Selvino

The first time I rode the Selvino… I actually did it downhill. Yeah, genius move — but back then we didn’t exactly have the “cyclist’s awareness” we pretend to have today. I remember it like it was yesterday: Tuesday, May 30th, 1995!

I know because I checked on YouTube — it was the day of the Giro d’Italia uphill time trial, with Berzin, Fondriest, Toni Rominger, Tonkov, Chiappucci… the whole 90s heroic cast.
That morning we skipped school and headed to Selvino to watch the race. I lived in Val Brembana, so coming up from that side was the easiest. When we reached the top, the crowd was so huge that we hid our bikes in a bush and started walking downhill, looking for a decent spot that would let us see the riders coming up one by one.

The road was so packed that we had to walk down quite a bit. So yes — my “first time” on the Selvino was: on foot, downhill, and then back up. A masterpiece of cycling initiation.
But the show… the colors, the noise, the madness — it was so incredible that I decided:

“As soon as I get a real chance, I HAVE to ride this thing properly — the way Selvino is meant to be done, as the Cycling Code dictates: start in Nembro, go full gas, and die heroically somewhere near the top.”

It’s 10.5 km at 5%. Doesn’t sound too bad — and that’s exactly the trap. The slope never really bites, so you think you can push harder than you actually can… and you usually blow up.
 On the rare days you don’t explode, you feel like a superstar because compared to the steeper climbs, Selvino actually lets you build some speed.

Rominger won that time trial at 39 km/h.

My personal record on Selvino? 19 km/h.

Thirty years weren’t enough to even sniff his time.