Gavia & Mortirolo

This year’s first and possibly last Gran Fondo was Gavia & Mortirolo. Around 120km and 3.500 meters climb total.

Smaller event than any of the others I’ve been riding so far. Overall a great trip. For once had dry and clear weather. Was thinking might be even too hot but it wasn’t a concern in the end. Altitude compensated for that. Was also thinking it might be too hard for my novice buddy Jari driving with me but he survived great. Sure we pedaled among the last and took pictures on top of the passes instead of looking at the time too much.

Gavia was a great way to start. It’s tougher than Stelvio, and this morning a bit windy towards the top. The summit came however quick as it was the first ascent of the day and we didn’t push too hard. Jari started to flex at this point and we decided to shoot for Mortirolo the classic route via Mezzo di Valtellina.

Now that was a completely different ballgame. Mortirolo is the hardest climb I’ve ever fought. Jari started fast and even left me some seconds in the first km or so but little did he know what was about to come. I was watching my heart rate and finding the rhythm. After Jari dropped behind it didn’t make much sense to look back. Just had to keep on pedaling and focus on my own riding. There’s nothing you can think about but the next few meters. Where the front wheel is heading into, where’s the next shade. At some point it felt like going into survival model. Mortirolo climb profile at Climbfinder or other sites are not correct. The climb felt like constant 11-12% punishment. Just like at the beginning of Gavia the heart rate went up over 160. After funding the rhythm and getting into sort of flow I was able to keep the rate at both sides of 150. The old diesel kept on pulling up and on the top it felt like I could have continued for some time. Total climb took 1.33. I waited for Jari like 15 minutes.

The rest of the race was nothing spectacular. Actually the bike paths down the valley were not in very good shape at times.

Fixing a Garmin Fenix 7 button

Day’s DIY job was to fix a broken Garmin Fenix 7s button. A month ago or so the start/stop button of my Fenix 7s started to go bad. It didn’t click anymore, felt soft, and finally just stopped working altogether.

After some research online found out it was obviously a fairly common design flaw tons of people report about: a broken microswitch. Based on reports this happens quite often already during warranty and Garmin may be of help but in my case I was having a second hand watch and out of luck.

Enter fixing! I found three options worth to consider. One quite reasonable idea would be to order a new frame with five new buttons from Aliexpress. Price about 100 euros shipped. I felt it was bit too pricey and there is quality risk. Another option would be to open the watch, take the broken switch out and replace with a new one you can order from the UK. Price the same 100 euros! Ok that doesn’t make sense.

The option I chose was to get to the bottom of this problem and order a 10 pack of compatible EVPAF7B70 microswitches from Aliexpress for less than 5 euros shipped, solder the broken microswitch out and solder a new one in. It wasn’t that difficult in the end.


Here’s the watch opened and switch removed (it was inside the red circle). You need a small torx screwdriver, think it was T5, to open the frame. I didn’t disconnect any cables. I used a pick tool to scratch out silicon on top of the switch and pull it out.


Here’s the broken microswitch with its plate on top. Yes, it is totally worn out. A pack of new compatible ones in plastic sealing below.


The broken microswitch soldered out. Used solder removal wire to clean the plate a bit.


A new microswitch soldered in from every corner which has contact points. This was probably the hardest part of the whole job. The items are so small. Luckily it worked out with the first shot. I have a feeling not every contact is relevant.

Four Years of War in Ukraine and Counting

It’s been four long years of war in Ukraine. Who ever thought it would get this far? The last time I posted my thoughts on the war was at the end of 2023. Very little has changed.

Russia has kept on grinding on the ground. North Korea and other countries have sent troops to support Russia. Iran has sent drones. Also Ukraine has been supplied by new category of weapons, one by one. Tanks have been taken over by drones, and their power and number just keeps on increasing. Videos from the battlefield speak of almost Terminator-style apocalypse. Ukraine started to hit Russian targets inside Russia with drones and long range missiles. The line of combat has moved towards west but in the grand scheme of things it has been slow and costly. Ukraine is still holding the main lines of defense in Donetsk and right now even gaining some ground again.

