The Odyssey Day 7: ⛰️St Constantin - Bolzano - Laces 🧖‍♂️ Recovery Ride

“The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are stronger at the broken places.”

Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms

Mountains are beautiful like goddesses when they are kind to us. I watch the rain fall on the peaks from here: clouds unravel gently, and the frozen wind carries the rain away toward the snow-covered summits. At least today we did not kill ourselves.

We moved slowly toward our destination. We rode with respect toward the guardian of the Dolomites: the Passo Stelvio. But today, at least, it was time to rest.

We did a recovery ride of 84 kilometers and 700 meters of climbing. Easy, with plenty of stops. Since when is eighty-four kilometers with seven hundred meters of elevation gain considered easy? I no longer know. The mountains change your sense of things.

We arrived at the hotel to recharge and do nothing. Just walk on the fresh grass and exist among the green mountains. Sauna. Tea. Plenty of water. A liter and a half of non-alcoholic beer that tasted like victory without the hangover. A pleasant afternoon in a luxury mountain hotel we probably don’t deserve but accept with gratitude and no guilt whatsoever.

Today a legend left us.

Juan Sebastián said goodbye in Bolzano for personal reasons. He never ran out of strength, not once. But sometimes you have to know when to step back, before your body or life demands it with violence. He left with honor and with glory. That is how it is done.

It is a significant loss. Morale dropped considerably this afternoon, and we felt it in the silence at the table, in the jokes that never came. I will miss his good humor through the most grueling hours. It truly saddens me.

The mountains are still out there, indifferent and majestic. The Stelvio is waiting.

Tomorrow will be another day.