9/13/09 Siusi to Passo Pordoi

Another great day of cycling in Italy. We started the day with a short descent and then another 18% grade for a relatively short distance. Then the climbing became 6 to 8% but prolonged lasting well into the morning. I say prolonged and that typically means between 5 and 10 miles of uphill travel. We are in the heart of the Dolomites. The views are stunning and what makes it real nice for riding is that the roads are in excellent shape and the weather is cool. It was a Sunday so lots of people are out enjoying the fall weather before winter sets in for the season.

Soon after leaving tree line we reached our hotel. It’s situated right at the summit of the pass. You can see a picture of it below. There is a tram that goes up to a peak we can see from our hotel dining room. There are ski lifts everywhere. In the U.S. there are ski areas and they are distinct pieces of geography with boundaries. Here every place you can think of they have a lift. You can ski from one valley to the next to the next. You buy tickets to get on each of the various lifts.

The weather came in and it started raining shortly after getting here. The weather forecast does not look good for this coming week.