velotel
09-06-2020, 11:41 AM
Getting to the Strada dell'Assieta is the hard part. A ride in and of itself. Only a few access points, all climbs, all long. Colle della Finestre the most famous, around 1700 sustained vertical, average grade 9,7%. The Strada is 34 K of dirt wandering back and forth along a ridge of grass and rock summits and, except for a small part on the east end, always over 2000, the highest point 2500 meters.
In my usual somewhat perverse way I decided to climb to the strada to near the highest point via a a double-track for the first thousand twenty vertical followed by a, mostly, single-track. The first 1020 vertical meters ( 3350ft ) I'd already done. Steep, 10% average grade, but rides easier.
Took me a couple hours to do those 1020 meters. Climbing in a thick forest of tall trees the entire time. The shade was good because the day was hot. A strong wind was sweeping over the forest, the trees swaying and creaking, but down at ground level life was cool. Stunning regularity to the grades. An emaciated one-laner with tight, often steep switchbacks, 29 in the first 7 K. Closed to vehicles, only local wood cutters and park rangers allowed.
The smoothest lines are the outside and inside edges, the middle embedded rock that can be rough, so I ride it like a single-track, balancing on the outside line, spinning my lowest gear, a 28/32. The first time I rode this was with a 34/32, the second time with a 30/32. The 28/32 wasn't as dramatically easier as I kind of hoped but I was definitely more relaxed.
Got to the end of the first part of the climb, 800 vertical above the start, a small park where a paved road comes up from Sauze d'Oulx. Until that point I'd seen three hikers and passed one cyclist. The isolation ended at the park. Groups of people everywhere, all talking and gesticulating at the same time. Classic Italians. The park's the last opportunity to top off water bottles. Filled up, looked around, hit the trail. Walkers transformed the trail into weave city with my bell ringing frequently, often to absolutely no avail until I was in their midst.
The road flat and smooth. Hit the junction I knew was coming, the easy trail continuing straight ahead. To the right the trail I wanted, a narrower, rougher track angling up the mountain, the trail to Colle Blegier and the Strada dell'Assieta. Most of the walkers went straight.
Surface dry and loose, grade steep. Thirty seconds into it I'm thinking a lower gear really would be nice. I remembered this, but not that it was so damn long. I also remembered there's a kind of flat ahead, thankfully. Got passed by a mountain biker, sitting, spinning a crazy high cadence. At least he went by me slowly, not at some speed that would have been thoroughly demoralizing. First time since the valley floor I wasn't in shadows and the sun was shockingly hot with waves of heat radiating off a field of yellow, brittle grasses.
Hit the semi-flat, did my slow spinning rest, saving energy for the ramp just ahead where the trail dives back into the forest. This is what I think of as the upper trail and for me it transforms an excellent climb into a great climb. The trail narrows, decorated with roots and lumps of embedded rock and twisting erosion channels, intense technical riding. Eyes scanning, looking for the easiest line, the arms working almost as much as the legs. Easier sections alternating with bulging ramps sometimes verging on desperately steep. But before each ramp there's a wee pause where I can gather myself together before surging up the slope surfing a wave of power, eyes laser focused on my line. I get to the top of ramps having blown right through red line on several occasions.
Gorgeous place. A forest of mélèze (like a fir only in late autumn the needles turn orange and fall to the ground like leaves) with their straight trunks soaring up, the ground covered in low shrubs and ferns and grasses, a world of swaying greens with this narrow trail traversing and curling up and up. It's like that almost all the way to Colle Blegier, a stunning mix of easy and at-the-limit single-track, a trail calling out all the skills and tricks you've accumulated over years of riding.
Colle Blegier is for later, after a trail I've been looking at on my map for a long time. It's called the Strada del Cannoni and looks like a contour line across the mountain before turning and climbing up to the Strada dell'Assieta. Obviously the map's scale meant stuff would be hidden but still, it had to be mostly flat for a long time.
