Espresso – Pasta – Climb Hard – Gelato - Repeat

For the past two weeks, I’ve been hanging in what I can only describe as a road cyclist’s Never Never Land—a cobbled village in the Italian Alps with 2 bakeries, 3 handmade pasta slingers and no internet.  With world-class climbs from the Giro out the front door in every direction, my toughest decision every morning has been “what next?”  The 48 hairpin turns of the 9,050 foot Stelvio Pass, the agonizingly steep Motirolo that spirals up 4,265 feet in just over 7 miles, the sublime tarmac that twists through crisp alpine vistas along Gavia Pass, or a rip roaring 50 mph descent off the backside of Paso Aprica.  At some stage I’ll be writing an article about this so I’ll cut off my words now and let a few images do the talking.