Like a private party on everyone's roads, uniting with a sweat-bleached pencil stroke the three most iconic climbs of Valtellina: Mortirolo, Gavia, and Stelvio . They called it Mogast, combining the initials and the curves , for a sort of playful provocation among friends that became a challenge and then an event.
Gigi Negri had mentioned it in his last interview on the Valtellina summer and after receiving the magazine that describes it, we went straight to the source: Bruno Quadrio, the man who in some way invented it , putting together legs and ideas.
Mogast will take place from June 26th to 28th and this year celebrates its tenth edition . Quadrio says that from the moment registration opened, it took only 20 minutes for registration to be filled. It's true that there were only 120 participants, but it's equally true that 20 minutes is a very short time: a sign that the anticipation was still great.
"I'm not the inventor of Mogast," he says immediately, smiling. " I'm one of the inventors, in the sense that the core is in Berlin . But let's say I'm the guard on the ground, because someone was needed to get things going. Organizing something like this directly from Germany would be a little more complicated..."
Three Italians, a German and a Dutchman
The story takes shape. The idea came from a group of friends . There are two Italians, who become three if you include Bruno, a German, and a Dutchman, which almost seems like a joke.
"Mauro and Niccolò," he says, "were already living in Berlin at the time. Mauro is a dear childhood friend of mine ; he lived in Tovo Sant'Agata, at the base of the Mortirolo. The other is a Milanese who builds steel bicycles and his name is Niccolò Bonanno . His brand is called Cicli Bonanno and is quite famous in the steel cycling world. Mogast was born from a challenge, which by now," he laughs, "has become legendary."
"I'll wait for you on the Mortirolo"
And Bruno continues his story. Niccolò had left his workshop with one of the first prototypes, which was a fixed-gear bicycle. And one day, jokingly, he said to Mauro: I'll wait for you on the Mortirolo with this one . Mauro is a bicycle courier; pedaling is his profession. And so he replied, raising the stakes: and I'll wait for you on the Mortirolo, Gavia, and Stelvio.
"From that moment," explains Bruno Quadrio, " the idea began to resonate in his head , and that same year the two of them came, along with the German and the Dutchman, to give it a try. I followed them to give them advice, and in the end it went so well and we liked it so much, that we proposed it again the following year . We opened it to other friends, and it closed with our mothers, who made us pizzoccheri. The idea of making it grow even further almost came naturally, but we never expanded too much."
Twenty minutes of wild clicks
They've capped the number of participants at 120, which allows them to avoid having to close roads or call for an ambulance. It's a gathering of people who know about them by hearsay and out of curiosity to discover such a naive event. Having created an ASD for the purpose, registration requires a medical certificate for competitive fitness : easier abroad than in Italy (the topic is broad and controversial, but this isn't the place).
"Most of them," Quadrio explains, "are foreigners, with about ten percent being Italians. The stumbling block is the medical certificate , which here requires various formalities, while in Germany and abroad it's simply a piece of paper signed by the doctor. Among the foreigners, a good 70 percent come from Germany, the rest from Switzerland and the Netherlands. In recent years, we've also had a few Americans.
"They come through word of mouth, the internet, and especially lately via Instagram . We've had at least triple the requests, and since last year the volume of requests brought down our website, this year we relied on Eventbrite, which handles much higher volumes . But it only took 20 minutes to complete everything."
On Road and in gravel
It starts all together from Casa Natura at 8 in the morningThere are two itineraries: the classic road route, with Mortirolo, Gavia, Stelvio and back to the starting point. For a few years now there has also been a trail gravel, which enters the Val Grosina, tackles the Verva Pass, heads towards the Cancano dams, from where it descends on a dirt road and then climbs on a road up to the Stelvio, given that there is no alternative off-road route.
«The two tracks start from the same point – explains Quadrio – then on each step there is a checkpoint, both for the Road and for the gravelA postcard is stamped, as if it were a certificate, to certify the passage and at each of these points we take advantage of this to also give a supply of food and waterThe finish line for everyone is on the Stelvio, where you get the last stamp and then you go down, because at the finish line there is a party."
Pizzoccheri and beer for everyone
For a few years now, after the mothers' hard work, the Pizzocchero Academy of Teglio has taken over the festival . It usually begins at 8:30 pm, when everyone has completed their labors.
"Mogast takes place over three days," Quadrio continues, "on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. You arrive and register, followed by an aperitif for everyone. The event itself takes place on Saturday, closing with a pizzoccheri dinner followed by a DJ set . On Sunday, for those who haven't already left, there's brunch, where we debrief the previous day.
"Forty percent of people sleep in tents or campers, because around the Casa Natura area there is camping available with showers and bathrooms. The others make do and find bed & breakfasts or hotels."
Logistics work
He smiles as he explains that his job might seem trivial, but when all is said and done, the tasks are quite a few.
«There is not much to do along the route – he says – apart from a site inspection, especially for the gravel, because there is often still snow. With the numbers we're doing, there's no need to close the roads, but we need to request permits so the bureaucracy is in order.The house needs to be fixed, we need to think about the portable toilets, manage the pizzoccheri dinner, and find some small sponsors who can help us. It's more bureaucratic than physical, but there's a lot to do in the week leading up to it.
We close by challenging him about the possibility of making it a mega event , and Quadrio hesitates a bit, but for now he's not giving up. They've considered it, because Valtellina already hosts three mass events, but they're competitive. Mogast is challenging, but with a different spirit.
"The temptation was there," he admits, "but it's clear that everything would then become more challenging . No one gains anything from this, and since it's all based on volunteers, increasing the numbers would mean increasing the commitment for everyone. We would need to create a structure, and our fear is that the spirit would be lost . Not to mention that if there were more of us, it would be difficult to coexist with motorcycles on the Stelvio . The feedback we get from all the cyclists is that everything is beautiful, but motorcycles on the Stelvio are an impossibility."
What else can I say? Mogast is sold out this year . If the story captivated you, in addition to training uphill, do it on your computer. Next year, there will be the usual registration challenge, and since things are getting faster and faster, it will probably take less than twenty minutes to sell out...
