This Fall, I had the opportunity to travel to Northern Italy for 3 weeks. After going through prostate cancer surgery in September, 2021, I resolved to qualify for the Gran Fondo Worlds in Trento, Italy Sept 18, 2022. That meant a year of dedicated training on my Wahoo over the Winter and traveling to Victoriaville, Quebec for a qualifying event on July 1. I successfully qualified and travelled with my wife to Italy in Sept.
First stop was to visit the Castelli/Karpos/Sportful factory in Fonzaso. We were hosted by Marketing Director, Soren Jensen who proudly showed us the company’s facilities.
He then took us on a historical ride, he called “The 5 Wow’s”! Over the course of 2 hours, we experienced the magical roads and paths that this region has to offer including ancient Roman defenses, WW1 ramparts and local shortcuts with roads carved out of the rock. GM Steve Smith hosted us in Bassano for another memorable meal of incredible Italian cuisine.
A stay in Riva de Garda did not disappoint. A great ride up from Lago di Ledro to Refugio al Faggio for lunch and strudel. Included was a field of wooden carvings scattered through the forest like elves. A visit with GCN host and ex-pro Allan Marangoni as well as a chat with Daniel Oss capped off a wonderful time in Riva.
Next up was the Gran Fondo Worlds itself. I toed the line in the 60-64 age group. I had trained as best as I could prior to the event, tapered well and was as ready as I could have been. The level of competition was very high and I was only able to finish the tough course in 69th out of 110 riders. For me, it was a victory simply to be in the race, howing to myself that I was strong again. I was a bit over-zealous on the final descent and touched my rear brake a bit too hard in a hairpin and lost the rear end, causing me to hit the floor. Lost a little skin and mostly bruised my ego!
On to Bormio to help my 7-Eleven teammate, Jens Veggerby with his cycling camp of Danish corporate executives. We rode for 3 days and took in the major local climbs. Day 1 was the ‘small’ climb up to Lago di Cancano and iconic medieval towers of Torri di Fraele.
Next day was the Big One: both sides of the Stelvio. Starting in Bormio, we rode up the south slope into the sun and 1km before the Cima, we had lunch, added warm clothes and descended down the Umbrail pass into Switzerland.
We rode around to the north side and pushed ourselves over the top of the Stelvio where a warm strudel awaited me! Change of clothes and a delicious descent back home.
The third day was auspicious as the clouds appeared and the temperature dropped. Instead of a 100km lap, we decided to ride the Gavia and return the same direction back to Bormio. As we rode up this famous climb, the temp dropped to -3C and rain turned to sleet and snow. Classic for the Gavia and perfect “Gabba” weather and I was prepared!
I was also able to share a Gabba vest with one of the clients who was not as ready for the harsh conditions. I called the Gabba vest his ‘suit of armour’ and he was very appreciative! After a warm strudel (!) we carefully descended back to Bormio.
Gavia Refugio
This was my first experience on a ‘real ‘ mountain descent with disc brakes in cold, wet conditions and they didn’t disappoint…game changer for safe descending! It was an epic day and a real bonding experience for us.
On to Piemonte for some tourismo time. We stay in Jens’ wonderful villa (available for rent BTW!) and visited the local region. Included was an overnight trip to Torino where we visited the National Automobile Museum as well as the original Fiat assembly plant building which has retained the test track on the roof!
A visit with author and historian Herbie Sykes was a highlight. He and his Toronese wife were very proud of their town as they gave us the ‘nickel’ walking tour. Oh, and his cycling history collection is to die for! Posters from the Peace Race and race winning jerseys are just the start!! We have to go back to see more of this wonderful city and its warm people.
All in all, a trip where we touched on amazing sites and met some wonderful people and sampled the tasty regional Italian food. We can’t wait to go back to ride, eat and experience more of Italy! Ciao and molto grazie per tutto!
