A navigational problem saw us walking in the wrong direction last night. Rather than walking towards town, we were walking away from it. As it was getting dark, we decided to turn back and eat at our hotel. We ended up eating, accompanied by two large Golden Retrievers, under an awning at the front of the hotel - it was a place where locals met to drink and smoke and talk in a Germanic tongue (the region of Italy was annexed from Austria-Hungary after WW1).
The starters we ordered were so big that we had to act quickly to cancel the main course. The waiter was ok about this and said that us British “need to eat more”.
We need to cycle high up into a more remote area today. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a day of rest - before the Big Day on Saturday. Departed Merano around 9am. Today was all up. No downs. No flats. The climb out of Merano was fairly easy, as we followed the river Adigel west upstream. We turned SW at Spondigna from where the climb became steeper up towards Gomagoi. Just outside Gomagoi we looked for somewhere where, in two days’ time we could stash our stuff (to avoid having to lug it all up Stelvio on Saturday).
From Gomagoi we began the brutal 3,000ft climb up into the high mountains to the little mountain village of Solda (a change from our planned town of Trafoi).
We did 67km today and gained a total of 5,700ft. Solda is an attractive out of season ski resort. There’s just the one road in/out of here. There’s plenty of people up here. Several bars and restaurants and a few shops. We’ll stay here for two nights.
The Stelvio Pass is a magnet for sexy vehicle owners. Both motorcycles and cars (partly due to Top Gear?). You frequently saw a ‘pack’ of similar vehicles go streaking by - probably from some owners club. At one point we were overtaken by three Lamborghinis - a green and black, a silver and black and one done with a bespoke brown and cream paintwork.
In the cold and misty climb up to Solda you could look back down over the hairpin bends and see the town of Gomagoi disappearing as a dot in the valley below. We decided to walk on a couple of the steeper sections so as not to carry too much lactic into Saturday’s challenge.
So, the plan is to rest here tomorrow. Then on Saturday morning cycle down the mountain, back to Gomagoi, stash the luggage, join Stelvio Bike Day and then return back down from The Stelvio Pass to this spot retrieve the luggage before heading off.