Another spectacular day as we started out on our longest ride of the week combined with the most climbing. There were two climbs. The first one was about 11-12 km fairly early in the ride where the gradient typically stayed more than 8% but never more than 11-12%. Challenging but doable. We break up into three riding groups - A, B and C - and I've been consistently a B rider. Today, truth to tell, I proved that I was truly a B minus rider, finishing up the rear on the climbs. But I finished them, and that's what I came to do.
Between the first and second climb there was about 90+ kilometers of riding through the gorgeous Slovenian countryside. We stopped for coffee at a cafe in the total middle of nowhere. It was sunny and very, very pleasant. We rode through little villages and along rivers with the clearest, clean water you have ever seen. Tom took some photos of the rivers and I'll try to post them when he sends them to me. But it was truly beautiful.
At 135 km (about 80 miles, which at that point surpassed my longest ride of the year), we began the 8.5 km Vrsic Pass. This is a classic, and the climb was amazing. My good friend and neighbor Tom rode with me the entire way, as my legs were beginning to feel the accumulation of a week's worth of climbing. It is interesting (at least to me). In the early days of riding, your physical limits are defined by what your heart can do in terms of maximum heart rate. As the week goes on, the maximum heart rate you can reach drops, as what is in the legs is the limiting factor. That was certainly true for me today. From a oxygen intake and output standpoint, the climb wasn't that hard, even though it was an unrelenting 9-10% throughout with patches extending up to 15-16% near the top. But my legs just didn't have the juice to get what they needed from my circulatory system!
Vrsic Pass is famous for having 49 switchbacks, including on the way up and the way down. We saw all of them.
Here are some photos taken along the climb and the last three at the top of the pass:
Seeing these photos makes the scene appear totally idyllic. Not quite. The one downside to going up the Vrsic Pass is that you're doing it, frequently, with dozens of your favorite motorcycle buddies. I thought I was in Laconia, New Hampshire! We were pedaling up this beautiful climb and all of a sudden coming up behind us was a gaggle of disgusting motorcycles, belching smoke, making huge noise and driven by the most unsavory characters you could ever imagine. It was so, so disgusting. I can't tell you what utter contempt I have for that "sport" (although I'll bet you can probably tell).
The descent was a quick 20 km down to the hotel, although the switchbacks on the way down are paved with cobblestones, so you couldn't fly down in the same way that you typically would. It was jarring and a little dangerous.
I arrived at the hotel dead last. The C group would have taken that honor, except that they cut out virtually all of the middle part of the ride and had the van take all of them to the last climb well ahead of us. In some respects a wise choice, but in another respect they really missed out on another day of monotonously beautiful Slovenian countryside. Here is where we had a picnic lunch (that's Tom coming in on the bike). In the first photo is a church (I should have zoomed), again in the middle of nowhere.
All in all, an epic day. Tomorrow is our last. The forecast is beautiful and we do the Mangart Pass, which is one of the great rides in Europe. I think the Boston contingent will all ride together (the Ropes & Gray boys have thus far been consistently "A" group riders, in keeping, of course, with their A list status as a firm!). It will be fun to all ride together. More to come . . . .
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