Italy 2017 (#4)

Part 4: July 17th – 18th

By Watracz Is Traveling

Day 13: Colle delle Finestre, Colle dell’Assietta

July 17th, 2017

I wake up before 7 a.m., about half an hour before the alarm I set, because I’m so excited about the route I’m about to take on. The fog on the surrounding mountains suggests visibility might not be great, so I take my time leaving. I leave the campsite around 8 and about an hour later I’m in the town of Meana di Susa.

Colle delle Finestre

2,176 m.a.s.l.

A rocky road leads me through a forest with a series of almost 30 sharp turns, where I finally get a chance to test my off-road Continental TKC 70 tires. Without the cases, the bike feels light and agile, despite its 240 kilograms.

A quarter later I’m already at 2,176 m.a.s.l. I meet two other bikers who came here from the Vicenza area; we chat for some 20 minutes. They tell me the route is going to be tough for me on my bike. Two Swiss bikers stop by, riding BMW R 1200 GSs; we joke a bit about my bike and my outfit — it’s not exactly professional-level — then we get going.

In many spots, the road goes by a chasm, with no protective barriers at all. On top of that, the thick fog makes it hard to see. When I stop at a clearing to have a snack, the sun begins to shine through the fog, so there’s some hope for better visibility.

I reach a plaque that tells me I’m in the Gran Bosco National Park. It’s steep; wherever I stop, I need to set rocks under the bike’s stand, so it doesn’t fall over.

Colle dell’Assietta

2,472 m.a.s.l.

Along the way, I pass my new pals from Italy and Switzerland several times — they catch up with me each time I stop to take photos.

A herd of sheep grazes by Lago di Lauson.

Several kilometers later, I stop on a hill by a monument to the guerilla fighters, Mario Costa and Pietro Ploto. I talk for a while to three Hungarian bikers. One of them likes my Aprilia so much, he takes a few photos with it, rather than with his own bike.

As I stop by another chasm, I notice a crashed Piaggio motor scooter at the bottom, with a plastic bag tied around the handlebars. I wonder how it got there, and what has happened to the owner.

Colle Basset

2,424 m.a.s.l.

It gets really hot around 2 p.m. I reach the Colle Basset pass, which is a part of the Colle dell’Assietta pass.

I ride down through the forest towards the town of Sestriere, and before 4 p.m. hit a paved road again. It wasn’t as tough as people said. If the weather’s good, you could do this route even on a sports bike.

On the way to the campsite, I fill up on fuel and do some shopping. After a shower, I head to a restaurant for a cappuccino and a marmalade croissant. On the way, I get hold of some internet connectivity. Before going to bed, I make sandwiches, oil the chain, and remove some expendable photos. I took almost 600 pictures today, and ran out of room on the memory card. I’ll need to buy a new one as soon as possible!

Day 14: Colle del Sommeiller

July 18th, 2017

Colle del Sommeiller

2,993 m.a.s.l.

The hardest route, and the entire point of this trip. The weather is good from the get-go, and the sun is shining. Around 9 a.m. I get to the little town of Bardonecchia, and from there I head north east towards the pass.

In the beginning, the route leads me through a forest, by Lago di Rochemolles (1,974 m.a.s.l.). On the way, I pass a few waterfalls and the Rifugio Scarfiotti shelter; as it starts to get steep, a biker coming down hails and stops me. He tells me I shouldn’t go on, because there are only stones up, and I can’t make it through on my bike. I thank him for the advice — and I keep going, of course.

A while later I pull over to take some photos, and I’m passed by my Hungarian acquaintances, the ones I met the day before.

A few days earlier, the Stella Alpina race was held here, and several hundred bikers came from all over Europe to reach the top of the pass by bike. Today, the traffic is low — which is good, since I don’t feel like paying extra attention to others, nor to feel rushed by them. There are a few bikers, some cyclists, a few ATVs, and even an old Renault Clio (I seriously doubt it can get to the top and not leave its suspension behind).

Above 2,200 m.a.s.l., snow lies on the side of the road.

The final climb is indeed very demanding. The road is narrow, there are rocks and sharp turns. In some of them, I need to do two-point turns just to get across. A couple of times, I scrape the bottom of the bike on the rocks.

As I reach yet another turn, I meet the Hungarians riding down, and ask them what else the pass has in store for me. They tell me it’s just two more kilometers, and that if I’ve made it this far, I’ll be fine.

At 12:45 p.m. I reach the parking lot at the top. It’s cold and very windy. I take a lunch break, if you can call a candy bar and two sandwiches — a lunch.

Half an hour later it starts to drizzle. The last thing I need is riding in a storm, on wet rocks, on a steep road, so I put on my helmet and ride down. On the way I meet the biker on a KTM 990 Adventure who camps right next to my tent at the campsite.

It takes me two hours to get down. I’m tired, and my attention span suffers. On a few occasions, I lose my balance and almost drop the bike.

When I stop by a stream to take some final photos, I’m passed by the KTM going down. The rider needed a bit less time than I did to conquer the pass.

I arrive in Bardonecchia around 5 p.m. I’m extremely tired, sore, but proud and happy at the same time. Everyone I met today told me to turn back, because I wouldn’t be able to climb the pass on my bike. Despite that, I decided to go on and in the end, I reached the summit that was the goal of the entire trip.

An hour later, I meet the campsite’s owner at the reception and tell him what I did. He’s really surprised, he didn’t expect me to manage to go all the way up. We talk for a long while, and he tells me stories of his own biking adventures, of the campsite, and the nearby routes. In the end, we exchange our contact details, he congratulates me again, and gives me an extra discount off the camping price. Awesome!