Here is the 2nd half of the trip. On Tuesday we drove up to Morgex, about 2 hours away, where the real mountains are. It was very quiet up there- definitely in shoulder season. There are tons of little villages around with lots of condo and apartment complexes in them. I believe they are busier in the winter for skiing than in the summer. Tons of great riding and climbs around here as well and not much traffic.
Not a lick of wifi in Morgex. Not in Courmayer, not anywhere near the house, and not in the restaurants, so here are the rest of the pictures.
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The Sea Sucker rack performed flawlessly! Took it in my suitcase and used it after the bikes were built (did same thing in Canada for the Ironman). |
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To the store for supplies. Enervit was big here for a few years, and still big in Italy. |
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Romano's mountain house. Tall, wide and lots of character. |
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This dog was hanging out watching the world go by and is 14 years old. Soda would have liked to join her. |
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This is the beginning of day 2's ride. Missed day one. We are waiting for train to go by and then start the climb to Colle San Carlo. |
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1000 meters of climb in 10k... = a lot of ouch. |
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Lots of water flowing down the mountains. |
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At the top with my favorite Italian snack. |
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Mark ready for the next hill. |
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I think it is hard to see, but 1000 meter climb and straight up, no relent. |
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Here's the top. They have a time trial every year. I am not sure how much faster the pros climb than we did, but probably a bit faster than we did. |
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On the way down to La Thuile (la tweel). Very fast, lots of switchbacks, and great views. |
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Mark showing his mad descending skills. |
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And gone... |
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Here I am winging it. |
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Somewhere along the route. |
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Looking down on La Thuile. |
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Mark is a speck in the road above the tree. |
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At lunch I read an article about wolves. In Italian... |
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Very cool sign showing skiing in all directions. |
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La Thuile Centro- very into their sports. |
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The village. |
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Looking down valley towards Pre Saint Didier (I think). |
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After the climb it was all down hill back- through Pre Saint Didier and then into Morgex. |
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Mark finally putting on knee warmers. |
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At the store I found these... Tyler, something we should know? |
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Dinner in town- lots of cheese and wine and more cheese. |
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Nightly dessert. Soooo good. |
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Following day... back up the same climb Colle S. Carlo. Some cows along the way, each had cow bells ringing. |
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Mark trailing a bit today. He accused me of doping as I took 3 advil. I told him I would never test positive because the massive amounts of coffee would mask it. |
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More cows. Moo. |
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Mark pushing on the pedals. Signs along the way show the percentage- at one point it hits 12.7%. |
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Looking back down. |
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Finally getting to the top. |
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There might have been some paperboy action. |
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I felt good today! |
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Big vistas... |
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Almost up! |
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Smiles for snacks! |
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Waiting at the top! Dark chocolate sugar wafer cookies and a macchiatto. |
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Down in La Thuile again, no lunch this time. |
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Beautiful village. |
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Looking back towards Italy. |
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Big gathering, very quiet. |
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Was a funeral. We think it was a local guide who was working on the tram and fell off. Very sad. |
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Climbing up Piccolo St. Bernard towards France. Found a couple of snow cats. |
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Mark getting it done. |
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So beautiful here. |
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Not a bad day... |
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Yay shortcuts! |
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And why we were short cutting. |
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Almost up- some crazy ruins. This is a legit tour climb- lots of paint on the road with the big names. |
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And finally to the top and France. |
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A happy Mark. |
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More ruins on the way back. |
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Back to the village so Mark can do some work. Very diligent he is. |
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Yay conference call. I'll take a nap. |
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More cows. |
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Lots of lakes around here. |
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We should soak our legs! |
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And waterfalls. This one was way up there... |
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Looking down into Valle d' Aoste |
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Mark looking very euro at dinner. |
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Yay wine! Dinner at a great restaurant in Courmayeur. |
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Found this little fox on the way home! |
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And more dessert. |
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Last day of riding. Found some grapes. |
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Mmmmm... |
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Heading back up to Courmayeur. |
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Crazy long water fall thing. |
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Took a right at the tunnel to Mont Blanc and heading off towards the end of the valley. |
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Yay bikes. |
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And now pretty much at the end. The road keeps going but we have to get our bikes boxed up and eat lunch, so this is turnaround time. |
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Mark at the top. |
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Still snow up here! |
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Coming back down the hill- tremendous views. |
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Lunch in Courmayeur and this woman showing what Euro really looks like. |
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Back down in town... the BMW is a big car in Europe! |
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After a very early wake up on Saturday we drove through the tunnel, into France, and through Switzerland and Austria to get back to Munich. Driving in Germany was the best- pretty much no speed limit unless in a construction zone or a freeway interchange, so everyone goes 90-100 with the occasional big Merc passing at 120. And everyone is incredibly civilized- on the right unless to pass. A novel idea not heard of in the states, especially South Carolina. This little Isetta was sitting outside the hotel smiling away. |
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One night in Munich at the Hotel Kempinski. Lots of BMWs out front and Mercedes vans too. |
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We took a cab to Freising for dinner. |
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Crazy cool coffee maker. And only 900 euros- we almost bought a few of them. |
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In the center, a cool fountain. |
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They just had some kind of festival and this giant tractor was leaving town. |
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In the hotel... I feel like Jack Torrance walking down the halls of the Overlook. |
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Good beer at the hotel bar. |
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And on the plane I found Terry and Sandy returning from their Italian vacation! |
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Lufthansa's Airbus 400 is a huge plane, comfortable seats, and a great entertainment system to keep you busy. But the best part is the stairway down to a bunch of bathrooms. Lots of room to move around! |
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In the basement- big bathrooms and room to stretch. |
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Oktoberfest is a big deal- we saw tons of people in Lederhosen cruising around. And they gave us this cardboard tasting cookie on the plane. |
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And waiting for me at home! A very smiley Soda! |
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