9/19/09 Belluno to Castlefranco

The last day of the tour and the home stretch. Not particularly far or strenuous. The weather was nice. Glenn led us out of town. The town is a bit big and the way out could have been done on your own but was a lot nicer with a guide. We climbed to Valmorel and then passed through an amazing green valley. Everything is manicured and cared for impeccably. Perfection my nemesis. Perfection, the enemy of good. I stopped and put on some music, the first time this trip. I listened to Pat Methany from the Cinema Paridiso sound track. I rode most of the day with Ross and Patti and it was a good thing because I took a wrong turn on the trip up to passo di Boldo and they raced after me shouting and whistling trying to get my attention. Of course I couldn’t hear a thing listening to Pat.

Now passo di Boldo is an interesting phenomenom. We came up to a cliff. We didn’t know it was a cliff but after going through the first tunnel we knew it was a cliff. There was a stop light and when you were given the green you got to travel through a serious of tunnels and switchbacks that went straight down. Why someone thought that it was feasible to find a way down is beyond me. I would have said “Oh, here’s a cliff lets turn around and find another way down. The weather had pushed up into this little valley and as soon as we started dropping down we experienced a deluge and got soaked. I mean soaked. At the bottom I took off my shoes and wringed out my soaks. They didn’t feel any drier. We cruised into Valdobbiadene and stopped for lunch and I had a glass of wine. Yes. Mid-ride I enjoyed my lunch with a glass of wine. We were mostly dry by then except for the socks. From there we detoured from the recommended route and took the straight shot into Castlefranco.

That evening was a bit of a frenzy as people took apart their bikes in anticipation of travel the next day either to home or to some other plan. We all said our goodbyes at dinner and breakfast the following morning. I'm on my way to Florence, Venice, and then Paris.

Everyone was impressed with my daily post ride helmet hair.

Every good descent through a drenching rain storm deserves a nice lunch on the deck. Of course with a glass of the local wine.

It's a bit hard to imagine that someone thought it was OK to put a road down this rock wall.

The descent from the passo Boldo.

Just another beautiful trip through the well manicured Italian countryside before stating to climb and descend.

9/18/09 Cortina to Belluno

Another cloudy morning. This morning we had to ride to make it to our next hotel. It started again with a serious climb up to passo di Giau and then for the hardy ride up to passo Duran. The climb to passo di Giau was a bit of a grunt and like yesterday at Tre Cime the summit was in a fog that added an eerie feel to the descent into the farms. The fog cleared but it was still very overcast and threatened rain all day. John, Jocelyn, and myself braved the Duran and it was worth the ride. It’s why I came to Italy. To climb up these narrow roads that wind through the hillside villages, to ride until I’m exhausted and content. Jocelyn and I left John at la Valle and stopped for lunch before heading into Belluno. The accommodations were great and there was a bit of a departure from routine and that was the hotel did not have a restaurant and so we were on our own for dinner. Patti, Ross, Craig and I had a nice “authentic” Italian meal of pasta and pizza with gelato for desert.

The passo Duran was why I came to Italy to climb on my bike. Winding narrow roads going through quaint Italian villages.

This was the bypass road to avoid a long trip through a tunnel on the way to Belluno.

The small town of la Valle where we had lunch.