Cross One Off The Bucket List: Riding the Stelvio Pass in Italy

In realm of people who are passionate about pursuits that involve wheels; cars, motorcycles, bicycles – it seems that everyone knows the name Stelvio. We’ve seen it in photos around the internet, zig-zagging it’s way up and down through the Italian Alps. It has become a legend, a holy grail road.

Before having seen it with my own eyes, I too held the Stelvio Pass as the pinnacle of my road riding desires. I made a deal with myself that I would ride it one day. Sunday September 5, 2010 was that day.

Pimmie and I looking north towards the Stelvio pass

60 Tornante
Stelvio holds in it’s grip 60 hairpin turns. Yes… 60. From the Bormio side heading north as you begin your ascent, you turn, turn, turn your way up thinking – “wow, this is amazing! I can’t believe all of these hairpin turns!”

That is of course until we crested the summit and began our descent. There are 48 hairpins on the way down, each marked with numbered stones. Winding down those terraced turns broke us in right for the rest of the trip.

You learn quickly that even though it may feel alien to you, at times you have to use the both lanes. There is no staying only on “your side”. It was a trial by fire and I felt like I was prepared for anything the trip would throw at us after that.
The North side of the Stelvio Pass Italy

Up we go on the stelvio pass Tibet building stelvio pass Bormio Stelvio Pass Elevation Sign at Summit
Passo Dello Stelvio - party at 9,000 feet Kenny parked atop stelvio pass The Stelvio Pass

The summit of Stelvio is like a party at 9,000 feet up. There are people from all over the world laughing, taking photos and enjoying the kinship of like-minded people who also came to behold such an awesome spectacle.

Milling around up there at the summit, watching all of the bikes and people was a moment in time that I felt like I wanted to hold on to as tightly as I could. I’d waited so long to see this thing. I never want to forget what I was seeing, what the air felt like, what it took for us to get there. As with everything though, you have to let it go and move on. So onward we went, down, down, down the Stelvio pass.

Pimmie, Me & Kenny on the Stelvio Pass

Sometimes I look at my life and think... Damn! I'm lucky.

Fuzzygalore

Rachael is the whimsical writer behind the 20+ year old Girlie Motorcycle Blog. As a freelance blogger, she is on a mission to inspire laughter, self-examination, curiosity, and human connection. Girlie Motorcycle Blog can be found on several Best Motorcycle Blog lists.

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9 Responses

  1. Shybiker says:

    Sixty turns?! That’s amazing, as are your pictures. Great photography.

  2. nikos says:

    You look to be on top of the world!

    What were the road surfaces like? I’ve just been touring similar mountain roads in Greece with Mrs Nikos and, well put this way, I’m glad that we were on my GS! Apart from gravel, ruts and holes the latest discovered hazard was goat shit….

    • Fuzzygalore says:

      I would say the roads in most cases were VERY good. As a matter of fact, I remember commenting to Kenny (my beau) that I was shocked at just how good they were. I thought that long hard winters with lots of snow would destroy them or cause frost heave. I was very pleased.

  3. José says:

    Hi,

    Does that camera means that I’m going to show up on your website ?

    José 🙂

  4. John says:

    Awesome, awesome views in those photos. I was wondering if you had any suggestions for motorcycle haulers when you’re actually not riding…but it looks like you pretty much ride everywhere!

  1. September 16, 2010

    […] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Motorcycle Stuff and Don B, FuzzyGalore. FuzzyGalore said: Blog Post: Cross One Off The Bucket List: Riding the Stelvio Pass in Italy http://goo.gl/fb/FsgTU […]

  2. September 17, 2010

    […] Sunday, we started our day with a bang, leaving our Bormio hotel and heading straight up and over the Stelvio pass. Winding our way along it’s delicious serpentine hairpins, I wondered if my day was […]

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