It was, and it wasn't. As in some sections were kind of flat but they were linked by these fierce, rugged ramps. I rode some until my legs said enough. A metallic squeal up ahead, a mountain biker jamming down the trail, then two more. They were flying, nothing big smiles. I was walking, and smiling too. Finally popped out of the woods into a large, flat meadow. Good place for a break, drink, eat, conjure up more energy.
Off again, cruising the meadow, then back into the woods. And more steepness. I started walking. Almost a stroll, the bike rolling along next to me, and for once I'm able to fully appreciate the scenery. Left the trees and entered the zone of alpine meadows with the trail traversing and climbing up the mountain into the distance. And I'm sure ridable. With lower gearing I think even I could have ridden much of it, but not today. I was too beat to even try plus the walking was too enjoyable. If I was riding I'd be tunnel focused in the trail but strolling along I could look out across the mountains and soak it all up. From time to time I'd think I should start riding again, but wouldn't bother. I'd be afoot again soon enough and the walking was way too sweet with this panorama of peaks and ridges in the distance and the Oulx-Bardonecchia valley some 1500 meters ( 5000 ft ) below me.
Around a bend and at last the Strada dell'Assieta, and a bunch of people on e-assist mountain bikes. Now to explore more of the Strada, down to Colle Blegier, 4 K away, which is where I'd head down off the mountain. I'd already done the 10 K on the other side of Colle Blegier to Colle Basset where a road drops down to Sauze d'Oulx. 34 K end to end doesn't seem very far but the Strada rides longer than it measures with lots of upping and downing, at times pretty steep. Plus cars create a thick blanket of fine dust that can float in the air long after a car's passage. Which is why I'm there on a Saturday. Wednesdays and Saturdays during July and August they close the road to cars. In the 15-20 minutes I was on the strada I saw at least a dozen people on bikes, most on e-assist bikes with massively fat tires. I was impressed because even with e-assist, riding the Strada is a commitment. Getting up to the Strada then riding its length I would think drains the batteries. And then they still need to either get back down to the valley and return to their start point or get picked up somewhere.
I've thought a lot about how to do the Strada and decided that to do it as a loop I'd ignore the climb to Colle delle Finestre. A loop via Finestre would mean riding the valley between Oulx and Susa. That highway's narrow and busy and everyone's in a hurry. Not my idea of fun. For me it's start in Sestriere, ride down the valley to the start of the south climb to Finestre, up to the Strada dell'Assieta, ride the length, finish with the descent back to Sestriere. At 75 K and maybe 2200 vertical not so long but I suspect it would ride considerably harder than the numbers indicate. But at least it would end with a good downhill right back to the car, which for me is always a major plus.
If it was paved, the Strada would probably be the most famous ride in the world, as much for motorcycles as bikes, because it's a road, pure and simple. What makes it so special is where it is, on top of this long, high ridge, and for how long it's up there. It's a dirt road, sometimes rocky, sometimes gravelly, mostly dirt, at times kind of rough, other times remarkably smooth, but always a road. It could be ridden with normal road tires but fatter tires are vastly more comfortable for such a long time on the dirt. There's absolutely no need for a mountain bike. That said, in my limited time on the strada I've only seen 3 fat-tired road bikes up there; the rest were all mountain bikes, and now those are mostly e-assist. For me it's a have-to, either in parts or from end to end. Preferably with no cars. As a loop starting in Sestriere with the end a long, fast descent.
Which is how I ended this jaunt, with a long, long plunge from Colle Blegier back to the car. Took me damn near an hour! Had to stop at least 3 times to rest my hands and arms. I was slow because I was tired but mostly because my vision sucks in alternating light and shadows, and that's what it was all the way down. At times I wasn't far off blind going into the shadows. So I was slow. In the lower part got passed by 2 mountain bikers on full-suspension rigs who were flying and having a ball and probably thinking what the hell was that old man doing there on that bike!
