How to Climb:
The Four Phases
Denial, Hostility, Bargaining, Acceptance
Denial
This is hard. It's a long way to go. It can't be done with these legs, lungs or with this body. I am not a machine.
Hostility
This is stupid.  Why am I doing this? Why am I carrying two heavy bottles full of water? I must be crazy.
Bargaining
I'm just going up part way. I won’t look at the kilometre markers. I'll ignore the elevation. I will look only at the pavement in front of my wheel. I will avert my gaze from the switchbacks above and below until I am over halfway up. How will I know that if I don't peak? OK, only the occasional glace, just so I know where I am.
Acceptance
That wasn’t so bad. I've made it up this far. Wow! Look at me up here in the cold thin air. I did it on my own power. Pretty good! If I can make it this far then there is no telling what I can do. The summit is close. I can do this and way more.
I've heard that under rare circumstances, sometimes experienced riders can skip one or more of these phases.
This time it was subtly different.
I knew what to expect, I skipped the denial part and went straight to the bargaining. I drove a hard bargain and worked out a deal where I would look around and enjoy the process of gaining elevation on my own power and observe the view of the valley below as it receeded ever so slowly into the haze.
I accepted the slowness of the transition and embraced the limits of my horsepower.
This was fantastic.
I eliminated the usual climbing struggle with my internal demons and enjoyed the process from the first switch-back.
Basics like pacing, gearing, hydrating and riding position are second nature to me now.
Pacing
I kept my heartrate below 82% of my maximum in order to save any potential burst of power for the summit.
Gearing
The gearing I used is as low as I have for the steep bits and I didn't shift too high for the rare flat parts.
Hydrating
I drank lots. I usually drink a minimum of one large water bottle of E-load every 45 minutes.
Riding Position
I was relaxed and seated. My hands gently resting on the tops of the bars, my elbows gently flexed, my chest open for maximum air intake. I only got out of the saddle for the occasional stretch.

Prepare to Climb
My arrival day was a write-off, it was an overnight flight from Canada. Then there was a three and a half hour drive from Munich to Bozen.
After a good night's sleep I was ready to assemble our bikes and test the gears and my legs with a 40km shakedown ride in the valley.
The weather was spectacular, sunny and 30C in the valley and 22C on the mountain.
Two days before the Giro I headed for my test climb from Bozen to Oberbozen, 1000m in 14km.
This is a familiar climb. In 1999 Beverley and I drove it in a rental car, while we were on a camping holiday. I resolved to go back and ride this spectacular road past the Loacker Biscuit Factory and iconic Dolomite toothed Sciler Mountain .
Beverley and I rode across town to the road that twists up the mountain, below the Funivia (gondola) whisks tourists and commuters to the hilltop town in a gondola precariously suspended beneath a delicate steel cable. Just across the valley climbing to Colle, is the historic first Funivia built to service the mountain-top villages. It began whisking passengers in 1908. Didn’t Jules Vern and Arthur C. Clarke promise us teleportation by the year 2000? And here we are relying on hundred year old technology, the bike and the Funivia. Mind you 100 years ago they would have been hard-pressed to conceive of carbon fiber frames and GPS navigation but I still have to pedal this thing. Beverley and I agree to meet back at the base of the mountain in a couple of hours after my climb.
On my descent I spotted Beverley in the shade of a bus shelter enjoying a snack. I was surprised to spot her perched so high on the mountain road in the village just below the Loacker Biscuit Factory. We met a couple more times on the descent as I stopped to snap some pictures.

33rd Giro delle Dolomiti
Sweat dripped, legs pumped and I smiled. I knew what to expect.
There is no substitute for experience. On my fourth Giro delle Dolomiti I have it, and what a difference it makes. I get to skip all the unpleasant phases and jump ahead to all the fun bits.
The Giro Dolomiti, now in its 33rd year is a semi competitive race/tour. For six days some 700 cyclists from all over the world gather in the northern Italian city of Bozen/Bolzano. Each day the group heads out on the spectacular mountain roads escorted by police and support vehicles in a rolling procession. The toughest climb of the day is electronically timed using "chip technology". The accumulated times for the week are tallied towards overall and age-group prizes. The days consist of 100-160km with 1,000-3,500 meters of climbing. The routes take in many of the historic climbs of the Giro d'Italia, such as the Pordoi and Stelvio. The route varies from year to year, but is always spectacular and challenging. There are numerous feeds and brakes along the way to keep the group together. This year the most challenging day is the 160km Valle Gardena stage over 4 mountain passes for 3,500 meters of climbing with the timed section from Arraba to Passo Pordoi. The forth stage introduces the group to a new pass for the Giro. The timed section takes us up the 16 km and 1,700 meter climb to the Passo Manghen. This is our remote start day beginning in Masse de Cavalese, not to be confused with the town of Cavalese, where I spent a few hectic early morning moments trying to locate the start. The local Polizia and a sanitation engineer pointed us in the right direction.
The road is narrow, steep and long. On a hot sunny day the climb is challenging with some sections over 15% grade. We also revisited the Passo Pennes at the the north end of the Sarentino Valley. I first encountered this challenging climb during the Grand Fondo Dolomiti which followed my first Dolomiti in 2004. The last day of this year's event featured the 1,000 meter climb up the twisty spiral tunneled road to the village of San Jenesio/Genesian. This is where we enjoy the ambiance of small village life in the cool mountain air of our adopted home (a rented apartment). The descent takes us down the scariest downhill ride yet. Halfway down 700 riders screech to a crawl as we round a bend into a little village with a 20% drop in grade over the cobblestones. Sensible riding saves the day. At the bottom, in Terlano, we all gather for the return ride to Bozen and our final post-ride meal of pasta, salad, bread, cheese and a locally grown apple. --Saul

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