Day 13 - Bormio to Agume Agumes - ride total 948 k, 7,944 m

Passo Stelvio (Stelvio Pass) was our ride and challenge for today. It is a high mountain pass that is three times the height of the Lewis Pass and nine times higher than the Summit Road at the Sign of the Kiwi. We didn't have the full 2,760 metres to climb, only 1,500.

We guessed it would be busy as it is Saturday so we got underway at 6:30 this morning. It was relatively quiet for the first 12 minutes then it all began. I'm picking over a thousand motorcyclists past us going up and progressively more racing bikers. The cutest car club to pass was the Audit, then a bit later on the Ferrari and also the Fiat Abarth convoy. In between all those were of course all the other motorists who like us were wanting to tick the "Stelvio" of their bucket list. At times the noise from all these wanna be race riders and drivers working their gearboxes was overwhelming, but hey, that's the price I must pay.

At one point when the Ferrari's were heading back down (bear in mind that were tad quicker going up than me, I reckon $10 million plus worth of motor car passed me in less than 30 seconds. 

On the way down we encountered the Italian vintage tractor club also keen to show that their tractors can climb up and over the Stelvio. 

The road is magnificent, smooth road carpet all the way and very well engineered bends of which there were very many. The switchbacks being nothing like we nave at home. It was one big solid uphill ride for 21 km's with not one section of level or downhill to give a reprieve, so it was a case of managing the heart rate and quietly pedaling to the top.

There was snow still at the top which makes for good pics and people sking!

At the top there are souvenir shops, and hotels along with traffic chaos as motorcycles, motorcars, cyclists and tractors all competing for the limited space available. Even parking a bike meant you took the first spot you could. Consequently we didn't hang around up there for very long. 

We quickly lost in minutes the 1,000 metres of elevation that had taken us hours to gain and stopped at Trafoi thinking there might be a Cafe open. There wasn't. And so we carried on down, and yes this side is just like the otherside in that we did not have to pedal at all, just holding ourselves back on the brakes. 

The Alpine scenery was amazing and something you cannot see from any road in NZ. Unfortunately pictures which are only two dimensional do not show the true magnificence of it all and the winding road making its way up or down the mountainside on a photograph is nothing at all like seeing it from the saddle of your bike. 

As we got underway again I heard a large crashing noise to look back and see Stephen lying on the road. Fortunately he survived the crash with a bloody knee and sore ribs. We quietly waited there for a bit to let him regather himself before we quietly rolled down the road to a lovely restaurant where we had a lunch of spaghetti.

Now another mishap began to unfold. I realised I had left my battery that I use fire recharging my phone and other devices throughout the day back at last nights accommodation! Oh dear.

Just then Luisa (last night's landlady) phones to say I had left the battery. Now if you've got this far you know we are well down from the Summit of Passo Stelvio. Luisa then tells me she has arranged for her sister to take it up to Passo Stelvio and it is there in her souvineer shop for me to collect!

Bugger. 

I did suggest her sister give it to one of the hundreds of motorcyclists heading down my side of the mountain to drop off at the Cafe where we were lunching. Unfortunately that did not happen so there's something else to put on my shopping list.

We have a lovely apartment tonight and have decided again to eat in, something simple coz we had a nice lunch. Ham salad and rolls out will be. 

I was dying for a cuppa so off I went to do the shopping and again quite amazed at how reasonable the food prices are.

When I get back I can't find my phone! And we all know how lost we are without it. And over here that it's literally the case as my phone is the access way to our communications and navigation routes.

Bugger. 

Back I go to the supermarket only to have them say "no phone"! Back at the apartment I get Peter to call my phone and you guessed it, it rang here in the apartment.

Thank goodness for that.

But wait things going wrong didn't stop at that point. 

As we readied to do our daily accounts it transpires that Stephen and me thought Peter paid for our lunch and he thought I did!

So my fix for this was to go downstairs and get Fabian from here to phone them to get their details so we can pay them for our lunch. They are going to email him and I'll then no don't be able to settle the bill.

So, all up today was a fantastic day in that we got to ride over Passo Stelvio (we couldn't a week ago coz it was closed on account of the snow) however we had quite a few learning opportunities arise all quite unrelated to the epic ride that stelvio is.