ReneKMueller.com: 2013: France & Italy *

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Riding further to Cuneo and entering the valley with river Stura di Demonte up to Pietraporzio and a bit further where I camped near the river.

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Reaching Cuneo
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Only just 18km up to the pass from Pietraporzio (1250m), yet, going steeper and steeper to Colle della Maddalena / Col de Larche

at 1996m which turned out to be most beautiful and decided to spend the rest of the day up there.

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Argentera (Italy)
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Col de Larche / Colle della Maddelena (1996m)
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Colle della Maddelena / Col de Larche
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Nice descension from the pass and reaching lake Serre-Poncon, and at lake level at 800m and then the unexpected steep climbing up to La Sauze du Lac (1000m) and then nicely descend Savines le Lac and further to Embrun to the place I stayed a week earlier.

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View from La Sauze du Lac (1100m) toward Lac du Serre-Poncon (800m)
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Short leg but steep sections toward Briancon - this time I felt to go slower than before, but the riding time was the same as a week before.

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Looking down to L'Argentiere la Bessee
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Durance near Briancon
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Going up the steep roads within Briancon and flat toward Nevache (1600m) and then the last 2-3km at 8% going up to 1762m to Col de l'Echelle

, which was suprisingly beautiful to camp.

Briancon
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Briancon
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Briancon
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Briancon
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Briancon
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Col de l'Echelle (1762m)
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Col de l'Echelle
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Steep and curvy descend on a narrow street toward Bardonecchia and then further to Exilles and Susa, and trying to avoid Turino which turned out to be very difficult - best route is follow "Milano" to avoid the core of Turino, and then head to San Mauro Torinese, and just before the brigde take a left-turn into a smaller street which goes parallel to the "autostrada" which bicycles are not premitted. Around Mezzi Po I try to reach the Po itself, but end up in front of a gate and pitched my tent - later in the evening I was inivited for dinner by a romanian family living since 15 years in Turino - nice evening.

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Exilles
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Exilles
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Exilles
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Turino
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Public water access, normal temperature and refridgerated
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River Po near San Mauro Torinese
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After saying goodbye to all I continue to Santhia and after some detour Buronzo and further to Borgomanero, just a few kilometer before I find a nice place to camp.

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Romagna Sesia at Fiume (river) Sesia
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Looking down to Romagna Sesie and Po valley
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Few kilometers before Borgomanero
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Reaching Lake Orta and riding along until Omegna, quick stop, and slight descend toward Lago Maggiore and Verbania and then reaching Italy / Switzerland border, and a few kilometers more reaching Locarno preparing for the yearly film festival - there I take the train through St. Gotthard and leave at Arth Goldau, and the rest of 15km ride again to Zug.

Omegna at Lago d'Orta
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Omegna
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Verbania
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Lago Maggiore
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Border Italy / Switzerland
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Locarno, film festival location (Piazza Grande)
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Recumbent in the train
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Leventina
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Traffic jam toward St. Gotthard tunnel (south side)
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Wassen
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As I said, my earlier traveling the recent years have been predominantly flat routes, along rivers and so, and I avoided the passes due the heavy baggage I usually have with me - with good preparation and selection of the passes this tour was very enjoyable. After the couple of passes I realized what my recumbent needs: better brakes, and lower (or higher) gear to climb better steep passages.

France and north of Italy are not too hot in July, in particular at the higher passes around 2000m it's actually mild, 20-25c at day, yet cools off to 8-10c at night; in the Camargue (sea level) in France I experienced temperatures up to 38c, with sun it felt like way over 40c.

I plan to revisit this region in the future again - more passes to explore, alternative routes . . .

(End of Article)

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Content:

2013: France & Italy

July 29, 2013: Carmagnola - Cuneo - Pietraporzio 104km (7:02) 1965km

July 30, 2013: Pietraporzio - Colle della Maddalena / Col de Larche (1996m) 18km (2:18) 1983km

July 31, 2013: Col de Larche - La Sauze du Lac - Embrun 82km (4:02) 2065km

August 01, 2013: Embrun - Briancon 54km (3:47) 2119km

August 02, 2013: Briancon - Nevache - Col de l'Echelle (1762m) 30km (2:34) 2149km

August 03, 2013: Col de l'Echelle - Susa - Torino - Chivasso 150km (6:32) 2279km

August 04, 2013: Chivasso - Santhia - Borgomanero 111km (6:07) 2390km

August 05, 2013: Borgomanero - Locarno - Arth Goldau - Zug 114km (5:37) 2504km