The Family Loftus

Orig­i­nally posted 2010-12-31 13:02:45.

For my non-cycling friends, it often is a non-understood sport. The actual thought process behind “Why do we ride?” is a for­eign con­cept. As such, it is seen as a crazy activ­ity. In par­tic­u­lar, climb­ing up hills or mountains–such a hard effort!–is the cra­zi­est of them all.

Part of north­ern Italy is hemmed in by the Dolomite Moun­tains, a por­tion of the Alps near the Austria-Italy bor­der. Over the course of time, there arose needs for peo­ple to move back and forth in the area. In the early 1800s, the Aus­trian empire needed a way over these moun­tains, and so the Stelvio Pass was created.

In 1953, the orga­niz­ers of the Giro d’Italia bike race (Italy’s Tour de France equiv­a­lent) had the bright idea of rac­ing over the Stelvio. The Cham­pion of Cham­pi­ons, Fausto Coppi, won the stage over the Stelvio and the whole Giro that year.

The images from the Stelvio may help con­vey the allure of rid­ing and the attrac­tion of rid­ing in the moun­tains. Or, they may just help rein­force the notion of craziness. :)

You can just make out the road­way switch­ing back and forth as it climbs up the Stelvio.

The switch­backs of the Stelvio are one of its defin­ing features.

Related arti­cles

• “Ded­i­cated to Coppi” (italian​cy​clingjour​nal​.blogspot​.com)
• Cycling Mon­u­ments, Memo­ri­als, Plaques, etc., Part IX (italian​cy​clingjour​nal​.blogspot​.com)

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