Down from the cold to the warmth of Italy

Met a friend along the way

What a cool day! Started with some downhill, then some uphill, then some horrific headwind past some stunning lakes on the plateau by Saint Moritz, then more downhill, then less headwind into Colico Piano by a lake to take (purely by chance) the last available room in the town. Would have been nicer to finish up a bit earlier but that is the reality of cycling, some days the wind is behind you and some days it is in front of you.

So starting out from Davos was not going to be the same fracas as yesterday with wrong clothing choices. I looked at the weather and the decision was made easy for me...it was -3 degrees. One solution is to have another coffee at the all you can eat breakfast and wait for the sun to do its magic, which it did. I left in a balmy 8 degrees.

It was pretty much a downhill through some amazingly manicured Swiss villages to the start of the Albula. All the villages were quite small but just all so well looked after, I guess the Swiss are very house proud?

Schmitten, one of the many small Swiss villages I passed through today

Also all around me were these incredible rugged peaks with a splattering of snow on them. It was just so beautiful everywhere you looked!

One of the surrounding rugged peaks

The climb for the Albula starts pretty much as you pass the resort with golf coarse and outdoor heated swimming pool. It looked enticing to be honest, but I carried on. It was a bit steeper than I expected with most gradients around 8-10% for the climb, although on the way up there are some flattish sections where you can get you breath back. And there is a short but fun switchback section.

Once again it was a climb with some false summits but this time I was prepared and well versed - it ain't the top until you can see the summit sign! Above the tree line, just before the top, it goes from nice views to amazing open and rugged countryside. It makes the last of the climb go by quite quickly and the false summits not warrant concern.

The climb itself is really nice with some amazing views, the the downhill is just amazing! The only problem is after climbing for around 25kms it would be nicer to have a descent longer than only 9kms. It was still a fantastic downhill though.

At the bottom of the descent is a plateau area of around 30kms where you go past lake after lake. This is where Saint Moritz (famous for skiing and summering) and many other holiday villages are. It was a lovely area but the 25-30kmph headwind made it tough - it was more a head down, think yourself small, and keep pushing. There were even short descents of 4% that if I stopped pedaling the bike would stop. Like I said though, lovely area and there were a lot of yachts, kite boarders and windsurfers making use of the lake. I have no pictures though as I was more worried about continuing to push through it (I did get some video though as easier to get when on the move).

The wind was a bit of a shame as I was looking forward to riding on the flat, something I haven't had the pleasure of for some time. It all worked out for the best though.

As the plateau dropped off the wind was less of an issue thankfully, and the road wound itself down to Italy. This time I was ready with my camera to take a picture of the sign that said I was changing countries, but alas there was once again no sign. I think I was a bit dodgey though as I was unsure if the guard wanted me to stop as he was dealing with a truck. They did seem a little blazay with the whole passport check last time anyway.

Oncee in Italy you feel thee difference immediately - run down houses, less infrastructure, less maintained in general. But the mountains also changed, from the rugged peaks to these enormous lush green mountains that just close you in.

From there it was an easy-ish pedal to Colico as the headwind had died down to a minimal 10kmph. Once in Colico I went straight for the first affordable looking accommodation place and the lady told me I was very lucky as there was a big regatta on and only moments earlier a cancellation had been made otherwise she would have been fully booked. So happy I got it!

Anyway, tomorrow I will have a look at the Madonna del Ghisallo giving my respects to the cyclist shrine, and then start to head west along the flat lands. I was originally going to head back in to Switzerland and do some more climbing but with have chosen to skip the rest of Switzerland now. I only have a set amount of time left and think that the deviation to get back in there will take time out of the French Alps and Pyrenees which I am more interested in. Also, Switzerland is well out of my budget for both food and accommodation. I was expecting a little more but not as much as I saw. I initially thought it was just because I was in a popular ski village but did some research last night and today with prices and it is just 3 times the price for most things.

Anyway, that is the plan...for now.

Highlight: Going through all those little Swiss villages was really quite cool!
Lowlight: The headwind from hell around Saint Moritz.
Lesson Learned: If you wash your zip off shorts, also wash your zip of legs otherwise you have trousers that are different colours above and below the knees.