St Moritz Training Camp

I've not been able to do much riding since the Tour came to town due to a nasty cold and fever, which prevented me taking part in the Granfondo Sangottardo (as well as a terrible weather forecast for the event), but recovered in time for a weeks holiday in the Engadin valley, based in a self catering apartment by the lake in St Moritz.
After a trial recovery ride, on the 2nd and 3rd days I followed the route of the Engadin Radmarathon. A stunning route from start to finish! Massive ride to do this in one day, but I'd like to give it ago next year.

Albula pass - very nice climb. Highly recommend this route today which descends through Davos after the Fluella pass, then climbs alongside the Bernina express in sections so you can see the many viaducts and tunnels carved up the narrow valley. The train disappears in a tunnel for the most scenic section over the top, so being on the road is a great reward for cycling over this pass. Be patient with the many cows crossing the road up here!

During the Engadin radmarathon, the riders would pass straight through this dimly lit 5-6km tunnel and arrive in the Livigno valley, Italy. Its a narrow tunnel, so bikes must be on the shuttle bus which runs every half hour or so. You'll need 6 euros or 7 francs.

Livigno valley seemed to be a cycling mecca. I saw Astana team, Rabobank members, Australian, USA and Italian team cars following riders. The valley is of course at high altitude, and very flat so this allows for training on flat roads with many opportunities to head uphill. Bormio is 2 passes away, as well as the Stelvio pass. Stelvio will have to wait for another visit, it was just 2 passes too far away from St Moritz. Better to take a car next time, or just ride over then down to the railway - except you'd need to check which trains allow bikes on board, they're packed with tourists on days like this.

Julierpass - yes, it does have more traffic than the others, as its the designated route for driving to St Moritz. So its best taken in a northerly direction and descending to Tiefencastel as I did. But as its early morning and quick to reach the top, it was chilly up there at 2284m. 

The Swiss side of the Splugen pass - very orderly, neat hairpins here. Down the Italian side, beyond the lake, it becomes one of the craziest roads I have ever seen. Very steep, severe switchbacks which many drivers failed to turn in one go, forcing them to reverse back then try again. Many tunnels, with zero lighting - some with added rough surface to contend with as you descend in the darkness.
Down this section, my rear wheel failed in the same way as a few weeks ago. Except this time the aluminium rim and carbon section have parted for good. As the tyre was touching the frame, I stopped riding this time and had to take off my cycle shoes and walk/run down the craziest section of this monster barefoot. Severe blisters were to follow. Once off the worst of it, I managed to stand/kick the the wheel into enough shape to get me down to Chiavana, which was still 15km downhill, I could only use the front brake here. Once in Chiavana, its all uphill to St Moritz, via the Maloja pass.

Splugen Pass

So the Cosmic carbones are not bomb-proof. They were clearly weakened several weeks ago, did they overheat again due to braking? Whatever the cause, they are dead for the moment and sent away to Mavic to see if they can breathe any life back into them.

I cycled to the top of Malojapass on my first day, at the end of my recovery ride to see if my cold had cleared up. But thats no effort from the east, as its merely the the end of the flat area holding the lakes around Silvaplana, Sils and St Moritz.
If you start from Chiavenna, at 333m altitude, its a very different story! 35 degrees down in Italy as well, so climbing up to the cool heights was enjoyable. The final 6km are incredible hairpins, quite steep, and a lot of traffic descending taking all the tourists back to their hotels at lake Como etc.

Not much to see in St Moritz, no old town whatsoever but the setting is certainly idyllic. Lots of athletes around training at the Swiss Olympic training base, many trails through the forests as well make for tough training at altitude.