The St Gottard Pass: I feel very proud

September 28, 2012

After my rather poor showing yesterday we had decided that we would get the train over (through the tunnel)the pass to Airolo then continue our bike ride down the valley towards Milan. In the middle of the night Ken woke me (he should have been sleeping) and said ‘Why don’t we give it a try, if it gets too hard for you we can just turn around and coast back down the hill to Andermatt and the train’. So that was what we did. He went to sleep and I worried !

The St Gotthard Pass is something I really wanted to do. The photos of the cobbled zig zags are inspiring and I had some sort of special romance associated with it in my mind. I had read Karen Cook’s journal a couple of times about doing it and it didn’t sound too horrendous and I knew from her description exactly what I would be in for.

The day dawned sunny and beautiful, the best we have had for at least a week. Ken said ‘It is your call ‘. so what could I do but say we would give it a go. It is around 15km from Andermatt to the top of the pass , the first couple of kms to the lovely little town of Hospital have a very easy gradient. After this there is no more habitation except for a restaurant about half way up. There was still a little snow from the previous night’s storm on the side of the road. We were VERY slow and we ended up walking most of the way. I find the high mountain scenery spectacular and the air up there has a wonderful clarity about it. It is suprising that this fragile land, that has been grazed for hundreds of years shows little sign of erosion. The traffic was not heavy at all. We were passed at one stage by about half a dozen Fiat Topalinos on a rally – very exciting for Ken. The bus came past us laden with bikes. Many people get themselves and their bikes transported by bus to the top. It gave us a toot and although I was walking at the time I felt very good about our effort. Just as we came to the part where cyclists go onto the old paved road we were passed by 4 cyclists who left us in there dust. They were unladden and looked to be in their twenties so we didn’t feel too bad as we pushed on up. Then the wonderful sight of the summit with lots of cars, tour buses etc. It was a bit of a downhill to the buildings so we got on the bikes again and down we went. I did feel a bit of a fraud however when a group applauded and gave us the thumbs up. I felt I should tell them we had walked pushing the bikes most of the way and it had taken us about 2h 15m – but I didn’t , I just enjoyed the applause. The warmth of the building enveloped us and the coffee and the nut filled croissant really hit the spot. Why do they sell stuffed St Bernard Dogs on the St Gotthard Pass, surely there should be stuffed St Gottards

On went a couple more layers, it is cold up there at 2108 m and we set off on the most exciting ride you could ever wish for. The old road down is cobbled for 12km and has so many hair pins you quickly lose count. It is not a fast ride as any pace with the cobbles and the sheer drops feels extremely hazardous, the brakes got a good work out. Most of the traffic of course takes the new road down. These cobbles must be the route that you do if you have a fancy old sports car or a fancy new one. A couple of Austin Healeys with their tops down passed us as did a Triumph Spitfire. Everyone seemed to be having a wonderful time, Ken said that next time he does it it will be in a Morgan. Down lower we stopped to eat our usual lunch, we used to look for shade now we look for sun. By the time we got to Airolo we were freezing so decided to hop into a hotel to warm up, we have still got over a week till we fly out of Milan so time is not a problem.

What a great day and there is no way I could have got myself over that pass without Ken’s kind and concerned encouragement.