The Dolomiti and especially the Passo del Stelvio

Well we’ve finally had everything….sun, sea,hills mountains, villages, towns, great views..you name it…

We’ve also had all weathers..hot, humid, warm, cold with rain, thunderstorms, hail and finally sleet and snow!

A coupla days ago we sat in our tents while outside raged THE most scary storm ever..talk about a son e lumiere show and the wind…..it was just as well we were in our tents..else they might have flown away. 

That was our introduction to the Dolomites and we’ve not really been dry since.

So today was Stelvio day..a hard day in anyone’s language but we just chose a day when the word hard just doesn’t go far enough:

  and yes that’s snow! 

these guys have chipped the snow off their saddles and are about to go on down…some of us opted not to!  I managed to get to the top but was distraught with cold when I arrived..I guess I don’t DO cold very well.

Anyhow ..got the T shirt!  Only 1 day’s ride left…sooooo sad.

Things I have learned over the past month....

General:

• Baby wipes are great degreasers..bike, chain, hands..the works.  Makes you wonder about the poor baby does it not!!!
• Some Italian camping grounds (?the cheaper ones) dont provide toilet paper..strictly BYO..a fact one only forgets once.
• Totally unexpectedly.... squat toilets abound.
• Consideration to cyclists moves closer to an "Australian level" when near a big city..although still far better than what we're used to.
• For some unfathomable reason some ski hotels dont have drying rooms

 Personal

• Extended climbs of up to about 12% are now within my grasp 
• Short bursts of steeper are doable 
• however when faced with 19% 5 hours into a ride, I tend to throw in the towel
• I still can't resist snaffling ALL the soap and shampoo freebies when staying in a hotel..even when I really dont need them...and I can't now pretend they're for the kids to play shop with!!

Trentino

Day 32- Canazei to Latsch...107km, 1212m climbing
Day 33- Latsch to Tirano ...110km, 2482m climbing

 Disappointing Dolomiti so far with cold, wet weather, white outs and generally not what we'd hoped for.

Me...I got back ache..too much climbing and had to sit out an afternoon's ride and then the next day the wet weather made the downhills too dangerous for those of us struggling with 20 km of downhill braking.

The weather tomorrow is destined to be as bad if not worse, so maybe a trip to see the ice man at Bolzano might well be the better option.  Sad but.  The EFI award (see previous post) has now been whittled down to just a handful...although protests, rule revisions and bribes are in the air(!)

Today the ride passed over the Portoi pass, the location of the Coppi memorial statue

so here i am wearing my coppi t shirt and my new highly expensive Craft bib nix..comfy as, but I might have to mortgage the house to pay for them.  we finally found a bike shop worthy of the name and I bought the place out...starvation for a year at least.....!

Veneto

Day 27- Chioggia to Venezia...25km, 0m climbing
Day 28-  Rest day
Day 29- Venezia to Tramonte di Sotto...140km, 525m climbing
Day 30- Tramonte di Sotto to Cortina d'Ampezzo...121km, 3255m climbing
Day 31- Cortina d'Ampezzo to Canazei...71km, 2134m climbing

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Venice

 

no bikes or vehicles allowed in Venice..so all goods seem to be manhandled in trolleys of a variety of sizes and shapes plenty of rules

 

cost and times of opening……nothing more guaranteed to make you totally continent

Venice..first we had to get there

The ride into Venice was to be an easy tootle of a coupla kms and 3 ferry rides.  However…a transport strike intervened and the day stretched out for at least half the group as they had to wait and wait and wait for the very irregular ferries.  10 of us were lucky and didn’t have to wait too long

  getting a relatively easy run through, but having got to the camp site were reluctant to go into the Venice itself in case we couldn’t get back.

So for the lucky ones a really great lunch was waiting..

Decisions were difficult

but in the end there was little left

NeopoliTAN arm

two fold reason for this..one to show you my wasp sting redness..the other to show off my tan!