Day 14 La Chalp to Costigliole Saluzzo
Today was all about the HUGE climb, definitely the toughest I can remember doing on a bike. Col Agnel is the third highest paved mountain pass and the highest border crossing in Europe.
I needed the arm warmers and jacket for the initial descent, but they lasted less than a kilometre into the climb.
It was stunningly beautiful and even provided cute marmot entertainment, I could hear them nattering away as I pedalled upwards.
We passed the sign commemorating the alleged passage of Hannibal but no one is completely sure where he actually crossed the Alps.
From then on, and especially for the final 6km, the climb was seriously tough. Neil did a great job steadily powering up and I did my usual spin/stop/photo approach with some virulent swearing, especially when the gradient kept hitting 11% on my Garmin.
Initially the descent over the border was beautiful but very steep and mildly terrifying.
As we are now in Italy, the road surface is pretty awful so, as the gradient became more acceptable, the challenge was not to lose any parts of the bike in the potholes.
Lunch was another delightful Alessandro picnic next to a lake with kite surfers bombing along in the wind.
The head wind meant that the rest of the descent wasn’t as easy as my knackered body wanted, so the first shot of Italian coffee was very necessary.
We are staying tonight in ‘Castello Rosso’, an imposing looking building which of course had to be up a hill - ouch.
We arrived to pounding eurotrash pop music - there was a baptism party that we were assured would be finishing soon, thank goodness. To escape the boom bangabang I went for a stroll into the very picturesque town.
And most importantly (especially as dinner doesn’t start until 8pm and I am permanently hungry)...
We have been so lucky with the weather, it was another sunny morning with clear blue sky over the mountains.
I needed the arm warmers and jacket for the initial descent, but they lasted less than a kilometre into the climb.
It was stunningly beautiful and even provided cute marmot entertainment, I could hear them nattering away as I pedalled upwards.
We passed the sign commemorating the alleged passage of Hannibal but no one is completely sure where he actually crossed the Alps.
From then on, and especially for the final 6km, the climb was seriously tough. Neil did a great job steadily powering up and I did my usual spin/stop/photo approach with some virulent swearing, especially when the gradient kept hitting 11% on my Garmin.
It was really cold at the top so a quick commemorative photo and then all the layers went back on.
Initially the descent over the border was beautiful but very steep and mildly terrifying.
As we are now in Italy, the road surface is pretty awful so, as the gradient became more acceptable, the challenge was not to lose any parts of the bike in the potholes.
Lunch was another delightful Alessandro picnic next to a lake with kite surfers bombing along in the wind.
The head wind meant that the rest of the descent wasn’t as easy as my knackered body wanted, so the first shot of Italian coffee was very necessary.
We are staying tonight in ‘Castello Rosso’, an imposing looking building which of course had to be up a hill - ouch.
We arrived to pounding eurotrash pop music - there was a baptism party that we were assured would be finishing soon, thank goodness. To escape the boom bangabang I went for a stroll into the very picturesque town.
And most importantly (especially as dinner doesn’t start until 8pm and I am permanently hungry)...
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