During the first week of September 2001, my friend Bernie Högel and I cycled from Nice, France, to Bolzano, Italy. We mostly followed the Route des Grandes Alpes from Nice to Bourg St. Maurice, including Cols de la Bonnette, Vars, Izoard, Galibier, and Iseran. Then we passed over Col du Petit St. Bernard to Italy, visited friends in Biella, climbed the Mottarone, and admired the scenic shores of Lago Maggiore. The last part of our trip took us into Switzerland, where we climbed Passo del San Bernardino and Julierpass before riding through the Engadin valley, over Ofenpass, and back into Italy towards Bolzano.

My Dad (in a car) and Hans Liemke (on his bike) joined us for a couple of days in Switzerland. We had planned to climb Umbrailpass and Stelvio, but on the day we were there both were closed due to ice. We also rode through some snow storms on Iseran and Petit San Bernard, but aside from that, the weather was perfect, and we had a fantastic time.

You can look at all the photos.