velotel
05-28-2015, 04:42 PM
I’d been wanting to ride Colle delle Finestre for years, since spotting it on a map in my collection. Maybe a year or two later the Giro did it for the first time, in 05. With that I knew I had to ride Finestre, someday. Ten years later that someday finally arrived. Turning 70 gave me a huge impetus to do the rides I’ve been wanting to do, like the Finestre. Especially since the Giro was passing there again. Figured the days just before the race arrived could be the perfect timing, the 9 K of dirt all smoothed out for the race and no one there.
But the friggin weather was lousy with rain and snow in the mountains. Kept watching the forecast, the dreariness was hanging tough, time dribbling away. Then it broke, forecast looking good for Wednesday. Early start, 3 hours of road time. Up the Maurienne valley, the wind howling like it’d been for days on end, clouds low, menacing. Glanced up at the lacets on the road to Col de Chaussy, the road the TdF does next month. Through St Michel de Maurienne, wondered if the TdF is going to be able to do Galibier this summer or not. Through Lanslebourg, looked up the valley towards the Col de l’Iseran, remembered what a great ride that is. Need to do it again. Up to the Col du Mont Cenis, another col I need to ride. Barely out of Lanslebourg and I’m in a thick, swirling fog. Great! Over the col, sweet, nothing but blue skies ahead. Wind’s still blowing strong though. Then down to Susa.
Park in a village, San Giuseppe, a few Ks from Susa. No map with me so not exactly sure where the road to Finestre is but can’t be too difficult to find, somewhere across the valley and up, simple. Et voilà, such was the case, road marked with a sign. A half k of gentle straight, a bend to the right, and into the good stuff, like half a K at 9,4%, according to the profile on zanibike.net at least. Road winding up past houses and some small vineyards. Stop to shoot and a classic italian pickup chugs by, one of those 3-wheel jobs that I only ever seem to see in Italy.
Then the road got serious, half a K at 11,4. Gotta love that precision in the grades, like I’d feel the difference between 11%, 11,4% and 12%. I was thinking it was more like at least 15%! Actually I think there’s a ramp in there that isn’t far off 15%! Through a one-lane tunnel under the train tracks and up towards the village of Meana and my legs are screaming at me to get real and find something easier. So I did, a half K at 7,8%. According to the same profile, that was it for the easy going. There to the col 9’s and 10’s with a few half Ks in the high 8’s sprinkled about. So far the road was a regular road, as in two lanes wide. Not american wide, italian wide. That ended about 2,5 K after leaving the valley floor. The last house was passed, the road did a hard curl to the left and from there on was a one-laner, a euro one-laner.
I knew most of the climb would be in a forest. Drive through Susa, which I’ve done countless times over the past 25 years, and look up at the mountains to the south and all there is to see is a carpet of forests draped over the slopes. And for years I’d been wondering as I drove through where in the heck did that road to Finestre pass. Kept looking for some side valley it followed, only there wasn’t one, and zero sign of any road heading up. Now I knew why. The forest is thick enough that the road is effectively invisible and the army engineers (the road was built by the military) figured who needs a valley for a road, just run it right up the face of the mountain. So they did. An insane road, a wonderfully insane road.
Normally I’m not a fan of riding through forests. I like views. This isn’t a forest like all the others I’ve ridden through. There’s a fine mix of deciduous and conifers, and up high lots of the beautiful mélèze (the name in french), a sort of conifer, or looks like one, only the needles turn orange in autumn and fall to the ground. And since the mountain slope is so steep, most of the time there’s really only a very thin layer of tree branches blocking the views. Kind of crazy really. In short, I loved riding up through that forest.
Did I mention that the road’s steep yet? If not, it is, and steep. With lots of switchbacks, 44 of them by my count. Finally got into a section that I was ready to call stackbacks, but only marginally. Stackbacks are what I call switchbacks stacked up one above the other. The section I entered was like that only the traverses were stretched out a bit so it was only marginally a stackback by my definition. And still steep but at least the switchbacks themselves most of the time were easy, mini-rest stations. Mini as in only a couple or so meters of easy going before the road ramped back up into the festivities.
Then I hit the real stackbacks. These are amazing! The most beautiful stackbacks I’ve ever seen. The switchbacks themselves were round and smooth with rock walls of impressive height supporting the outside curves. Imagine a back and forth staircase only instead of stairs this is a ramp stitched up the side of the mountain. It’s as if they hardly cut into the mountainside, just built these rock walls to support the road on the slope. And it was built so long ago that it’s been totally absorbed into the forest. I was riding up one section and glanced to the left at a stream tumbling over rocks through a tunnel piercing the rock wall supporting the road just above me. Did a double take and stopped because I could see right through the tunnel and up the mountain to the wall supporting the next traverse that was also pierced by a tunnel for the stream. Amazing, no one builds roads like this anymore. I mean I’m standing on one traverse that on the downhill side is supported by a rock wall staring up through a tunnel under the next traverse at the rock wall supporting the third traverse! Which meant the traverse just above me was in fact some crazy ramp with a drop off both sides that then curled through a switchback that was supported by a massively high wall on the outside. If I could I’d buy whoever designed and engineered that road a beer, no, a few beers. The guy (had to be a guy at the time) was insane. But brilliant.
