An Unevenness in the Landscape

The story of taking the Passo di Gavia, 2.650m by bike.

A true story written by Joan Pearl Caspers about two warriors.

Feeling good

A most tortuous climb,

Sinews screaming,
Lungs totally filling through deep, rasping intakes of air,
Oxygenated blood pumped around by a powerfully beating heart, pounding
loudly, rhythmically in my ears.
Feeling bad.

Hands frozen to the handlebars,

Automatic reaction to co-ordinated motion,
Faces, stung by wind and rain, set in gritted determination.
Rivulets of sweat coursing down my back.
How long have we been climbing?
Now, no longer thought processes, only the will to reach the top.
Endorphins in our brains propelling us,
The target in our sights drawing us, calling us, willing us.
Time ceases to exist, our surroundings melt away.
We're floating towards our goal.
No longer painful, just euphoria.
Feeling worse

Then down, downhill we ride. Faster, faster, Faster!

Lashing winds stripping us to the bone.
Feelingless hands, reacting in self preservation, automatically gripping the
brakes.
The dullness returns, then the searing pain.
‘Not long now, not long’
Repeat our mantra
“We two are the Warriors!”
Say it loud! Say it. Say it…
“WE TWO ARE THE WARRIORS”
I scream it in my mind’s ear.

And as the roar of the crowd greet us we know we’ve come through.
We have conquered The Gavia…

That was the fifth day of a seven day Trans Alp Tour. After that day we
knew we would make it. We would complete the Tour.
A year or so later we were again cycling together – a short training session.
As we ascended a three kilometer, 10 percent incline, my companion, in an
even, calm tone, said “Before the Trans Alps this would have been a bit of a
challenge, wouldn’t it?!” and in the same even tone I nonchalantly replied

“Now we know it’s a mere unevenness in the landscape, my friend,

“A mere unevenness!”

JPC