look to the inside apex
--Enter the turn wide
--Practice letting off the brakes after entering the turn. The rear brake can lock up and skid with too much brake applied.
--When in doubt, lean it more.
--“Bailing” (refusing/failing to commit 100 percent) in a turn does a number of bad things. Most importantly, it can send you into oncoming traffic (!), and/or cause you to straighten up suddenly, thereby throwing your weight forward and off-center. To commit 100 percent to your turn you may have to employ “counter-steering” technique, which is accomplished by pushing on the inside of the handlebar as you simultaneously weight the outside pedal, keeping the knees braced inward. This takes practice, and should be tried incrementally, not all at once at high speeds. Once this technique is mastered, however, it is very, very difficult to crash, because you’re using the laws of physics in your interests, not simply charging downhill and hoping for the best.


Okay, well, this article was published on June 21, 2010. I was in Italy on June 21st. Riding my bike. Amongst Italians. I didn't see this series of articles until after we'd returned to the U.S. Too bad.

One great thing we did do after we'd descended from the highlands (which, in hindsight, we could have--should have--delayed for at least 2 more days) was to take a ride up Monte Grappa. We were staying in a little hamlet called Lauro, very near the town of Asolo (this region, notably, is not only home to Pinarello, but Sidi, Alipinestars, Selle Italia, Diadora, and several other famous Italian marques--we saw all of these companies while moving around the area).

Thursday was our travel day to Asolo, Friday was Venice (I'll write a three sentence entry about Venice later), and Saturday was our day to finally ride. When we first arrived in Treviso, and as we neared Asolo at the foot of Monte Grappa, we couldn't even SEE the mountain. The humidity was so heavy, the air so full of moisture, that the mountain was completely obscured.

We left the B&B where we were staying at around 7 a.m. It was already quite warm, though maybe a little cooler than it had been. The plan was to take Rd No. 248 out of Asolo to Bassano del Grappa, then make a right to Romano d'Ezzelino and the start of the 27 km climb to the summit. There are 9 different ways to get up Monte Grappa. We chose this route because the B&B owner suggested it might be safest given it was a weekend and might be likely to see a lot of cars--wider road, better visibility. Sounded good to us. Stats: about 16.75 miles, 5.9% avg, 10.5% max, 5141 feet gained.

http://climbbybike.com/climb.asp?Col=Monte-Grappa&qryMountainID=2573#profile

Monte Grappa, at 27 kms, was the longest climb we did on this trip. Next was Stelvio from Prato at about 25 km, or 15.5 miles (Stevlio was probably the toughest climb of the trip). About half way up Monte Grappa there's actually a section about a mile long that goes downhill. Nevertheless, 27 kms is intimidating when you see the first sign. The mental math I did constantly converting kms to miles and back again (and converting kph to mph and back) kept my mind occupied during some of those long hauls.

The kilometers clicked off quickly. I don't know if the signs were too close together, or if the climb just wasn't that demanding, but the signs came one right after the other. I didn't think there was any way they could be correct. A quick check of the computer, though, and they were right on.

The heat was on, but I was surprised at how little it bothered me, although I was sweating profusely. I removed my helmet and hung it from the handlebars hoping the exposure to the air would feel cooler. It didn't help much. I was sweating all over my top tube!! Yeah, I was soaked through. I had plenty of water and "sport" drink (my EFS) and managed to stay nicely hydrated the whole day.

Nearing the summit, the clouds and moisture we'd been seeing since our arrival really closed in. It looked like it should have been quite cold, but it was pretty comfortable. I liked the climb. It gave me delusions that I could climb quickly. The views were obscured. I couldn't see the valley floor below.

I guess it took about 90-105 minutes to reach the summit. I checked out the memorials at the top. There had been some heavy action in WWI on Monte Grappa between the Italians and Austrians. Check out some of the history here:

http://www.biciveneto.it/montegrappa.html


After a short while, I stopped by the restaurant at the summit, picked up a Coke for myself and one to take down to Linda, who was on her way up, had some strudel, and headed back down. This was to be an out-and-back to make sure that, if Linda had trouble, I'd find her on the road back to the start.

Linda and I met up at a restaurant just before the short downhill section and we headed back down together. At about that point, an Italian club rider sped downhill past us. I thought, "why, heck, I think I'll try to catch him."

So I did. This guy probably climbed and descended Monte Grappa three times a day, and double that on weekends. He knew his way down. But I caught him. It was a blast. It's amazing descending out of a turn and being in the drops, stomping on the pedals some, and closing a gap. I could see I was getting on his nerves because he kept looking back over his shoulder.

At one point, coming up the other direction was a pack of cars. In typical Italian fashion, one guy decided to pass another just as we were coming up on them. Now I mentioned that the roads on this approach were wider than some of the others, but they weren't THAT wide. It was a seriously close call. The guy was an idiot.