And all of this is inside this world of green. A silent world, well, silence as far as man-made noises are concerned. Here it was just birds singing, lots of them, and streams rushing down the slopes. And voices of other cyclists. I thought I’d be alone but not at all. Lost count but I think in all I saw maybe 15 other cyclists, almost all italian, and rather amazingly 4 of them were women. But one rider wasn’t italian, I think. He went by me when I was shooting pics of the water tunnel under the support wall and when he spotted my Eriksen, said, ‘Cool, an Eriksen” in a thoroughly american accent, which presumably he was but he didn’t stop so I don’t know.
Finally left the stackbacks and the road did a long, wiggling traverse off to the left then switchbacked to the right for an even longer wiggling run up the mountain. To the big change, the end of the pavement. There was a barrier across the road but with space to walk by but for cars the road was closed. I suspect because they didn’t want cars ruining all the work they’d done getting the dirt ready for the race. Grades remained the same, 9%, 10%, but they felt steeper because of the dirt surface, which was nicely groomed. But soft in places. I could see the tracks of the cyclists that had passed me while I was shooting pics. Okay, most of them would have gone by me anyway even if I hadn’t stopped. And the ones that did go by when I was riding went by carrying speeds I wasn’t even capable of dreaming about!
Around a switchback to the right and up to one to the left in a expansive clearing with a spectacular view back down over the valley. Which looked a long way away but then again the col, which I still couldn’t see, looked at least as far above. I was hoping it was an optical illusion. This was a long section through an almost park-like setting of thin forest and meadows with this fine road wandering up the mountain. Across a small steam, up a steep ramp, around yet one more switchback, back across the mountain and there it was, snow, a big patch of avalanche snow they’d had to clear a path through. I liked seeing that, meant I really was getting high.
Up across a steep hillside and out to a sort of point with a switchback and some sort of farm perched there over this vast view. No one there, probably only during the summer, must be spectacular to spend a month or more there. And finally I could see where the col was, not the col itself but where it had to be. Looked like a hell of a lot of vertical still to go.
Arrived in the upper basin, the road a series of switchbacks and long traverses until the end where the switchbacks tightened up. Hardly any trees so the views are huge. This section was hard. And the higher I got, the harder it was. There was one ramp along the way that revved up into double digits something fierce, about did me in. I’ve seen videos of the Giro up here; can’t believe how fast they go!
On the col, at last! What a view. On a gorgeous day. And unbelievably right there on the col there’s a fountain of spring water! Man was that welcome because my two bottles had been dry for awhile. What a fine gift. I hung out on the col for awhile, resting, soaking up the views, listening to the italians talking away in their usual animated fashion. The women I passed earlier in the climb arrived and their husbands/boyfriends who’d been there for a long time were ecstatic at how well the women had ridden. Then they dropped off the back side. I watched with great envy. Definitely the way to go, then up over Sestrier and down and around back to Susa. Which is what I wanted to do but I’d realized before even getting on the bike that that was out of the question for me. Not with another 3 hours of driving time on top of how long the loop, almost 100 K, would take me. So back down what I came up.
An interesting descent. Didn’t see anyone else with a road bike going down it. Must say it was fast but the switchbacks I took slowly, surface too loose for speed. All in all a smooth, rapid descent, for dirt with skinny tires. Bike did a lot of hopping around but it was happy. So was I. Even passed a mountain biker, or someone on a mountain bike, suspension and all, going down. I think I kind of shocked him when I flew by. Got to the pavement, whoa! This puppy is fast. And narrow. Narrower than when I came up. I’d seen a grand total of one car so far on this road but given that the pavement so tight, kept the speed dialed back all the way down. I think between the dirt and the pavement that was the longest sustained time I’ve ever had my brakes in action on a road bike. Mostly light braking but still, against the rims all the way.
Into Susa, onto the small road to my car, pull up, stop, slowly swing a leg over the bike. Ride finished, me too, I’m whipped. My top five climb list just had a new one shove its way in. An absolutely gorgeous climb in every respect. A climb for strong, young riders who can carry a fast pace and are ready to put their feet to the fire. But damn is it hard! All the way. I think I have to say it’s the hardest climb I’ve ever done. Damn near 1700 vertical meters (almost 5600 ft) with an average grade just over 9%! That’s some serious climbing. A climb to do. For myself I just wish the loop wasn’t so long and didn’t include another col along the way. But coming back down what I rode up wasn’t bad at all.
