Yeah, I've got lots of blog posts to catch up on. That'll happen some day.
Today was a day in the Alps. The incredible Alps.
I rode a small circuit around the Piz Boè peak, as recommended by a rider I met at Knopftours. It is only small when you glance at it on the map. Once you're on the route, the endless switchbacks and awe-inspiring scenery make you forget your day's plans.
One of the first things you'll notice on the route are the bicycles. They're everywhere. It is humbling seeing the numbers of people who pedal over these mountains. Lots of motorcycles too, but that's to be expected.
The hotel I'm staying at is called Hotel Diana. It caters to motorcyclists and bicyclists in the fair months, and skiing in the winter. The owner himself seems to lead bicycle tours most days.
The hotel offers secured motorcycle and bicycle parking, half-board (breakfast and dinner), many rooms seem to have awesome balconies. Internet access is a bit irritating, only available from the served lounge and fringe from the restaurant. They have an access point serving up a dead-end within reach of at least the first floor rooms. I can't be sure if that's an administrative goofup, or if they're deliberately slaughtering wifi access from anywhere but the most social areas of the hotel. Perhaps the former, but they aren't unhappy about the results, while I type this in the lounge with one of many rum&cokes beside me.
As I posted tonight on Facebook, riding in Northern Italy takes some adjustment. Everywhere else I've been in Europe, drivers make room for you, and show you respect. At least in Northern Italy, riders must fend for themselves, and drivers leave them to their own devices. Cars do not make room for you, they don't slow down for you, they don't take turn-outs to let you pass, and they don't inch over when you accidentally find yourself at risk of being smushed between opposing directions of traffic.
It is at first frightening, then energizing. As a friend just commented, am I so used to riding on the "wrong side of the line" that I'm going to have troubles once I'm back in Onterrible? The more I ride here, the more I appreciate the freedom I'm afforded here. Yes, I can get into trouble here, but that's my problem, and my opportunity to solve.
I like it, a lot.
I had to make a brief run into Bolzano, which turned out to be less brief than I wanted. I rolled into town around noon, hoping to get local phone and iPad SIMs and a replacement headlight bulb. After almost 3 hours, I had barely managed to get my phone taken care of. The main issue was, it seems most places close from noon until some time in the afternoon, often 14:30-15:00. The Honda shop I visited was closed for lunch until 14:30, then it seemed they only had one guy on the floor. Once my turn came up, it took him 15 minutes to tell me he didn't have stock. Feh. I was a bit unpleased with the Italian attitude, until I got back on the road and continued my efforts to integrate with the road ethic here.
To be clear; you need to integrate. If you can't or won't, you won't find drivers here very patient with you. You can hang out in traffic if you like and follow, say, the Canadian rules, but when you find yourself trying to negotiate with traffic in roundabouts or intersections, you won't find a friend on the road in front or behind you. Noone will just "let you in", and the people behind you will be trying to drive through you because you're holding them up.
I love it.
You're not just free to ride the way you want, you're encouraged and perhaps pushed to. Cars expect you to fight for your quarter, so if you don't, you're going to confuse them and disrupt the "orderly flow", putting yourself at more risk by introducing chaos.
Riding up the mountain passes and their endless switchbacks is at first a frustrating experience, with all the underpowered cars struggling to climb them, or being extremely conservative on their descents. At least until you start taking a bit more control of your destiny by passing the cars whenever the option presents itself, regardless of the quickly-approaching blind switchback. The speed limits through most of the are between 60 and 90km/h, which basically means you'll rarely get to even reach the limit. There are no painted lines separating traffic directions either.
Anyway, about the mountain passes.
Wow.
The switchbacks leading up to and through the passes are not trivial. I found I was quite focused on them, until one point when I had a nice car-less break between two twists and happened to look to my right; what I saw risked having me riding off the cliff. I found myself staring at the raw Piz Boè and the surrounding vista, with this nagging voice in the back of my head telling me I had other priority items I needed to attend to.
From that point on, I started looking regularily for pull-outs where I could stop and look around. It was a bit overcast, and the sun was low in the sky, but it was still incredible.
I rode around the Piz Boè, then realized I hadn't done a Facebook check-in at the best peak, so I went part way around again. Then I rode back to base, arriving just as the sun fell. It was an awesome day.
I'll add more once I'm back, including some pictures.
Of note, gas here is incredibly expensive, approaching CAD $2.50/L.
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