Stunning ride, and walk. I just wish it was a bit closer so I could spend even more time over there on those trails. But on the other hand the 3-hour drive over via the High Maurienne Valley and Col du Mont Cenis is pure delight. In my book the trail from Salbertrand to the Strada dell'Assieta is a total bucket ride, but obviously one that isn't easy to achieve for most folk. Probably one lots of fat-tired road bike riders wouldn't want to do either.
In my usual somewhat perverse way I decided to climb to the strada to near the highest point via a a double-track for the first thousand twenty vertical followed by a, mostly, single-track. The first 1020 vertical meters ( 3350ft ) I'd already done. Steep, 10% average grade, but rides easier.
Took me a couple hours to do those 1020 meters. Climbing in a thick forest of tall trees the entire time. The shade was good because the day was hot. A strong wind was sweeping over the forest, the trees swaying and creaking, but down at ground level life was cool. Stunning regularity to the grades. An emaciated one-laner with tight, often steep switchbacks, 29 in the first 7 K. Closed to vehicles, only local wood cutters and park rangers allowed.
The smoothest lines are the outside and inside edges, the middle embedded rock that can be rough, so I ride it like a single-track, balancing on the outside line, spinning my lowest gear, a 28/32. The first time I rode this was with a 34/32, the second time with a 30/32. The 28/32 wasn't as dramatically easier as I kind of hoped but I was definitely more relaxed.
Got to the end of the first part of the climb, 800 vertical above the start, a small park where a paved road comes up from Sauze d'Oulx. Until that point I'd seen three hikers and passed one cyclist. The isolation ended at the park. Groups of people everywhere, all talking and gesticulating at the same time. Classic Italians. The park's the last opportunity to top off water bottles. Filled up, looked around, hit the trail. Walkers transformed the trail into weave city with my bell ringing frequently, often to absolutely no avail until I was in their midst.
The road flat and smooth. Hit the junction I knew was coming, the easy trail continuing straight ahead. To the right the trail I wanted, a narrower, rougher track angling up the mountain, the trail to Colle Blegier and the Strada dell'Assieta. Most of the walkers went straight.
Surface dry and loose, grade steep. Thirty seconds into it I'm thinking a lower gear really would be nice. I remembered this, but not that it was so damn long. I also remembered there's a kind of flat ahead, thankfully. Got passed by a mountain biker, sitting, spinning a crazy high cadence. At least he went by me slowly, not at some speed that would have been thoroughly demoralizing. First time since the valley floor I wasn't in shadows and the sun was shockingly hot with waves of heat radiating off a field of yellow, brittle grasses.
Hit the semi-flat, did my slow spinning rest, saving energy for the ramp just ahead where the trail dives back into the forest. This is what I think of as the upper trail and for me it transforms an excellent climb into a great climb. The trail narrows, decorated with roots and lumps of embedded rock and twisting erosion channels, intense technical riding. Eyes scanning, looking for the easiest line, the arms working almost as much as the legs. Easier sections alternating with bulging ramps sometimes verging on desperately steep. But before each ramp there's a wee pause where I can gather myself together before surging up the slope surfing a wave of power, eyes laser focused on my line. I get to the top of ramps having blown right through red line on several occasions.
Gorgeous place. A forest of mélèze (like a fir only in late autumn the needles turn orange and fall to the ground like leaves) with their straight trunks soaring up, the ground covered in low shrubs and ferns and grasses, a world of swaying greens with this narrow trail traversing and curling up and up. It's like that almost all the way to Colle Blegier, a stunning mix of easy and at-the-limit single-track, a trail calling out all the skills and tricks you've accumulated over years of riding.
Colle Blegier is for later, after a trail I've been looking at on my map for a long time. It's called the Strada del Cannoni and looks like a contour line across the mountain before turning and climbing up to the Strada dell'Assieta. Obviously the map's scale meant stuff would be hidden but still, it had to be mostly flat for a long time.
It was, and it wasn't. As in some sections were kind of flat but they were linked by these fierce, rugged ramps. I rode some until my legs said enough. A metallic squeal up ahead, a mountain biker jamming down the trail, then two more. They were flying, nothing big smiles. I was walking, and smiling too. Finally popped out of the woods into a large, flat meadow. Good place for a break, drink, eat, conjure up more energy.
