You need strong will-power to keep going uphill for much longer than perhaps you are used to. What can help you? What about information?
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| 1st climb on the GF Sportful - for UK riders even this climb is unusual - much longer and higher but significantly less gradient than normal |
Good Granfondos will have boards at the start of each climb telling you what the challenge is going to be. This can help - especially the maximum gradient which is usually much less than what a UK rider might expect .
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| Again, good Granfondos will also have kilometer markers - this one shows 3km to the top |
Kilometer signs on the climb are OK but come by so slowly that its difficult to take too much comfort from them.
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| Sometimes the hairpins on climbs are numbered - if you are lucky they count down as you go up |
Numbered hairpins can be much better motivation - you can see them coming up and represent real progress. If they count down as you go up you are in luck - though don't rely on the last hairpin being the end of the climb, there could be a long straight after it (photo from the Passo Sella from the Maratona).
And if you are unlucky the hairpins are counted up and you need to know how many to expect.
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| Here's the last but one hairpin sign on the Passo Giau - so 29 corners on this climb... |
Last thing I've noticed on Italian roads are these small signs, I guess for the road engineers, that either count up or down in kilometers and then tenths of km. So you get 1.1km, then 1.2km, then 1.3, 1.4 and so on. These do click by relative quickly and can give you some added sense of progress up the hill. Just need to know your Roman numerals:
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| This is kilometer 17.9 on the Passo Giau - not 17.9 to the top but 17.9 to Cortina which is the next big town down the other side |
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| Here's one sign you'll be glad to see - not far now to the top |