Italian tradition - post up your mountain passes

[stefano]

Jake, you da man!

Ain't no way I'm going to be able to compete with you this year... I keep having to cram in quick rides on Sunday morning and keep hitting the same pass, because the others are too far away!

I've probably hit that one a good 20 times, if that counts...

[W-P Bill]

Well, fellow "passers", you may have noticed my partcipation came to a quiet halt. Went to the ER on 7/21 with a bad stomach ache, and ended up spending three weeks in hospital. Two surgeries completed, one more to undergo in mid Sept. No bike riding for quite a while, plus by the time I'm able to ride the passes around here might be closed due to snow. Bummer.

In the meantime, I'll have to ride passes vicariously through you folks.


For Stefano: my post graduation Europe trip plans are going to have to change. I'm going to have to take one or two quarters Leave of Absence from school to heal up enough to be able to handle the pressure and stress. I was scheduled to graduate in Aug 2008, but now it depends on when required "core" classes are offered again. Only three more of those to go, the rest are all elective. Right now, I have no idea when I'll be done with the program.

[Jake '53]

Originally Posted by W-P Bill

Well, fellow "passers", you may have noticed my partcipation came to a quiet halt. Went to the ER on 7/21 with a bad stomach ache, and ended up spending three weeks in hospital. Two surgeries completed, one more to undergo in mid Sept. No bike riding for quite a while, plus by the time I'm able to ride the passes around here might be closed due to snow. Bummer.

In the meantime, I'll have to ride passes vicariously through you folks.


For Stefano: my post graduation Europe trip plans are going to have to change. I'm going to have to take one or two quarters Leave of Absence from school to heal up enough to be able to handle the pressure and stress. I was scheduled to graduate in Aug 2008, but now it depends on when required "core" classes are offered again. Only three more of those to go, the rest are all elective. Right now, I have no idea when I'll be done with the program.

Man, not the way to spend the best part of the summer. Wishing you a quicker than predicted recovery. Need more pictures of those beautiful Cascade passes. - Brian -

[stefano]

Well, as I promised Bill, I'm reviving this thread

Hit 2 passes this last weekend. They are quite low (one around 4000 feet and the other around 5250). We intended to hit some good, high passes, but they will be closed until June So we had to make do with what we have available.

First one: Passo Campo Carlo Magno, in the Trentino Alto Adige region for those of you familiar with it:



I chose the shot with my friend in it as 1. by pure luck I caught a group of Lotus Elise's hitting the pass in the opposite direction and 2. my friend is retarded at taking pictures and the one he took of me was horrible

Second one: Passo della Mendola, also in Trentino Alto Adige:



We realised we were behind schedule and didn't even take our helmets off - we jumped off the bikes, snapped 2 shots, and hauled a.ss outta there

That brings my tally to a total of 7 passes, 6 of which have been documented here We actually hit a 3rd pass, but I already posted that one last year so obviously it doesn't count

Scenic highlight of the trip was this dam:



I'd never seen one so deep before, I've seen a few that are quite long (wide), but none as deep as this one - we could not even see to the bottom of the canyon and the visible part was at least a 180 foot drop!!!

[Nate]

What are these mountain passes you speak of?

Signs like that aren't found in Kansas. I'd have to ride nearly half a day west just to see mountains on the horizon let alone ride through a pass.

Good ridin' to ya!

[A2rider]

Originally Posted by Nate

What are these mountain passes you speak of?

Signs like that aren't found in Kansas. I'd have to ride nearly half a day west just to see mountains on the horizon let alone ride through a pass.

Good ridin' to ya!

Here you go, Nate.

Kansas
Mount Sunflower - 4,039 feet

Mount Sunflower, although not a true mountain, is the highest point in the state of Kansas. At 4,039 feet (1,231 m), it is 3,300 feet (1,010 m) feet above the state's topographic low point in Montgomery County in southeastern Kansas due to the gradual rise of the Rocky Mountains to the west. Located in Wallace County, it is less than one mile from the border with Colorado and close to Colorado's lowest point.

[stefano]

Originally Posted by Nate

What are these mountain passes you speak of?

Gotta love Wikipedia

Mountain pass - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[A2rider]

Thanks for resurrecting this thread. The views are just breathtaking.

[Jake '53]

Originally Posted by stefano

Well, as I promised Bill, I'm reviving this thread

Hit 2 passes this last weekend. They are quite low (one around 4000 feet and the other around 5250). We intended to hit some good, high passes, but they will be closed until June So we had to make do with what we have available.