Anyway, crisis averted. A couple of switchbacks later, the Italian rider had opened a slight gap on me which I quickly closed half way to the next switchback.

Rule 1: look ahead. Okay, I could see that the turn was coming up quickly and that, coming the other direction up the hill, were three automobiles.

Rule 2: hand positioning. I was in the drops: good. Brake levers covered, good.

Rule 3: Braking.
1. Uh--yeah, I had the levers in hand.
2. Control your speed. Uh. . . well. . . not so much.
3. Use rear brake more than the front--check. "To avoid skidding and losing control, feather the front brake and don't over brake on the rear wheel." This is about where things turned south.
Rule 4: Cornering. Look ahead? Control speed? Feather brakes? Not too much rear or you'll skid (that's the truth).

"Bailing"--well, if you're out of control, and you haven't practiced the skills discussed in the Velonews article, and you don't know what else to do but to hang on. . . .

It could have been worse.

I had way too much speed approaching the next turn. If I'd known a few of the skills discussed (or if I'd just slowed down earlier) I could have made the corner.

Instead, I guess I grabbed too much rear. My rear wheel locked and the skid began. The first of the three cars coming up the hill had just reached the apex of the turn and was just starting to make the turn uphill. The driver must have seen that I was out of control and, bless her, she came to a complete stop in the middle of the turn (while simultaneously honking her horn). I slid for about 50 feet and inched past her front bumper just as she came to a stop (while honking and saying nice things to me in Italian like, "nice save" and "are you okay"?). If She hadn't stopped, we'd have met a little more intimately--either she into my side, or me into hers. If I'd gone to the right, I'd have hit the car behind her, or the car behind that guy.

The skid was audible, and I could see the Italian rider in front of me look back over his right shoulder as he made his way, successfully, around the corner. He knew I'd had trouble and was probably shaking his head thinking, "idiot".

The situation was completely salvageable, I just didn't know how to do it.

I don't know exactly where the word "sheepish" came from, but I was it. I tried to act cool, like I meant to do that. Like, "what were you guys doing there! If you hadn't been in the way I'd have caught that other guy for sure." The guy in the last car had a classic look on his face--if I hadn't been on the receiving end of it I'd have thought it was funny. He was not amused. He didn't say anything, though. I heard some more "encouragement" in Italian as the three cars continued on their way, most of it from the middle car. All I could hope for at this point was that the Italian guy I'd been shadowing was long gone.

I wonder if they knew I was American? Or a tourist? Anyway, it was a good excuse now to stop and wait for Linda (and allow more time for the Italian guy to ride off to wherever he was going). Linda caught up and we headed down the last few kms together at a leisurely speed.

As we arrived back in Romano d'Ezzelino who is at the side of the road?? I couldn't believe it! Had he waited to see who the idiot was? There were a few other members of his club with him by this time--he'd been waiting for them to come down. He was probably telling them all about this dolt that he was sure had been killed on the descent and/or that he'd out-skilled me on the switchbacks. He was probably asking them if they'd seen anyone lying in the road, dead.

But he saw me. He knew what had happened. I couldn't tell if he was concerned or amused. He said something to me, I acted like it was all under control. Fortunately, he and his club took the next right turn while Linda and I continued straight. Hoo-boy. I hope he couldn't tell I was American.

Lesson--ride within capabilities, careful with the ego (pride comes before the fall), and practice some skills. I wasn't going too fast for the turn, I just didn't know how to negotiate it.

Okay, Mom, you can start reading again.

Last Ride out of Cortina d'Ampezzo

After two days with some tough climbs, Linda took the day off and I took off on a 70 mile loop starting in Cortina. It took me over the Tre Croci once again but, instead of turning left toward the Tre Cime di Lavaredo, I turned right towards Auronzo di Cadore.

http://ridewithgps.com/routes/257764

Tre Croci, as discussed in the prior post, is a steady climb, not too demanding: just over 5 miles, 1886 feet, 7.1% average, 12% max. The 12%'s didn't feel like 12%--had me thinking they had the measurements wrong. In any event, the road was clear, no construction this time, very few cars. Even better, I don't recall any motorcycles. Surely there must have been some, I just don't recall.

After crossing over Tre Croci, there were several miles of downhill before reaching the next intersection and the sign pointing to Auronzo 20kms away. Never having been this route before, I did not know what was coming. The next 20 kms was pure downhill bliss. Corners not too technical. Long straightaways. Hardly any cars going my direction. The entire 20 kms (about 12.4 miles) was downhill. It was incredible. Two shots from along the road to Auronzo:


Of course I was thinking this whole time that somewhere along the line I'm going to have to gain back at least some of this elevation. I knew that shortly after Auronzo I was going to look for a left on Rd 532, 532 would take me to Rd 52, then 52 to 49, then 49 to 51 and back to Cortina.

