From the Madonna dei Ciclista to the Madonna di Ghisello

From Lago di Iseo we circled the lake clockwise up the west shore and then climbed up the Colle Gallo to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of cyclists: the Madonna dei Ciclisti church and shrine. Each year in late July and early August as part of a week long event a torchlight ride meets at the shrine and a special trophy is awarded to "commemorate the commitment and dedication and encouragement to those who do not give up even in the face of the greatest difficulties of life", basically this describes the practice of giving the "lanterns rouge" to the last person in a big bike race like the Tour de France or Giro. A pretty cool practice. In any case, the church has beautiful stained glass windows depicting bicycles and some interesting bicycle themed sculptures.  Frome the shrine we enjoyed a fast run down into the snarl of traffic that is Bergamo.  The clouds were looking mighty grey and ominous as we entered the outskirts of town.

We didn't actually have to ride up this road, but Darryl suggested riding it just to see if we could and what it would be like - Susan quickly vetoed this idea.

The Madonna herself giving wings to a suffering cyclist.  Perhaps she too is a fanatical cyclists as she has the super slim physique of a grand tour rider?

Arriving in Bergamo with wet streets.  Fortunately for us we were able to duck inside and sit out the downpour. Thus we arrived to Bergamo Alta (the old part of town) relatively dry and happy.

Awesome food in Bergamo. The Pasticceria's were full of yummy looking treats. We also saw amazing focaccia and pizza too.

From Bergamo we battled busy streets to get to Lago di Como.  We ended up camping south of Lecco at the tip of the eastern leg of the inverted "Y" shaped lake. From here we took a rare (for us on this trip at least) day ride. We rode up to Bellagio, and then up the famous Colle del Ghisallo climb to the Madonna di Ghisallo church, shrine, and cycling museum.

Fellow touring cyclists Rolland and Muriel from Nelson, B.C. We enjoyed visiting with them and hearing about their extensive adventures by foot and bicycle to many different continents.  

Before the top of the climb the motorcyclists also have a monument, perhaps inspired by the nearby home to Italy's Moto-Guzzi factory and museum (unfortunately for us it was closed on weekends).

The Madonna del Ghisallo is the patroness of cycling, confirmed as such in 1949 by Pope Pius XII atop the colle with the same name above Bellagio, Italy overlooking Lago di Como. There is a lovely little church there, various sculptures and monuments to Italy's cycling greats (Bartoli, Coppi, Binda) as well as a museum devoted to cycling and bicycling racing.

The alter of the church is decorated with cycling memorabilia, some permanent, some rotated through from the archives of the museum next door.  Note the bicycles flanking the alter, these appeared to serve as memorials to certain Italian cyclists who have passed on, or maybe they are just a collection of the priests road bikes with which he commutes with?

The church highlights racing bikes used in major grand tours by Bartoli, Merckz, Strada, Coppi, amongst others).

The cycling museum itself was very interesting, although it was all in Italian. Many notable historical bicycles, racing Jerseys, and other memorabilia was on display Ina light and modern facility.

The ride down was fast!  Some fun switchbacks, but a lot of brakes too as there was a fair bit up uphill traffic and the road is narrow!