A Sunny Day On Simplon Pass June 21 2011

It looked beautiful when I crawled out of my tent this morning and after a heart breakfast Jurg and I set off together. This is Jurg`s home ground and he knows all the roads and turns. So it was great riding with him. He could point to just about every mountain and say that he had climbed it. He could also tell you and interesting story about the climb. So it was great rolling along listening to the stories.

The first part of the ride was 30 kms up a smaller pass which took us up approximately 800 meters. It was a relatively constant grade so we made great time. We passed lots of great scenery and at one point we were concerned about getting ahead of lunch so we stopped for coffee in this little village. One side of the road was a modern village on the other was an ancient stone village. Everything was made of stone, the buildings, the roofs, the pathways in the village, the stairs, everything. Jurg and I walked through the stone village it was very interesting.

After lunch we started the Simplon Pass climb. It is the first of the ten Alps. It wasn’t too steep but it was without let up. I got out and just ground away. There was a lot of snow shed on the climb and they were a bit noisy but there were cool in side. The sun was beating down on us and I was just soaked with sweat. The ride profile showed the summit at 90 kms however when I saw a sign post which showed it to be at the 83 km mark my spirits just soared, that was a whole hour of grinding. The summit was beautiful. Nice and sunny and warm.

Jurg and I put on our warm cloths for the decent and I followed Him down. Jurg knew where the camp site was so I just followed him in. It was great not having to navigate.

Tomorrow is a camping rest day. Hopefully the weather will be as warm tomorrow as it was today (32 C).

Terry