Some pics so you can see what they’re going to ride tomorrow.
But the friggin weather was lousy with rain and snow in the mountains. Kept watching the forecast, the dreariness was hanging tough, time dribbling away. Then it broke, forecast looking good for Wednesday. Early start, 3 hours of road time. Up the Maurienne valley, the wind howling like it’d been for days on end, clouds low, menacing. Glanced up at the lacets on the road to Col de Chaussy, the road the TdF does next month. Through St Michel de Maurienne, wondered if the TdF is going to be able to do Galibier this summer or not. Through Lanslebourg, looked up the valley towards the Col de l’Iseran, remembered what a great ride that is. Need to do it again. Up to the Col du Mont Cenis, another col I need to ride. Barely out of Lanslebourg and I’m in a thick, swirling fog. Great! Over the col, sweet, nothing but blue skies ahead. Wind’s still blowing strong though. Then down to Susa.
Park in a village, San Giuseppe, a few Ks from Susa. No map with me so not exactly sure where the road to Finestre is but can’t be too difficult to find, somewhere across the valley and up, simple. Et voilà, such was the case, road marked with a sign. A half k of gentle straight, a bend to the right, and into the good stuff, like half a K at 9,4%, according to the profile on zanibike.net at least. Road winding up past houses and some small vineyards. Stop to shoot and a classic italian pickup chugs by, one of those 3-wheel jobs that I only ever seem to see in Italy.
Then the road got serious, half a K at 11,4. Gotta love that precision in the grades, like I’d feel the difference between 11%, 11,4% and 12%. I was thinking it was more like at least 15%! Actually I think there’s a ramp in there that isn’t far off 15%! Through a one-lane tunnel under the train tracks and up towards the village of Meana and my legs are screaming at me to get real and find something easier. So I did, a half K at 7,8%. According to the same profile, that was it for the easy going. There to the col 9’s and 10’s with a few half Ks in the high 8’s sprinkled about. So far the road was a regular road, as in two lanes wide. Not american wide, italian wide. That ended about 2,5 K after leaving the valley floor. The last house was passed, the road did a hard curl to the left and from there on was a one-laner, a euro one-laner.
I knew most of the climb would be in a forest. Drive through Susa, which I’ve done countless times over the past 25 years, and look up at the mountains to the south and all there is to see is a carpet of forests draped over the slopes. And for years I’d been wondering as I drove through where in the heck did that road to Finestre pass. Kept looking for some side valley it followed, only there wasn’t one, and zero sign of any road heading up. Now I knew why. The forest is thick enough that the road is effectively invisible and the army engineers (the road was built by the military) figured who needs a valley for a road, just run it right up the face of the mountain. So they did. An insane road, a wonderfully insane road.
Normally I’m not a fan of riding through forests. I like views. This isn’t a forest like all the others I’ve ridden through. There’s a fine mix of deciduous and conifers, and up high lots of the beautiful mélèze (the name in french), a sort of conifer, or looks like one, only the needles turn orange in autumn and fall to the ground. And since the mountain slope is so steep, most of the time there’s really only a very thin layer of tree branches blocking the views. Kind of crazy really. In short, I loved riding up through that forest.
Did I mention that the road’s steep yet? If not, it is, and steep. With lots of switchbacks, 44 of them by my count. Finally got into a section that I was ready to call stackbacks, but only marginally. Stackbacks are what I call switchbacks stacked up one above the other. The section I entered was like that only the traverses were stretched out a bit so it was only marginally a stackback by my definition. And still steep but at least the switchbacks themselves most of the time were easy, mini-rest stations. Mini as in only a couple or so meters of easy going before the road ramped back up into the festivities.
Then I hit the real stackbacks. These are amazing! The most beautiful stackbacks I’ve ever seen. The switchbacks themselves were round and smooth with rock walls of impressive height supporting the outside curves. Imagine a back and forth staircase only instead of stairs this is a ramp stitched up the side of the mountain. It’s as if they hardly cut into the mountainside, just built these rock walls to support the road on the slope. And it was built so long ago that it’s been totally absorbed into the forest. I was riding up one section and glanced to the left at a stream tumbling over rocks through a tunnel piercing the rock wall supporting the road just above me. Did a double take and stopped because I could see right through the tunnel and up the mountain to the wall supporting the next traverse that was also pierced by a tunnel for the stream. Amazing, no one builds roads like this anymore. I mean I’m standing on one traverse that on the downhill side is supported by a rock wall staring up through a tunnel under the next traverse at the rock wall supporting the third traverse! Which meant the traverse just above me was in fact some crazy ramp with a drop off both sides that then curled through a switchback that was supported by a massively high wall on the outside. If I could I’d buy whoever designed and engineered that road a beer, no, a few beers. The guy (had to be a guy at the time) was insane. But brilliant.
