Cortina figure of 8
It was much cooler in the mountains now, so I stuffed my mesh jacket in to the empty pannier ready for the afternoon heat, it was so good to lose some weight off the bike and not have to strap on the roll bag now. With the route loaded on both GPS's we headed out of town and into the mountains above Corvara and very soon riding with other bikers across the passes, first the Valparola before it links up with the stunning Falzarego near Cortina. At over 2000 metres almost as high as yesterdays mountain roads in Austria, it was all I could do to concentrate, the amazing scenery would be a constant distraction while heading out to find Lake Misurina.
On the way to the lake my GPS took us along an unpaved gnarly trail across a wooden bridge and beyond it looked a bit steep, uneven with quite a few ruts. Taking in the view I had in mind to grab a photo of the mountain beyond the valley (above) leaving Rob to continue on. Over the intercom we discussed how accessible the road was as it disappeared around a bend. Like last year in the Pyrenees it seemed my Navigator favours these rough mystery trails, even if I don't at first! In the end I switched the bikes mode to enduro, stood on the pegs, gripped the tank with my knees and climbed upwards and onto the main road again with Rob following behind.
Another picturesque lunch stop pulling up next to a crowd of German bikers right on the lake shore described as a 'pearl in the heart of the Dolomites' and I have to say I agree. A stunning location surrounded by the mountains. Rob managed to grab an outside table at a busy pizzeria right on the shore and so we both ordered a salad with asparagus and spent a good hour taking in the scenery. After lunch we took off to find the Passo Tre Croci named after 3 crosses representing a mother and two sons who died crossing it during the winter of 1789. Despite the sad history it was fun riding the short section we did, and well worth the visit.
Video: Mark and Rob on the Falzarego, Lake Misurina and Passo Giau. Best with sound and select 1080p in settings.
Near the pass there is a scenic toll road I'd hoped to ride but unfortunately after pulling in the narrow entry between the booths on a slight incline I was told 'It was not possible' and was passed a piece of paper with a website address it seems we had to book a time-slot on line first. At first I thought the young woman was joking so asked how much, she kept repeating 'Not possible'. Not being able to turn my bike around I asked her to lift the barrier so I could ride back out. 'Not Possible' she shouted again. I repeated, explaining my predicament and still she shouted 'Not Possible!'. Rob, who was behind me found this quite amusing not having entered the narrow space yet we were laughing over the intercom when I decided to turn my engine off, sit with folded arms and when she asked me again to move I shouted back 'It's not Possible !' With a coach full of tourists behind, the woman had no choice but to give in and lift the barrier. For a moment I was tempted to ride on up the pass, but decided better of it and did a u-turn to head back down the pass laughing and shouting 'Not Possible' over the intercom.
Our Friday ride of fun continued on as we returned back through Cortina and out on to the very twisty Passo Giau stopping for a coffee and cake at the restaurant at the foot of the impressive Nuvolau mountain that rises to more than 2,500 metres (pictured below). The view of the Dolomites are most impressive here and you can see right across to Marmolada. While admiring the scenery outside, Rob introduced a biker couple he'd met from Milan who were quite amazed we had ridden all the way from the UK. For a while we exchanged biker touring stories and the places we'd been and seen before heading off in the direction of the wonderful Colle Santa Lucia the walled town perched on a hill above. Everywhere I looked each view was worthy of a photo, hard to resist stopping at each lay by to get my phone out and take a snap.
We made it back into the hotel quite early and after a swim in the pool met at the bar for beers just before dinner seated at our allotted table. I did enjoy the very nice ragu pasta and wine while both recounting the days events, the wooden bridge trail near Misurina and the 'It's not possible' moment adding to the amusement of a perfect days ride.
Looping around and up Marmolada
I vaguely recall a conversation while eating breakfast agreeing to take on the Sunday ride from the Ride with Us itinerary. This would be the second longest ride of just over 60 miles leaving us to complete the shortest Sella Ronda loop option on the Sunday giving us some rest time before the long ride in to Switzerland on Monday. So on Saturday with an almost identical sunny morning we set off in the same clockwise direction as Friday across the Valparola and Falzarego passes, but this time heading further south.
After a very pleasant morning ride despite hitting a few delays along the way, and riding with packs of other bikers the route led us to the foot of the highest mountain in the Dolomites, the impressive Marmolada pulling onto a bridge opposite at the Hotel Rifugio on one side of Lake Fadaia. It was getting quite hot now. Often in the heat I do my lose appetite (believe it or not), but today sat outside I polished off a very nice ham and chips Trentino style, along with the cool refreshing lemon drink. Rob went for a pasta dish and at some point while on the bridge we got chatting to a group of British cyclists and discovered they were quite local to us, one living in Redditch and the other Stratford upon Avon and all staying in Corvara too. Hat's off to those guys cycling in that heat I thought.
I hadn't bothered to research our itinerary visits before we set off, preferring to take it as it comes and enjoy this 'mystery tour', so had no idea what to expect when it was suggested we could take a cable car up to the Museum of the Great War. Soon we found the booth and bought tickets after parking for free and changing into shorts over the way. We thought we could see the top of the mountain and while waiting for the next car to come down got chatting to a young guy from Israel who was on some kind of whistle-stop tour of Europe by rented car. A woman joined us and remarked "that first section looks steep!". “What? there's another section?” I asked. Apparently there are three stages, and with Rob wearing another layer I'd remarked how hot it was asking him .. are you mad? But as we travelled up and closed in on the first section, the temperature suddenly dropped and I started to regret leaving my jacket cable tied to the bike.
