The Tremola is the old road over the Gotthard, and riding it is a bit like walking into a museum that is still in use. It climbs from Airolo on the Ticino side up to the pass at 2,106 metres in a staircase of tight hairpins, all of them paved with granite cobbles, laid by hand in the nineteenth century and restored in recent decades. The tarmac road runs alongside for those who prefer it, but the cobbles are the point.
Riding the cobbles takes patience. Stay relaxed, keep your weight low and let the bike find its own line; the stones are smooth from centuries of wheels and rain, and in the wet they turn slick and treacherous. Brake gently before the bends, not in them. The corners are hairpins, tight and steep, with the uphill side usually giving the better line, and the surface vibrates through the bars in a way that is hard to forget. Cyclists labour up the same road, and in summer the traffic includes coaches and slow cars, so overtaking takes thought.
Around you the landscape changes quickly. The lower slopes of Ticino carry chestnut trees and stone houses, then the road crosses into alpine meadows and finally into bare rock and low scrub near the top. The air cools, and on a clear day the views look south across the Leventina valley, the road you have climbed snaking below you like a ribbon dropped on a rug.
At the summit you will find the old hospice, a stone building that has offered shelter to travellers for hundreds of years, and a small museum about the pass. The lakes are cold and grey, and on a cloudy day the whole place has a severe beauty. Fuel is not available at the top; fill in Airolo, which lies some twelve kilometres below, or in Andermatt on the northern side. The Tremola is closed in winter, usually from late October until late spring, so check before you plan a trip around it.