Weather - unpredictable and always surprising!

Summer 2024 was a mixed bag - heatwaves and fires in southern Europe, rain floods and snow in central and Northern Europe. Good luck trying to find the perfect place to go on a cycling holiday that fitted the Goldilocks mantra, “just right”.

Even before summer arrived, weather was creating havoc at the Giro d’Italia, with stages and passes truncated to avoid the snow. BUT in May, this is not so surprising. Stelvio Pass was supposed to be the Cima Coppi but with the risk of snow avalanches, Umbrail Pass became the new Cima Coppi. THEN on the morning of Stage 16, Umbrail was removed; after 1 pm Livigno was removed and the stage finally started after 2pm in Lasa near Prato Allo Stelvio.

And much like people everywhere, the reactions were very mixed - annoyed and exasperated, resigned and those making the best of a bad day. Grand Tours Project guests and guides were amazed to find themselves mingling with the star pro riders at the start - no barriers, no security - just like a normal cycle meetup.

Grand Tours Project was faced with a very similar situation recently. September, previously a perfect time of year for cycling - not hot, not wet, not crowded, just right. But not this year. After a late summer period, the weather gods decided to throw down some winter storms. Our private Switzerland Iconic Passes Getaway tour found was trapped - so much snow that Grimsel, Susten, Furka, Nufenen and Gottahrd Tremola were closed to traffic. It was dumping snow in Andermatt!

Flexibility is key and we formulated a plan that our guest agreed to - we collected him and via the Gotthard Tunnel, drove the guest to Airolo where he was able to ride in the afternoon avoiding rain and snow flurries. The next day with passes still closed we drove up to the start of the Tremola to check conditions - yup a was a good idea to close the pass - slippery would be an understatement. Check out the photos.

Plan B, we drove down to Locarno, Ticino and had an afternoon of riding in the Val Maggia, climbing to Fusio and the lake above. The weather difference was astounding - whereas Andermatt and the passes were being subjected to a blizzard, Ticino was a balmy 20 + degrees, sunshine and perfect! Our guest was happy, we were happy (the writer also got to ride too!) and pleased that we had delivered a memorable cycle holiday in more ways than we had anticipated.

And the moral of the story? Be prepared for the vagrancies of mother nature.