Madonna del Ghisallo Sanctuary (the bike church)

On my search for a restaurant to eat dinner at tonight, I passed by the Santuario Madonna del Ghisallo, also known as the bike church. Basically, the sanctuary is named after the apparition La Madonna del Ghisallo, who was named the patron saint of cyclists sometime after the Second World War. If you want to read a detailed description of the chapel and the story behind it, read this very informative article about it.

Since I was probably a bit early for any restaurant to be open, I stepped inside, needing to kill some time. The place is tiny, yet beautful. It is absolutely incredible to look at some of the names on the plaques beneath the bikes and framed jerseys hanging high up on the walls. Fausto Coppi, Eddy Merckx, Gino Bartali, Franceso Moser, Felice Gimondi, and so on, as well as more modern names like Mario Cipollini, Thor Hushovd, Cadel Evans, Paolo Bettini, Maurizio Frondriest, Miguel Indurain, Bernard Hinault, Alessandro Ballan, Gianni, Bugno, Ivan Basso, Connie Carpenter, and of course, Fabio Casartelli (who was born not far away in Como). It's indescribable how mesmerizing it is to look at the actual bike that Felice Gimondi won the 1976 Giro d' Italia on, or that Fausto Coppi won the 1949 Tour de France on, or that did Gino Bartali in 1948, included with his maillot jaune. Perhaps I was too distracted by Eddie Merckx's bike to notice next to it the bike that Fabbio Casartelli was riding that fateful day in the '95 Tour when he crashed and was killed. I will certainly go back again (it's only 300m down the road).The whole chapel is surreal. I took some photos inside and out and gave and offering in exchange for a few post cards.

The place was deserted, of course, like the rest of the town, but especially so at night. There is no one standing guard, just the door open to this amazing place in this quiet little town, and if you didn't know it were there, you in fact probably never would. Next-door is the Museo Ciclismo del Ghisallo, which was not open by that time, but will be again tomorrow. Upon looking in the window, I am really excited to visit. At this location on a clear day, you'd be able to see 2400ft down to the lake and straight across, but you'd never know anything was there on a day like today. Unfortunately I probably won't get to see that view anytime while I'm here.

I then walked down the climb a bit, to another hotel with a restaurant that was open. Open, meaning that they had turned the lights on and there was a chief who was able to cook me a meal but I was the only one there and I'd be willing to bet the only to come in tonight. The food was nothing to get excited about, but it was a big step up from last night's "dinner". Ironically, it was the other hotel that I was thinking of staying at. The old woman who waited on me, clearly the owner of the place, spoke no English but with the little Italian I know and my understanding of Italian food terminology, I was able to order a pizza. Originally I was thinking about walking down to the next town, where I'd definitely have more options for dinner but taking on those switchbacks on foot was not really worthwhile. And I'm glad I didn't because the most epic part of the whole thing was that I had to walk back up 1km of the climb, of course, the steepest part, back to my hotel, in absolute darkness. Good thing for no traffic and a flashlight on my iPhone. Once I got halfway there, into town back near the sanctuary, there were streetlights and a sidewalk.

It's so quiet here at night you can hear the relay of dogs barking one to the next for what must be miles. I swear people must live a really old fashion lifestyle here, at least during the winter months, of going to sleep only a bit after the sun sets, to get up as the sun rises. But just across the lake, you can see the lights of a much bigger town. I wonder what's going on down there? I bet they aren't falling asleep at 9pm!

Left to right: bikes of Eddy Merckx, Gino Bartali, Fausto Coppi, Felice Gimonidi, Francesco Moser, Maurizio Fondreist

Don't know who this guy is but he looked cool and he's riding a Bianchi. Speaking of Bianchi...

I guess Italy doesn't really need Strava. The major climbs here (both the HC one I did today and the Ghisallo) have a finish line and timing boxes on the side of the road. There is an LED display above it telling you the climb name, and where to go for more information. Basically, if you have an Italian Cycling Federation time-chip, which everyone who races or rides Gran Fondi does, you can "race" up these climbs any time you'd like and have your time registered. Pretty cool!