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Next up was Mortirolo which averages an eye watering 12% and has featured in the Giro many times. It is not for the faint hearted or those who don’t have small enough gears on their bike and the latter includes me so I opted to drive the van for the morning which wasn’t a bad decision given it started to rain as we left Bormio.

Italy is a fabulous country to cycle in with everyone, especially in this region which is a cycling mecca, supporting and appreciating what you are doing. The rain was so bad at one point the group took cover under a porch with the owner coming out to see what was going on. He opened up his garage so we could take shelter and offered up his toilet for those in need until the rain eased up and we could continue on our way to him cheering everyone along as they left.

The decision was made that Mortirolo would be skipped given the bad weather but as we got closer to the bottom of the climb we could see the weather clearing. A few people were not keen on doing the climb so the group split with the Dutchman taking a few around the mountain and up another climb to meet us in the valley on the other side. I went with the rest of the group driving the van up the challenging route and incredibly steep route. I was so pleased to be in the van!!

Everyone made it bar one who got 2/3 of the way up before putting up the white flag and getting in the van. Fair play as her gears were much bigger than mine and I wouldn’t even attempt it! We dropped down the other side and I changed into cycling clothes to tackle Passo Vivione which is a 20km climb but not stupidly steep with an average of 7% which is much more my kind of thing. It was another beautiful climb winding up through the forest and at one point following the river until you pop out above the tree line.

We got our lights on and got ready for some more tunnels that were 20km down the descent and all was going along beautifully flying through the sweeping bends until I came across some sheep poo on the road, and not a small amount either. Immediately we slowed down as the road was literally slippery with it. We came around the corner to have all traffic stopped and around 500 sheep being shepherded down the mountain. Unfortunately we were stuck for over 30 mins following the flock with no way through or around until there was a small side road where the shepherds pushed the sheep into to let us and the build up of cars through.

It was comical having 14 riders trying to wipe poo off their bikes and tyres on the side of the road as quick as we could before the sheep overtook us as they were threatening to do. My tyres were covered as were everyone else’s so you can imagine what happened when we started rolling and picking up speed, it started flying everywhere. I grew up on a sheep farm so was a bit less precious than some of our New York friends. I led everyone down the mountain keeping the speed steady so we could stay together as a group and as I had the freshest legs having not done Mortirolo earlier in the day I pulled across the valley. The problem was when I was in the drops with my head down all I could smell was sheep poo, but it was better to be at the front of the group than the back!

Today was a loop from Lovere on the lake up into the mountains and back down again which I opted not to do. I haven’t been getting in enough run training so pulled on the runners and went exploring. I ran along the lake and found a hiking trail that went up into the mountains so I spent 2 hours going up and down a whole network of trails and now I am thinking that riding tomorrow is going to be tough given how tired my legs are!

Hows this for a bike room? This was in the hotel where we stayed in Bormio. They were certainly geared to host cyclists with this room, loads of tools and bike stands to use along with a free washing service for bike clothes that was done over night. Perfect and so much better than carrying around soggy lycra.

Happy training

C x