Devilish Dolomite Delight – Day Five
After yesterday’s epic day in the saddle, I woke up this morning feeling dehydrated, heavy legged & several hours short of the sleep I wanted (& probably needed). The plan today was to drive to La Villa (a 20 mile drive), then ride the Maratona Dles Dolomites short course loop. In other words, 4 climbs in just over 36 miles with 5,600 feet of climbing.
For the first time this week, the skies were overcast & the mountains were all hidden from view as we drove out of Cortina & up the Passo Falzarego – we were soon in the clouds & the incredible views of previous days were very much a distant memory! However, the cycling gods were on our side, as the weather changed as soon as we drove down to La Villa.
We parked the car by the sky lift & as soon as we started riding, the road to Corvara started gradually rising – today we would be tackling the Campalongo, Pordoi, Sella & Gardena from a new direction. While we’d experienced the scenery previously, a combination of the different weather & a new direction guaranteed that it would feel like a totally new ride.
As we left Corvara & started to climb Passo Campalongo, it quickly became apparent I was in for a challenging day, as I didn’t have any power in my legs & I couldn’t raise my heart above 150 beats per minute (normally I’m comfortable doing a 1 hour effort at 175 bpm). This is a fairly standard symptom of being over tired – I was finally paying for missing 3 weeks of training. I knew this was likely to happen at some point on the trip & I’m rather happy it’s taken until day 5 for the symptoms to show themselves.
The climb to the summit was a little over 4 miles long & the road snaked its way between forest on the one side & ski runs on the other. It was pretty Alpine scenery at its best & the ascent was done in a little under 45 minutes. As we crested the summit, the clouds disappeared & we had glorious view down towards Arabba below.
We were only an hour into the ride at this point, so we made the decision to delay our planned coffee stop until we reached the summit of the Pordoi. Almost as soon as we started the climb (not that steep as you can see below), I dropped further & further behind Sean – we both know the importance of climbing at our own rhythms, so while it was frustrating to be feeling so weak, it wasn’t a big deal for either of us.
There’s a classic car rally taking place in the Dolomites this week & we were lucky enough to see tens & tens of vintage Bugatti’s, Mercedes’, Porsche’s & Jaguar’s (amongst others) streaming down the hill, as they did the same loop as us but in reverse.
I took time to take in the views as the road twisted & turned towards the summit. The climb itself took a minute over an hour for me, which was more than acceptable, considering how I was feeling – we’d climbed a little over 1,800 feet in 5.5 miles. Needless to say, warm chocolate cake & cappuccino revived my spirits.
The descent from Passo Pordoi was hairpin heaven, as we twisted & turned during the 4 mile descent to the start of Passo Selle.
The longest & steepest of the climbing was now behind us & we were back in sunshine – hurrah!!! Pine trees were immediately next to the road & further in the distance were enormous cliffs of bare rock – the view today was so different, mainly because what had been in sunshine on our previous ride was now in shadow & vice versa. Once again, the gradients were never too steep, although they always kept me honest.
A feature of the Selle Ronde circuit from either direction is the multitude of hairpin bends (there were 31 on the Pordoi, 18 on the Selle & more than 20 on the Gardena) – these give respite from the climbing & provide an opportunity to give the legs a fleeting moment of relief.
Before we knew it, we’d reached the top of the Selle with stunning views in every direction. Once again it was threatening to rain on a mountain summit, so we put our rain jackets on yet again & set off for the valley floor.
Within 5 minutes, the rain had stopped & we could enjoy the descent on bone dry roads. As we plummeted downwards, I could make out the rifugio on the summit of our final climb of the day – The apex of the Gardena was some 6 miles away at this point.
After a brief stop to tuck away the rain jackets, we began the final 4 miles of climbing on today’s epic route. As the road rose higher, some of the rocks that were visible on Wednesday were hidden from view, while some new ones showed themselves for the first time.
Once again, we clouds closed in the nearer we got to the top & by the time we reached the summit sign, it was spitting rain again, so it was out with the rain jackets for the final time.
The rain had finally caught us up & we were on damp/wet roads all the way back to Corvara, but all things considered, we’d been incredibly lucky to avoid any proper rain. The micro climate in the mountains is amazing, as by the time we’d completed the descent, we were back on dry roads again, enjoying the sculptures that make the Dolomites so unique.
We stopped in Corvara for a quick bite of lunch, then retraced our way back to where the car was parked in La Villa. As we crested the Falzarego, it was raining in the Cortina valley – when we got back to the hotel, the owner said it had been raining for most of the day. The cycling gods really had been kind to us today!
Daily Cortina Trivia Feature (stage 5) – The stunning mountain scenes in Cliffhanger (starring Sylvester Stallone) were filmed in Cortina d’Ampezzo, although the film was set in the Colorado Rockies. More useless trivia tomorrow!
Gav's Cycling Adventures 