Day 43: Losing each other down the Passo del Tonale

Caiano – Edolo 52.95km 3.54.01⏱13.6km/hr ⬆️ 1045m ⬇️ 1195m 🌡15-29C

For the first time this trip we had a pretty good sleep in the tent ⛺️. It probably had to do something with the height we were on. A very nice change! It was a little chilly walking around in bike clothes, so a shirt was needed. We did not have a lot of food left, so we made do with a small yoghurt for breakfast with some nuts and raisins. We started with the 13% downhill we went up yesterday and if we had balls, they would have frozen off 🥶. It was so cold our hands and feet 🦶 were numb and this lasted for quite a while. Our big climb of the day kicked off right when we were on the main road, but this time we were seeking sun ☀️ instead of mountain shade.

We tried to find a mini market that was open, but that’s really a challenge on a Sunday in Italy 🇮🇹. We only found one in a town called Vermiglio on Google yesterday so we aimed for that one. We bought bread 🍞, cheese and apples 🍏 from the fields we cycled by all day yesterday. From there the Passo del Tonale started. It was 900m climb in 15km so it promised to be more than two hours of climbing. It wasn’t too steep, but we were not really into it physically. Mas her knee bothered her again, but it wasn’t as bad as on the Llogora pass, which seems like a lifetime ago.

Maybe it is because it’s Sunday, maybe it is because holiday season started, maybe it is because we are in a famous winter sport ❄️area, but it was so so busy. Lots of cars and especially crazy speeding motor bikers passed us. Some of them were driving like maniacs. The view was pretty amazing again, high snowy mountain 🏔tops and everything around us still so green. 

We made it to the top in two hours and fifteen minutes and posed in front of the 1884m sign. Suuz raised her own bar once again this holiday! Passo del Tonale is this big ski area used for hiking, mountain biking and other mountain sports in summer season. We enjoyed a nice coffee, a tosti for Mas and a Schnitzel burger 🍔 for Suuz. Most of the climbing was done for today, so we deserved a break. We did have to go down though, so after wishing Richard (Mas her favourite colleague friend) a happy birthday via WhatsApp, we stepped on the bike and down we went.

The downhill was pretty tricky. It could have been fun if there weren’t so many motor cyclists cutting us off. Also, it was pretty narrow. Not a lot of places for Mas, who is always first, to wait for Suuz who is slower downhill. So when there was an exit with confusing signage, Mas decided just to go for it and went down further and further without double checking the route with Suuz. After about 1.5km there was a little more space so Mas stopped on the side of the road to wait for Suuz. Well she never came down. After a few minutes Mas got scared and decided to turn around and cycle back up to go find her. While cycling up she realized there was an exit so probably nothing would have happened to Suuz, she was probably just waiting at the exit Mas missed. Well she wasn’t. Suuz thought Mas had taken the exit, even asked some motor cyclists that passed her. Happy to have a phone ☎️ on her, Mas called Suuz, and found out that she was already way down waiting for her right in the center of town. So Mas cycled back up and then went downhill to the touristy town of Ponte di Legno. Happy to be reunited!

From Ponte do Legno we left the busy road and found a great bike path that took us almost all the way to Edolo. We had a little resistance from the wind 💨, but other than that it was a sweet ride downhill. Not as busy so we could make some good speed. The view was pretty cool, but no way we were gonna stop to enjoy it or take a picture. We zoofed right into Edolo and sat down in the first bar we could find, ordered a cold drink 🍹 and an espresso ☕️ and did absolutely nothing for an hour. We had to kill some time before the grocery store would open again, so we also went to a gelato place for ice cream 🍦 before stocking up on groceries.

The last two kilometres to the campground were pretty tough. The body was already in relax mode and we had stuffed our bags with groceries so luckily it was only a short bit. The last  💯meters were a 10% decline so that promises to be a nice start tomorrow. The cabin 🏡 we are staying in is really nice, the campground is pretty and quiet, nothing more to wish for. Oh well okay, a dry ride tomorrow would be nice. Weather forecast predicts rain 🌧 from midnight to all day tomorrow, so let’s hope they’re wrong. It’s only a short 44km ride to Valtellina, but it is almost 1000m of climbing again so it’s still going to be three hours or so. But, once we get there we’ll take two rest days in a beautiful wine hotel in Valtellina where we will meet Mas her youngest sister Lotte 👩🏼‍🦰 and her boyfriend Lars 🧔🏻 over there. They know a lot a lot about the area, wine 🍷and great food, so we are looking really forward to that. 

After some chill time Suuz made a simple dinner in front of our cabin with fresh tagliolini from the store, olives, tuna 🐟 and pesto. It tasted really good. The wine 🍷 we bought was not so good. Or maybe the wine wasn’t the issue, but our rubber folding cups really didn’t do the job. We stayed up late watching a show in bed because we plan on sleeping in to avoid the heaviest rain early in the morning. And then it’s off to Sondrio area, hoot hoot!!