It was quite a rapid ascent, and I found the guy driving the cable car looking quite passive and bored, he had the kind of dead-pan expression that suggested 'yeah, I've seen this all before a thousand times'. I wondered if I would get a cue from his facial expression if something was wrong and we would be about to plummet to the ground and die. Honestly, I don’t think we would have, thankfully before long were stepping out on to the mezzanine for the most spectacular 360 degree view. It is said that on a clear day, with Venice only 60 miles away you can see St Marks bell tower. I couldn't find it, but I'm sure it was there somewhere. With so much to look at it was easy to make out Lake Fadaia and where we had been for lunch. The whole experience at 38 Euros to include the museum was worth it I thought, but being honest, we felt the museum was of limited interest.
I actually felt a bit out of breath and light headed with the altitude, and then of course getting cold too, at first a nice relief from the heat I was glad to return down to warmth, grab another drink from the cafe and before we new it after getting back into bike gear again and traversing around the car park barrier (the ticket wouldn't let us out) we were soon on the sweaty side of fresh again. Our return back would turn out quite eventful. After our fun along that wonderful twisty Passo Pordoi we somehow missed the turning along the SS244 to Passo Campolonga north toward Corvara. Now travelling east away from the hotel both bikes were low on fuel so we continued on hoping to pick up a petrol station at the next village.
Video: Mark and Rob on the Passo Fadaia, around Marmolada and onto Passo Gardena.
Best with sound and select 1080p in settings.
By now Rob's range was down to two bars on the dash. No more tiger left in his tank it seems and then both making the classic mistake of doubling back hoping to pick up a petrol station along the way and burning more fuel, the Tigers gauge now dropped down to 1 bar. Only 7 km's range left, it was a last ditch stop at a cafe to find out where the closest station was. My GPS showing about 4 miles away we needed to be sure. Rob was advised where to find petrol, and it was a close (yet far) 7 km's away, and running on vapours Rob coasted his Tiger into an automated garage on the SR48 near Brenta. I felt quite relieved we had made it. Phew. It was a relaxed ride down in to Corvara after turning off on to the SP244 at Arabba and so thankful we were back in for an early evening swim before dinner and some more of that Forst beer. While at the bar talking to the young lady barmaid we discovered the local language is derived from the Swiss Romansch known as Ladin and later when I returned to my room I found a very interesting wikipedia entry explaining the history of Ladin and how different it is from Italian.The things you learn eh?
Sella Ronda Loop
Another glorious day on Sunday another early morning start with the buffet breakfast at the Hotel Italia of croissant, pastries, fruit, cereal and yoghurt not forgetting Americano coffee for Rob (naturally) and a Latte for me. Today we would ride the remaining loop from the itinerary around the legendary Sella Ronda circuit taking in the Campolongo, Pordoi, Sella and Gardena passes starting in a clockwise direction the 32 miler we had previously deferred from Friday. First off though, we made sure to fill our tanks at the local petrol station, again an automated affair and needed to ask other bikers how, and it seems you have to present your card first, guess the amount you need then fill up. Just as we were leaving there were queues of bikers waiting to use the very limited pumps, with the temperature rising and wearing full kit our early start had paid off not having to queue in the heat.
While trying to get to the Campolonga my GPS seemed to want us to perform a u-turn. At first I thought I'd missed the pass, but then realised we were now heading back to the hotel again. Just past the hotel the GPS was saying perform another u-turn. A few frustrating attempts with me cussing and swearing over the intercom (I think Rob’s ears turned blue) trying to correct and reload the route, it occurred to me we were suffering the 'curse of the blue dot' as we had in Austria last week. Again, the route had been plotted using shaping points not waypoints, and treated as optional so because the route started and finished at the same Hotel it assumed we just wanted to head straight back to the hotel missing out these optional shaping points denoting mountain passes altogether! My solution on the day would ignore the GPS and take a signpost up to the Campolonga first, from then on it routed us correctly across the mountain passes as intended. A better solution would have been to use waypoints instead (or at least one for the Campolonga).
For the remainder of the morning and early afternoon we both enjoyed a cracking ride with beautiful scenery, smooth twisty roads I could not have hoped to better. I pulled over a few times to fit the Insta 360 camera and grab some footage as a souvenir. We did all the passes looping back round to the final Gardena stopping off briefly at the big ‘G’ sign where I met an Italian guy with his wife as pillion. While admiring the classic red Ducati Multistrada he responded in basic English 'I want the V4 but .. SHE says not possible', He laughed when I responded with 'Yes, I have a wife like that back home too'. Bikers problems are the same wherever you go I said to Rob. Later, we pulled in for coffee and shared a nice Strudel and Custard at the cafe stop packed with bikers, right at one end of the pass.
Coming back down into Corvara I couldn't help but think how the Dolomites have been everything and more than I'd expected. Over the intercom Rob agreed, we couldn't fault it. A few years ago with Helen I had visited Yosemite National Park in California and been astounded by it's beauty, yet as I pulled back into the hotel parking I couldn't help thinking how the Dolomites are without a doubt on par with that experience, if not even better by motorcycle. Another cool off swim after parking up, and a few afternoon beers sat in a bar over the road from the hotel before preparing our bikes in readiness to start the return journey home tomorrow.
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