Day 14 - It was supposed to be an easy day
Saturday 20 July 2019
The plan for today is to ride just 68 miles. Up the SS42 through Edolo then onto a favoured camp site in Temù at the foot of the mighty Passo Gavia. Yesterday would have been an extremely long ride if we had not cut out the Switzerland leg. So in anticipation of weary bones I figured today should be an easy one.
And that is how it began. But I thought I would add a side trip up and over Passo Vivione. Just a 20 mile detour and we’ve got all day haven’t we?
The road up to Schilpario is lovely. It winds up a narrow-sided gorge where old tunnels have been replaced by new.
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| The old tunnel entrance and the new |
But the road up to the summit, at 1,827m is rutted with broken edges and so narrow that two cars could not possibly pass. The hairpins are as tight as you find anywhere in the Alps.
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| Coffee at the summit of Passo del Vivione |
To say that Mick is seriously unhappy is to understate his feelings once we finally achieve the top. I mutter about having no idea it was so high and such an unfriendly road, secretly hoping that he doesn’t spot the Vivione sticker on the side of one of my panniers. For I have actually been here before, but in my defence it was years ago and I’m sure the road was in much better condition back then.
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| Oh dear, road closed |
And then we see an impressive concrete barricade blocking the road just past the rifugio at the summit. The road ahead is closed to all traffic. It is the final straw for Mick as he contemplates the long and difficult descent back down the road we have just laboured up.
But salvation is at hand as a group of German GS riders come bouncing over the slopes of the hill up to the side of the barrier. We quickly ask about the conditions on the other side and are assured that there is no real problem, just a kilometre of mud and rock a bit further down which is no problem for rufty tufty bikers like what we are.
So of course we go for it and as described the land slip is no real problem and we are soon sailing down the much easier northern side and within 40 minutes we rejoin the SS42 for the short run into Edolo. We are soon parked up outside a cafe in the town square and are enjoying a pasta energy boost as we contemplate the vicissitudes of the morning.
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| Parked up in Edolo |
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| Pasta for lunch in Edolo. A sign showing 31C |
It is only a few more kilometres to Temù and Camping Presanella. We stayed here once before and it is one of the better camping spots in the Alps. The shop/bar seems to have every thing you could need and the pitches are lush grass with big shady trees and sturdy picnic benches. They even have metal plates to prevent your motorcycle side stand from digging into the gravelled parking area.
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| Pitched at Presanella. A lovely spot for camping |
In the evening we walk through the recently mown and baled fields, over a fast flowing stream and into a small village where a pizza restaurant is waiting to feed us.
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| On a pizza hunt in Temù |
Mick took the same picture two years ago.
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| Well almost the same - from July 2017 |
So after a fine pizza and perhaps a little too much local red wine (me) and Weißbier (Mick) we sleep the sleep of the just after a tough day that should have been an easy one.
Great adventure and post like all previous ones. I will check out these roads, sounds more ideal for a graveltastic old fart with dual sport tyres on :)
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