And all of this is inside this world of green. A silent world, well, silence as far as man-made noises are concerned. Here it was just birds singing, lots of them, and streams rushing down the slopes. And voices of other cyclists. I thought I’d be alone but not at all. Lost count but I think in all I saw maybe 15 other cyclists, almost all italian, and rather amazingly 4 of them were women. But one rider wasn’t italian, I think. He went by me when I was shooting pics of the water tunnel under the support wall and when he spotted my Eriksen, said, ‘Cool, an Eriksen” in a thoroughly american accent, which presumably he was but he didn’t stop so I don’t know.
Finally left the stackbacks and the road did a long, wiggling traverse off to the left then switchbacked to the right for an even longer wiggling run up the mountain. To the big change, the end of the pavement. There was a barrier across the road but with space to walk by but for cars the road was closed. I suspect because they didn’t want cars ruining all the work they’d done getting the dirt ready for the race. Grades remained the same, 9%, 10%, but they felt steeper because of the dirt surface, which was nicely groomed. But soft in places. I could see the tracks of the cyclists that had passed me while I was shooting pics. Okay, most of them would have gone by me anyway even if I hadn’t stopped. And the ones that did go by when I was riding went by carrying speeds I wasn’t even capable of dreaming about!
Around a switchback to the right and up to one to the left in a expansive clearing with a spectacular view back down over the valley. Which looked a long way away but then again the col, which I still couldn’t see, looked at least as far above. I was hoping it was an optical illusion. This was a long section through an almost park-like setting of thin forest and meadows with this fine road wandering up the mountain. Across a small steam, up a steep ramp, around yet one more switchback, back across the mountain and there it was, snow, a big patch of avalanche snow they’d had to clear a path through. I liked seeing that, meant I really was getting high.
Up across a steep hillside and out to a sort of point with a switchback and some sort of farm perched there over this vast view. No one there, probably only during the summer, must be spectacular to spend a month or more there. And finally I could see where the col was, not the col itself but where it had to be. Looked like a hell of a lot of vertical still to go.
Arrived in the upper basin, the road a series of switchbacks and long traverses until the end where the switchbacks tightened up. Hardly any trees so the views are huge. This section was hard. And the higher I got, the harder it was. There was one ramp along the way that revved up into double digits something fierce, about did me in. I’ve seen videos of the Giro up here; can’t believe how fast they go!
On the col, at last! What a view. On a gorgeous day. And unbelievably right there on the col there’s a fountain of spring water! Man was that welcome because my two bottles had been dry for awhile. What a fine gift. I hung out on the col for awhile, resting, soaking up the views, listening to the italians talking away in their usual animated fashion. The women I passed earlier in the climb arrived and their husbands/boyfriends who’d been there for a long time were ecstatic at how well the women had ridden. Then they dropped off the back side. I watched with great envy. Definitely the way to go, then up over Sestrier and down and around back to Susa. Which is what I wanted to do but I’d realized before even getting on the bike that that was out of the question for me. Not with another 3 hours of driving time on top of how long the loop, almost 100 K, would take me. So back down what I came up.
An interesting descent. Didn’t see anyone else with a road bike going down it. Must say it was fast but the switchbacks I took slowly, surface too loose for speed. All in all a smooth, rapid descent, for dirt with skinny tires. Bike did a lot of hopping around but it was happy. So was I. Even passed a mountain biker, or someone on a mountain bike, suspension and all, going down. I think I kind of shocked him when I flew by. Got to the pavement, whoa! This puppy is fast. And narrow. Narrower than when I came up. I’d seen a grand total of one car so far on this road but given that the pavement so tight, kept the speed dialed back all the way down. I think between the dirt and the pavement that was the longest sustained time I’ve ever had my brakes in action on a road bike. Mostly light braking but still, against the rims all the way.
Into Susa, onto the small road to my car, pull up, stop, slowly swing a leg over the bike. Ride finished, me too, I’m whipped. My top five climb list just had a new one shove its way in. An absolutely gorgeous climb in every respect. A climb for strong, young riders who can carry a fast pace and are ready to put their feet to the fire. But damn is it hard! All the way. I think I have to say it’s the hardest climb I’ve ever done. Damn near 1700 vertical meters (almost 5600 ft) with an average grade just over 9%! That’s some serious climbing. A climb to do. For myself I just wish the loop wasn’t so long and didn’t include another col along the way. But coming back down what I rode up wasn’t bad at all.
Some pics so you can see what they’re going to ride tomorrow.