Friday, April 12, 2013

Europe 2012 Part 4


 Day 13 On The Road

Livigno to Bormio





Woke up super early to a cold wet morning, hung out in the camp kitchen for a couple of hours and enjoyed chatting with other campers while I ate my breakfast and waited for the weather to lift before heading out of the valley over the first of two passes on route to Bormio.




Weather started to clear as I climbed, giving me great views back down into Livigno





After having breakfast a little after 0500hrs, by the time I reached the top of Passo d' Eira at 10.00am I was feeling pretty hungry. Temps at about 8deg C, it was time for Coffee and pasta.







The view from Passo d' Eira looking up the valley to Passo di' Foscagno at 2291 meters.














Looking back down to Passo di' Eira.
 The sun had not started to shine, however the constant climbing was keeping me plenty warm.











The high alpine flower are spectacular. Words not really needed!








Once over the top of Passo di' Foscagno I had a further 30 km's give or take and 1000 meter's of elevation drop down into the town of Bormio to find a bed for the night.







One of those awesome downhills that makes all the climbing so worth it.







As I rode into Bormio, it started to rain. My tent was packed away wet from the previous nights rain. I decided to treat myself to a hotel for the night and went straight to the tourist info office. Best move in a long time. Turns out it was Mapei Days and being Friday night the town was about to become inundated with 10000 plus cyclist coming to ride the Passo Stelvio on Sunday morning.




I was sent to a small wonderful family run hotel about 1km from the center of town. It cost me 45 euro for a huge room with jacuzzi tub and breakfast the next morning. I set about turning my room into a drying area for my tent and wet kit that I washed in the bathroom sink.
I stored my bike down in the ski tuning room and headed off into the township to check out all of the excitement.
I got to go onboard the Mapei team bus, very nice, and stroll around until I found a lovely little restaurant for dinner.
My usual, beer, salad, and pasta to get the energy back up.





I stopped in at a grocery store on the way back to my room, picked up some fruit and a few other snacks for the evening and called it a night.