First one: Passo Campo Carlo Magno, in the Trentino Alto Adige region for those of you familiar with it:


I chose the shot with my friend in it as 1. by pure luck I caught a group of Lotus Elise's hitting the pass in the opposite direction and 2. my friend is retarded at taking pictures and the one he took of me was horrible

Second one: Passo della Mendola, also in Trentino Alto Adige:

[We realised we were behind schedule and didn't even take our helmets off - we jumped off the bikes, snapped 2 shots, and hauled a.ss outta there

That brings my tally to a total of 7 passes, 6 of which have been documented here We actually hit a 3rd pass, but I already posted that one last year so obviously it doesn't count

Scenic highlight of the trip was this dam:



I'd never seen one so deep before, I've seen a few that are quite long (wide), but none as deep as this one - we could not even see to the bottom of the canyon and the visible part was at least a 180 foot drop!!!

Nice kickoff to the season. Love that dam, very delicate looking.

[Nate]

Originally Posted by stefano

Gotta love Wikipedia

Mountain pass - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sorry, Stefano. I guess my light sarcasm was a bit too subtle.

Tina, I doubt there is a pass anywhere near that hill.

[A2rider]

Originally Posted by Nate

Sorry, Stefano. I guess my light sarcasm was a bit too subtle.

Tina, I doubt there is a pass anywhere near that hill.

Nope, flatter than a pancake.

[Cruz]

Cool pic's....

I can't really play since I got no pic's.
I did pass a sign that read 900 and something feet....
Thats right I said nine hundred......so sad....

[Jake '53]

Originally Posted by Nate

....
Tina, I doubt there is a pass anywhere near that hill.

That is the pass, it's just really, really wide.

[A2rider]

Originally Posted by Jake '53

That is the pass, it's just really, really wide.

You're right. It extends from Texas all the way to Nebraska!

[cjp91068]

I plan on driving up Mount Washington this summer. Does that count? LOL.

[Connman]

I like riding Independence pass heading into Aspen, CO.
It's at about 10,000 ft elev., great views.
no pics, but you can google it.

[W-P Bill]

Originally Posted by stefano

Well, as I promised Bill, I'm reviving this thread

Good on ya! Love seeing your photos.

[stefano]

Originally Posted by Nate

Sorry, Stefano. I guess my light sarcasm was a bit too subtle.

My bad

Glad y'all enjoyed the shots, to tell you the truth I was a little bit "disappointed" at the scenic aspect of the trip, in the sense that we passed by some awesome scenery but as we had planned a challenging journey, we didn't want to fall behind schedule and get back home at night-time, so we didn't have much time to stop, take shots and enjoy the view - just haul a.ss

Now your turn

[stefano]

Bill, this is for you my friend.

I haven't gotten back to this thread in a while, a) because I wasn't hitting any passes, and b) when I started to, I realised that the server of the client where I'm currently working doesn't allow to upload photos to websites like photobucket and imageshack

Well, this week I'm staying at a hotel that has free internet access, so I uploaded a few shots - actually, all of the shots of the passes themselves, I still have to upload some nice scenic shots which I will do in the next few days. So here goes:

First one: Passo del Vivione, 5841 feet



The ride up and down this pass is very beautiful, first in the middle of the woods, then out in the open with no-one in sight - it's just you, the bike, these gigantic mountains, and a 6 foot wide stretch of road. The scenery at the pass itself isn't too bad either!





The sign reads: "WARNING DANGER HAIRPINS AND CONTINUOUS CORNERS FOR 5,6 MILES"



Second pass: Passo Crocedomini, 5685 feet. It was a nightmare to get to this pass, I didn't know that the side I came up from has about a 7/8 mile stretch of dirt road, and, to my great luck, I had to get past a herd of cattle as well. I was inbetween the cattle on a 6 foot stretch of dirt road for about 20 minutes. Towards the end I thought I was in the twilight zone When I manage I'll get some pictures up of how s.hitcaked my bike was at the end. For now here's the shot of the pass:



Continues...

[stefano]

Third pass: Passo del Foscagno, 6873 feet. Not particularly scenic, but it's a pass, and a pretty tall one at that for European standards:



Fourth pass: Passo del Gavia, 7956 feet. This pass is a 20 minute ride (at my pace, anyway