Off again, cruising the meadow, then back into the woods. And more steepness. I started walking. Almost a stroll, the bike rolling along next to me, and for once I'm able to fully appreciate the scenery. Left the trees and entered the zone of alpine meadows with the trail traversing and climbing up the mountain into the distance. And I'm sure ridable. With lower gearing I think even I could have ridden much of it, but not today. I was too beat to even try plus the walking was too enjoyable. If I was riding I'd be tunnel focused in the trail but strolling along I could look out across the mountains and soak it all up. From time to time I'd think I should start riding again, but wouldn't bother. I'd be afoot again soon enough and the walking was way too sweet with this panorama of peaks and ridges in the distance and the Oulx-Bardonecchia valley some 1500 meters ( 5000 ft ) below me.
Around a bend and at last the Strada dell'Assieta, and a bunch of people on e-assist mountain bikes. Now to explore more of the Strada, down to Colle Blegier, 4 K away, which is where I'd head down off the mountain. I'd already done the 10 K on the other side of Colle Blegier to Colle Basset where a road drops down to Sauze d'Oulx. 34 K end to end doesn't seem very far but the Strada rides longer than it measures with lots of upping and downing, at times pretty steep. Plus cars create a thick blanket of fine dust that can float in the air long after a car's passage. Which is why I'm there on a Saturday. Wednesdays and Saturdays during July and August they close the road to cars. In the 15-20 minutes I was on the strada I saw at least a dozen people on bikes, most on e-assist bikes with massively fat tires. I was impressed because even with e-assist, riding the Strada is a commitment. Getting up to the Strada then riding its length I would think drains the batteries. And then they still need to either get back down to the valley and return to their start point or get picked up somewhere.
I've thought a lot about how to do the Strada and decided that to do it as a loop I'd ignore the climb to Colle delle Finestre. A loop via Finestre would mean riding the valley between Oulx and Susa. That highway's narrow and busy and everyone's in a hurry. Not my idea of fun. For me it's start in Sestriere, ride down the valley to the start of the south climb to Finestre, up to the Strada dell'Assieta, ride the length, finish with the descent back to Sestriere. At 75 K and maybe 2200 vertical not so long but I suspect it would ride considerably harder than the numbers indicate. But at least it would end with a good downhill right back to the car, which for me is always a major plus.
If it was paved, the Strada would probably be the most famous ride in the world, as much for motorcycles as bikes, because it's a road, pure and simple. What makes it so special is where it is, on top of this long, high ridge, and for how long it's up there. It's a dirt road, sometimes rocky, sometimes gravelly, mostly dirt, at times kind of rough, other times remarkably smooth, but always a road. It could be ridden with normal road tires but fatter tires are vastly more comfortable for such a long time on the dirt. There's absolutely no need for a mountain bike. That said, in my limited time on the strada I've only seen 3 fat-tired road bikes up there; the rest were all mountain bikes, and now those are mostly e-assist. For me it's a have-to, either in parts or from end to end. Preferably with no cars. As a loop starting in Sestriere with the end a long, fast descent.
Which is how I ended this jaunt, with a long, long plunge from Colle Blegier back to the car. Took me damn near an hour! Had to stop at least 3 times to rest my hands and arms. I was slow because I was tired but mostly because my vision sucks in alternating light and shadows, and that's what it was all the way down. At times I wasn't far off blind going into the shadows. So I was slow. In the lower part got passed by 2 mountain bikers on full-suspension rigs who were flying and having a ball and probably thinking what the hell was that old man doing there on that bike!
Stunning ride, and walk. I just wish it was a bit closer so I could spend even more time over there on those trails. But on the other hand the 3-hour drive over via the High Maurienne Valley and Col du Mont Cenis is pure delight. In my book the trail from Salbertrand to the Strada dell'Assieta is a total bucket ride, but obviously one that isn't easy to achieve for most folk. Probably one lots of fat-tired road bike riders wouldn't want to do either.