Madonna del Ghisallo day ride

June 2, 2022

“Legend has it that in mediaeval times, a local count was being attacked by bandits when he saw an apparition of the Virgin Mary, and running towards this vision saved him. Thus, the Madonna del Ghisallo became the patroness of travellers. Then, in 1949 a local priest managed to persuade Pope Pius XII to admit her as the patroness of cyclists. Since then, the small chapel has become a shrine to cycling legends, both living and deceased, and provides a memorial to those who have fallen in our sport.” Cycling News, 17 October 2008.

I’ve wanted to visit the cyclists’ shrine since I first heard about it, though I’m not a religious person. It’s been a day ride destination since I first started designing this tour.

The route we did today was a fairly short loop, but there was a lot of climbing involved and the afternoon was hot, so it felt quite long enough.

We started with a ferry to Bellagio and arrived to find a long queue at the ticket office so we missed the ferry that was about to load as we arrived. When I finally got close to the ticket window, I saw a poster telling me I could buy my tickets online, but by then the ship has sailed.

The booth was staffed by only one man on this Republic Day holiday, selling tickets, answering people’s questions in fluent English and Italian, answering the phone, and making the departure announcements. I got our tickets and we waited for the next sailing, admiring all the classic Fiats that would be on it with us.

Another member of the Fiat 500 Club Italia

A Bianchina. Not a 500, I suspect, but equally cute.

The Fiat 500 Club is on the move! How’d that Spider get in there? It has a plate on the back saying it’s a 1987 model. Surely that’s too new for this group? (And the classic VW Bug behind the 500s o the ferry looked huge in comparison.)

Arriving in Bellagio which looks quiet and calm from this angle.

The Bellagio ferry terminal was even busier than Varenna’s when we got there at 11. We let the motorized traffic go then started up the climb. No warmup, it starts right from the ferry terminal. And keeps going, with a short respite through Civenna. Then up some more and we were there. We didn’t arrive together, of course; Al’s a much faster climber than I am. In fact, he said he was 15 minutes faster this time on a heavier bike than he’d been on a light road bike in 2018 (jet-lagged and not feeling well that first time, though).

Gino Bartali’s bike on the left, Alfonsina Strada’s on the right. If you haven’t heard of Alfonsina Strada, look her up. I hadn’t until I read a history of the Giro d’Italia.

The museum and plaza. These two cyclists are father and son. The boy looks to be about 12. Al saw him being pushed by his dad on a steep bit but they passed me near the top (having taken a longer break at Civenna than I did.

Monument to something but all the information is in Italian and I’m not that up on Italian bike racing.

I didn’t do a bike portrait here because I’ve no idea what the monument is, but these fellows did.

We relaxed, looked briefly in the museum shop, refilled our bottles at the tap, and headed onward, descending to Asso. Asso was the largest village on our loop, not including Bellagio, and we were surprised that we saw no place to get lunch on our way through. But we found an open bar in Osigo(?) where Al had a burger (the menu had 3 pages of burger options) and I had a salad and we relaxed on their shady veranda. The elderly people at the next table (much older than us!) asked questions about our trip and where we were from when we got up to leave. They seemed very nice.

Next came a fabulous descent to the lake. We’d already descended a fair bit—had we really climbed that far? We joined the lakeside road (and traffic) at Onno and rode north along the water. Wonderful in the shade, are-we-there-yet hot in the sun. Soon enough, though, the climb up and over the ridge and descent into the traffic jam of Bellagio.

The ferry ticket line was very short this time, though there were plenty of people milling about. I guess most passengers had bought mid-lake day passes, but only one-way tickets are available for cyclists, as I was told by the busy agent this morning. A reasonably short wait, we boarded, and were soon back showering at our B&B.

Approaching Varenna. The light wasn’t very good yesterday and not much better today.

Varenna. This is the highway as it passes through town. Happily, there’s an autoroute a bit inland, in a tunnel as it passes behind Varenna.

Heart

Comment

Link

Today's ride: 37 km (23 miles)
Total: 1,481 km (920 miles)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	6
Comment on this entry	Comment	0