Sali-Scendi: Climbing the Muro di Sormano

Today, I had no intention of riding. I basically resigned to the weather report and decided to take the bus down to Bellaggio and hang out there. After a half hour I realized that would be really boring. Once you've been there, especially with little money to spend, it's not that exciting of place, especially on a rainy day. Furthermore, the sun came out. The SUN!! I haven't seen the sun since last Saturday. I decided I had to get back on the bus and go for a bike ride.
By the time I got to the top of the mountain the fog had rolled in. But whatever, I was committed now. At least it wasn't raining. I decided to go and have a try at the Muro di Sormano. The Muro is a legendary climb. It averages 17% and has a maximum of 25%. It's absurd! It was only restored a few years ago, added back into Il Lombardi last year, and it's a cycle only road. It's barely a road, more of a beautifully surfaced path, lettered up with times from famous riders, quotes from said riders about how horrendous a climb it is, etc. It's like no other road you'll ever ride on.
Getting there is also a climb, up to the town of Sormano. It's not a hard climb, but still you have to climb for 5km before you get to the Muro (which means "wall" in Italian, by the way). I wasn't sure what to expect. You look at photos, video, read the numbers, talk to other cyclists, and you still don't know until you climb the thing. Basically for you folks at home, it's like doing Iron Bridge or Uhlerstown, if you take the steep part and just do that for a little less than 2km. I luckily made it up the thing. I averaged 5mph. It wasn't pretty riding with a 39/27 but I did it. I told myself there was no way I was walking the thing, no way was I not making it, and I did it. It was insanely hard, but I was expecting some part to come along and be so steep that I would have to get off for fear of rolling backward or falling over, but it never came. I did have my front wheel come off the ground a few times in the corners but that has happened on Iron Bridge too.
I then met a group of British and American cyclists in the cafe at the top. When I originally went up there, I had the intention of watching the hill climb race, but standing around in the clouds, freezing was not worth it. Instead I joined them down the decent of the other side of the pass, which was awesome. It certainly would be a bit more fun with more visibility and dry roads (it rained a bit at the top) but still coming around switchbacks is always fun and we only passed three cars in 15km. I waited at the bottom for them, they must have really been taking their time. I hate riding the brakes, it makes me nervous and I feel more in control going fast. Of course, you have to brake in the corners but, luckily by the time we got to the major switchback section, the roads and my rims and pads were dry. By the way, these Schwalbe Ultremo ZX Tubeless tires are inspiring on the descents and the Swiss Stop blue brake pads give me great confidence even in the wet. Glad I made the switch.
The finale of the ride (it was a short and slow ride, but 35 more miles that I intially planned to do today) was the Ghisallo. It's a really fun climb, especially with a group, especially now that in am getting to know it. We went really easy, well at least I did, on the first part. I was soft pedaling, waiting constantly (some of these my guys looked very fit, but compact cranksets make strong men pedal like wimps), and I even turned back a few times. I think the group leader either got fed up with me making everyone look a-fool or he just wanted to have fun and put me in my place. On the final switchbacks of the first section, he put in a big attack. I got on his wheel, dug really deep, and just knew that I had to survive a few more steep ramps before the reprieve at Guello. I don't know if he was excited to have someone to ride with who could actually climb or if he was sick of me and wanted to humble me a bit. But, maybe to his surprise, I went right with him. I knew after the slight downhill, there was a really steep section, followed by the famous switchbacks and the final kick up to the line. I knew this was going to hurt like hell, but for my own training (Roma Granfondo coming up), my pride and my love of competing on the hills (which doesn't often happen), I stayed with him. He put in the attack so he did the pulling. He gave no nudge of the elbow for me to come around and drafting isn't exactly that effective on a steep climb anyhow. I knew I couldn't let him ride away on the switchbacks, and I managed to go up there in the 23 instead of the 25. It was really hard. When we came around the final switchback with 300 meters to the top I shifted to the 25 to let my legs spin a little. With 100 meters to go, I went back down to the 23, got out of the saddle and kicked for the line. He was clearly hurting and couldn't stay with me. Racing up mountains is fun!!
So between that and the Muro, which I am so glad I got to do, today was awesome. I've been telling people about the Muro for months now and if I went home without doing it, not only would I be disappointed in myself, but I feel like I'd let my other hill-loving cycling buddies down too.
This was my last ride here. Tomorrow is Il Lombardia, then Monday I'm back down to see the sun in Orvieto. Luckily tonight, the restaurant that is supposed to be really good in town is finally open so it's off to dinner. Look for a race report and hopefully some good photos tomorrow.