22. Visp to Bourg St MauriceJun 24, 2011
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The camp site at Visp.
A group of buildings at a vineyard on the way to Martigny.
Vineyards galore on the way to Martigny.
| 2 Visp to Etourables Yesterday was a free day in Visp and I used it to rest. After a late rising I walked into Visp for breakfast which, not surprisingly, cost about double what I would have paid in Italy. The people I was with wanted to go to a bike shop so I went with them. It was the best equipped bike shop we had seen so far and probably also the most expensive. I didn't buy anything but on the way stopped in a few sport stores to check out their quick-drying shirts. I couldn't find anything that I liked. The rest of the day was spent in camp hiding in my tent between rain storms. For lunch I had some bread, cheese, sliced meat and yughurt which I had bought in town. I finished this off with a fabulous apfelstrudel. Marek and Libby invited me to join them for dinner so we rode into town and found a restaurant which was recommended by Trip Advisor. The food was really nice and, as expected, quite expensive but we had a good time. Today we woke early, 5:00am, for breakfast at 6:00am because the day is to be long with lots of climbing. I left camp at 7:00am travelling with a group of others down the Rhone valley towards Sion and Martigny. Because it was a bank holiday, (which bank we were not told) the traffic was light so we rode on the main road. There were many vineyards on the way some of which were on carefully tended terraces which looked like they had been there for centuries. At various times I was alone because the group that I latched onto started to speed up and I was unable to keep up if I was to have the strength to do the climb at the end. Eventually I met up with Marek and Libby and a few newies and we rode into Martigny where Libby had the first of three punctures. She was not a happy chappie by the time we got to lunch. Lunch was further up the road than a lot of riders thought and we met quite a few who were convinced that they had missed the lunch stop somewhere. I read the map and instructions and said that we just needed to continue further up the road but not many wanted to follow me so I set off with just a couple of other riders. A few minutes later Wilbert rode past with the rest of the group following. Obviously as the group leader he knew where we had to go so the rest were prepared to follow him. By this time I had been on the road for just on three hours. After a substantial lunch in a light rain, I waited till the rain eased and started up the road to the Great St Bernard Pass. I set my Garmin to indicate how long it would take to climb nearly 2000m in 25 km. The first part of the climb was fairly gentle and I was able to enjoy the scenery and listen to the cow bells. The road then began to go through avalanche galleries and tunnels for many kilometres until at last I came to the point wher the main road goes through a big tunnel through the mountain (bikes not allowed) and all other travellers go along a steeper and steeper road for the next 8 km until the pass. This part of the ride was quite tough but the sun had come out and, although it was getting colder, all was right with the world. It was at this point that I had a philosophical revelation. If I had been in a car or on a motorcycle it would have taken only half an hour or so to get to the top of the pass. But I was not and I needed to stop thinking in that kind of time scale. If it takes two or three hours to do a climb then that is what it takes and getting frustrated by the slow speed of the climb is pointless. It is better to just accept that you have all day to get there and to get into a suitable cadence and just slog away. Eventually I reached the summit of the pass and boy did I feel a great sense of satisfaction. I stopped in a cafe with some others and celebrated with a hot chocolate before taking photos and starting the welcome descent to the town of Etroubles where the overnight camp is located. This camp site is beautifully situated with a great view of the surrounding mountains. The bathrooms are a bit smallish with a press button shower and no way of adjusting the temperature which is tepid. The loos are two squats and one sitter but it is strictly bring your own toilet paper. The rain held off, I washed some clothes and waited for dinner. Just before it was ready a sudden gust of wind sprang up and lifted the canvas shelter over the kitchen and dumped it on a sign post, ripping the canvas. Today I cycled 136 km and climbed a total of over 2500m to an altitude of 2473m and I feel really good. 3 Etourables to Bourg St. Maurice I slept well last night despite the cold at 1100m altitude. I awoke a couple of times for a call of nature and could hear a roaring sound which I first took to be the wind but in the morning I discovered that it was the sound of the ventilation from the tunnel under the mountain. It makes a constant roaring sound which is only really noticeable at night when everything else is quiet. We started with a 16 km run down the city of Aosta where we searched unsuccessfully for an open cafe. We then turned up another valley which led to the city of Courmayeur. Along the way we found our coffee which was served by a buxom girl from Puerto Rico wearing fishnet stockings and a leather skirt (or so the other blokes told me). Continuing the ride we came across a spectacular castle on a rock in the village of St Pierre followed by a stunning waterfall a few kilometres further on. The riding was easy and the weather was just fine. A few kilometres past Courmayer we turned into another valley and stopped for lunch in the pretty village of Pre Saint Didier. Lunch was a bit early but it's location at the base of the climb was a good one. The climb was about 1200m over a distance of 24 km so it was not particularly steep or difficult. Once again there were a number of galleries and tunnels to negotiate and the motorbikes were back with lots of them heading in both directions. Big BMWs are by far the most popular motorbikes for this kind of riding. We stropped at the village of LaThulle after about 10 km for a last gelati and/or coffee at Italian prices. The road now steepened and the wind started to increase, unfortunately it was essentially a head wind down the valley that we were riding up. About 6 km from the top I was out of the tree line and facing the wind each time a hairpin turn changed direction. The wind actually made it feel as steep as some of the worst sections of the Stelvio. Painted on the road were the names of Tour de France riders, Armstrong, Voekler, Cantalera, Cadel Evans and many more. Lots of encouraging comments by fans of these riders and their teams. I struggled to get to the top and even stopped to put on my jacket because I was getting really cold. Finally I made it, had the requisite photograph taken and had a hot chocolate before starting the descent. I nearly forgot to mention that I crossed into France at the top. As usual there were a couple of bored looking border guards who just looked at me and didn't even bother to wave me through. Some of the romance of crossing international borders and getting your passport stamped has disappeared with the emergence of the EU. The wind was still a headwind and I even had to pedal downhill at times in order to make progress. The descent was more than 30 km and was kind of boring compared to some of the ones we have had recently. I took a photo showing the village of Seez, which was next to our camp, all the way at the bottom of the descent. On the way down the most interesting thing I saw was a group of brown cows all clustered together on a hillock so I took a photo of them as well. They seemed surprised that I would bother and I think a couple of them almost choked on their cud. The camp-site is really nicely laid out with soft, green grass and it is not too crowded. The facilities are ordinary with the now usual push button shower (only gives 30 seconds of water at a time) but at least toilet paper is provided. Today I rode 103 km and climbed 1870m to a height of 2188m. Apart from the 6 km of headwind the day was a good one. |
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