Shortly after turning onto 532 were signs for Passo San Antonio which, if I recall correctly was 9 kms (5.5 miles) up the road. Pso San Antonio turned out to be very similar to Tre Croci. About the same distance. Pitches about the same. San Anotnio had a switchback countdown, though, that Tre Croci didn't have. Hairpins counted down from, if I recall correctly, 14 to 1. Superb climb. The road was marked with a starting line indicating it gets used by the locals for time trials. Few cars, no motorcycles, 1 bicycle going the other direction. It was fabulous.

Once over the top, the balance of the ride was not particularly challenging, but very scenic and surprisingly devoid of traffic. There is a climb to Passo di Monte Croce di Comelico that has a total distance of almost 22 kms in its total run on Rd 52 from San Stefano di Cadore to the summit. Where Rd 532 meets 52, it's about half way into the climb. It's only a 3.3% average for its total length and I doubt I hit anything more than 5% on the portion that I rode. It was a nice, steady pace--in a gear that made me feel like I was really moving.

Once over the summit it was downhill or flat to the next intersection with Rd 49. Fortunately, this stretch was very short as it was, by far, the busiest road I encountered on the day. Prior to making the left onto 49 I'd been seeing signs to Austria and I began to worry that perhaps I'd missed something somewhere and had gone way past where I wanted to be. Austria was pretty close, but not that close.

The last 20kms, or so, back to Cortina are a blast if you're headed south on 51. It is how the Austrians get into Cortina but, being a weekday in summer, there weren't many Austrians, or anyone else, on the road. There are some minor blips up, but it is mostly level, or downhill.

The last few k's are an absolute blast back into town and the hotel. You feel like you're pretty impressive coming into town doing 35 mph--yeah, with the aid of gravity. But it looks kind of flat.

Two decent climbs (like Hwy 193 out of Chili Bar, but two miles longer), 1 minor climb (a lot like Sutter Creek-Volcano Rd), lot's of flat and downhill to get speeds up to where you think you're pretty hot stuff. A nice loop, probably a good bit more challenging going the opposite direction. You'd have that climb out of Cortina to start, an easy climb to Comelico, an easier climb up San Antonio than the direction I took, then that 20 kms from Auronzo to the base of the climb up Tre Croci the other direction. Hmm, I'll have to go back and ride it to compare.

MP of the Day #7

Venice, Italy.

Aw, Honey, it Won't be too Bad. . . .

Tre Croci and Tre Cime di Lavaredo, June 29, 2010.

Following on the heels of the Fedaia experience on June 28th, we moved ourselves to Corina d'Ampezzo later that afternoon. I'll have to give a rundown of the hotels where we stayed, perhaps offer some kind of ratings and some possible alternatives. In Cortina, we stayed at Hotel Aquila. I'll have to do this summary in the next post.

We rode again the next day, Tuesday, June 29th. This was another instance where I didn't know what to expect. I told Linda it wouldn't be too bad.

Oops.

I looked up details after we got back home. Tre Croci is 8.1 kms (just over 5 miles), 1886 feet, 7.1% average, 12% max.

http://ridewithgps.com/routes/258805

The full climb to Tre Cime di Lavaredo is 7.5 kms, 7.5% average. It's in the last 4 kms, though, where the difference is made. In those 4 kms the average is 11.7% and we climbed almost 1600 feet. That was a tough, tough 2.5 miles.



















There's a mild climb at the start, then it drops down to a park entry where vehicles have to pay to enter the park. Bikes were free. After a short distance, the road kicks up from KM 4 to the end.

Tre Croci wasn't too bad, pretty benign. Tre Cime was an eye-opener. The bugger was that, once I got to the top, you had to hike another several miles to get to the actual landmark! Well if I'd known that I wouldn't have gone!! I wasn't about to hike in my cycling shoes, stocking feet, or barefoot. So I had to suck it up, take a few pics and head back down.


The trail leading to Tre Cime di Lavaredo.













Looking back from where we'd come.

This was another instance where the descent reveals how steep the climb really is. The turns were in quick succession, requiring a good deal of braking. Thankfully, the white-knuckle portion was fairly short.



The Tre Cime di Lavaredo, which I have seen only in pictures.



In the end, we rode only 25 miles, but climbed almost 3500 feet. The ride back to Cortina after Tre Cime was uneventful and almost all downhill (mild downhill). It was a beautiful day, but a decpetively tough ride. Tre Cime was a bugger.

MP of the day #6

Is it a "carry-all" or a purse? Even the kinda tough lookin' guys used them. Venice, Italy.