September 4, 2023
A Bigger Bernard: Aosta to Saillon
Never one without two. Ein mals ist kein mals. And now: no Little St Bernard without Big St Bernard! (Is that a saying? I'm going to make it a saying...).
In other words: today's task was again a simple one. Up a hill, to the Col du Grand St. Bernard/Gran San Bernardo/Great St Bernard, and then down the other side, into Switzerland. How hard could it be? Well: I suppose about 200m harder than yesterday. At least there wouldn't be elephants, though.
Knowing that I had quite a big day in store, I tried not to linger too long over breakfast, though was held back both by the fact it was exceptionally good (an advantage of passing into Italy: finally, drinkable coffee at breakfast!) and by surreptitiously checking out the other residents (among them, a table of gung-ho Americans planning a complex hiking venture up some nearby peak, and a fellow in full Belgian National Cycling Kit -- right down to the socks -- who I'd also spotted, identically attired, at the top of the Little St Bernard pass yesterday. I'm pretty sure he wasn't Remco Evenepoel or Wout Van Aert; in fact, I never definitely established if he was even Belgian...)
In spite of these distractions, I was heading out of the hotel by shortly after 8, and almost immediately into a killer steep climb: as is often the way, the little residential roads out of town were way more vicious than the bigger roads in the hills. (I confess I even had to push for a bit.) It was a bit of a relief to get onto the main, but not too busy, road, which took me steadily uphill for the next 20km, first through rather suburban terrain, and then through a sequence of very pleasant Franco-Italian villages.
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I stopped in St. Oyen to fill up my water bottles at the village spring, and then made my way through the only really unpleasant bit of the climb: an uphill contraflow traffic light section, where (of course) the sequence didn't allow enough time for a bike (or not a bike ridden by me!) to get through, so I had to squeeze against the wall while a wave of cars came past, and then pedal like crazy to get to the end before the next wave came through. I was so knackered when I got there that I toppled off the bike -- so at least I must have provided some light entertainment for the waiting drivers.
After that, though, most of the cars and all of the trucks disappeared off onto the new road, which tunnels under the pass, and I was left to appreciate the second half of the climb in all its glory.
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First there was a set of hairpins; then a stretch through the forest, climbing up the valley side; and then the road came out into the open again, with wonderful views both of what lay behind and (ulp) of what was still to come.
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This stretch also brought an extremely well-placed cafe, and a very good one too: quite ramshackle, but well stocked with drinks and cheese rolls and a fast-flowing spring -- everything a weary cyclist needs. (It was also remarkably cheap, given that I would probably have paid about EUR100 for a can of coke by that point.)
After a welcome break here, it was back to the grind. The final stretch was another set of hairpins, which were alternately boiling hot or relatively refreshing, depending on whether you were facing into the sun/away from the wind or vice versa. In other words: not the easiest of riding -- but the surroundings were really amazing.
On the way up, I'd seen my Belgian Cycling Friend from breakfast whizzing back down again, but I'd also encountered the first touring cyclists I'd met on this trip -- an Italian (or Italian-speaking) couple -- and we leap-frogged each other for the rest of the climb, exchanging encouraging comments each time we crossed over. We all got to the top at about the same time, to find that the effort was very much worth it: I think this is one of the prettiest Alpine passes I've been to.
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I poked around the souvenir stands a bit, ultimately deciding against adding a cuddly St Bernard (dog, not saint) to my panniers, and stopped at a cafe on the Swiss side of the border for an apfelschorle and a slice of excellent plum pie (probably at twice the price of the same thing on the Italian side; in my defence, not a whole lot of oxygen was reaching my brain at this point).
Then it was time to hit the descent -- the first bit of which was unexpectedly terrifying, partly because it was extremely steep , but mostly because the Swiss were in the process of resurfacing the road, and had got as far as taking off all the old tarmac, but not putting back all of the new stuff. Nothing like a bit of high-altitude gravel riding to focus the mind.
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Fortunately, normal silky-smooth Swiss service resumed after the first km or so, and the rest of the first part of the descent was really lovely: quiet road and beautiful landscape.
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The (relative) disadvantage of the Swiss side of the pass is that the 'big' main road rejoins the pass road much higher up -- about 6km below the pass. After that the road is functional, but (relatively!) less scenic, and also goes through quite a few tunnels or galleries. It was fine going downhill, but I see why people suggest that it wouldn't be huge fun to come up this way.
One advantage of the big, beautifully engineered, downhill Swiss road, though, was that it made for pretty speedy riding, and before too long I was on the outskirts of Martigny, where I turned off onto perfect Swiss cycle paths, weaving alongside rivers and vineyards.
After Martigny, I joined the Rhone cycle path for the last 15km or so, to reach my last objective for the day, and also to tick off a Life Goal: checking in to a Swiss Sanatorium where I'd booked myself a couple of nights' stay -- reckoning (correctly) that I'd be in need of a rest-cure by this point. Smart thinking, past me!
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The hotel has a slightly dishevelled air (which I like), and also something of the aura of a Soviet Bloc Rest Camp for Favoured Party Members (ditto). I found enough energy to dunk myself in their pool, and then to eat a very solid dinner, before retiring happily to my tiny attic room. An excellent day.
Today's ride: 93 km (58 miles)
Total: 332 km (206 miles)
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