Over the past year or so there has been expectations of some kind of peace deal to no avail. When Trump came in 24 hours passed and there was no deal. It seems obvious Putin has no interest to settle the war. After all he started it all with the aim of taking all over Ukraine and he is still there reigning. — Just the other night I watched Metallica’s Moscow concert from 1991. That is the same Russian society out there in the audience. You get a very different picture. Peace is an option once the regime changes.

Zelensky and the Ukrainian heroics are also still there. Zelensky has been touring the world like before and getting back from any momentary setback like what he had one year ago in the Oval Office. While US support has come into question, Europe is still in the middle of getting its act together. Frozen Russian assets remain locked. Hungary keeps on messing around. Not all weapons are available. Security guarantees are at the level of loose talk. Meanwhile Ukraine has built the strongest and most experienced army in Europe. And their own weapons systems. It looks like Ukraine can join the EU one day and will be as close to NATO as any non-member can be.

Overall, we have become so used to the war. The news don’t anymore make the headlines here. And the same seems to apply to those at war. Most notably Putin does not really care. Russia has lost 1M+ troops total out of which reportedly 300k+ as dead but who cares? When Putin started the war he postponed the day to cross the line over the Olympics 2022 just to finish the gold medal match in hockey. Now after the full four year Olympic cycle he didn’t get his team in the games in the first place. What more can he lose?

There is no end in sight to this war as we speak.

Stelvio Santini

This year’s first Grand Fondo didn’t begin like I had hoped for. The rain hit just 15 minutes before the start and gave a good beating as we hit the road. Made me think does this actually make sense. I’m going for the Gran Fondos mainly to see the scenery, passes, and be part of the cycling community. But why suffer? Waiting for another day or just an hour or two to start later would have avoided the nasty rain. Then again riding in a group is a completely different experience than going solo.

Okay 15 minutes in and the rain stopped. Back to pedaling, focus on the road. First 50km or so in the valley was pretty easy. Just two short uphills. Some more shower from the sky. Then the most important choice of the day: Guspessa or not? Looking up the hill I see Mortirolo completely under heavy clouds and possibly raining somewhere up there. Easy choice. Mediafondo meaning 105km+ and 3000m+ climb today for me. Focus on Stelvio, what I came for. Besides Guspessa is not the Mortirolo road I wanted to take, and I was anyways short on time to get back to the airport by night.

From the bottom of the valley back to Bormio was like 700m vertical up but it didn’t feel that tough. I was at Bormio feeding station in quite exactly 3.5 hours from the start. Right on time what I was planning. Then hit the epic climb. Sky started to clear up and sun warmed me up. Stelvio is long, yes, but somehow it didn’t feel as hard as I had thought. There were just two short sections more than 10% steep. Also the altitude didn’t hit that bad. Close to the top we got even some help from tailwind. Strava section tells the climb went in under 2 hrs.


Stelvio’s iconic turns.

Overall a great experience. Google Maps directed the drive back for some reason over Gavia pass. Now that looked beautiful in sunshine. Now planning GF Gavia & Mortirolo for 2026…

Trump comeback

Little did I know some four years ago that this day would come. We have Trump re-elected as the US President. Quite a historic comeback.

Some thoughts:

1. Character didn’t matter in the end. History was all forgotten and past political sins forgiven. This election was all about the usual political back-and-forth wave, dissatisfaction to the democratic Biden government.

2. Trump is still a very good, energetic talker at 78. He kept his form. He aced most of his interviews and there were many. He didn’t chicken out or over prepare. He was his authentic self whom everyone knew beforehand. And it did make a contrast to Harris.

3. Trump made a solid VP pick with Vance while the democrats made a poor pick with Walz. Vance was really sharp in every interview I saw him. He represents the next generation. That guy has potential if he just keeps his rhythm.

4. Polls predicted on average like 2-3% points wrong in favor of democrats. The latest had Trump and Harris neck to neck. Harris would win popular vote for sure. Nothing like that happened. The betting markets by contrast knew it all along.

5. While GOP got also the senate and house will go down the wire I don’t expect any major tectonic shifts in US politics. It will be interesting and unpredictable for sure, especially at the start. But Trump 2024 is no Trump 2016. He is today an experienced politician. At 78. He also doesn’t have a team. Very few key people from the previous term will carry over. He needs to recruit all new people who will have a say and influence how to move forward.