The silver lining of the Stelvio being closed for a Gran Fondo was that we were able to drive Passo Gavia instead. After breakfast, Sarah and I walked to the car, and managed to access the piazza near our accommodation. Then began the challenge of squeezing all our luggage back into the car. That done, off the Gavia we drove!
The road was quiet pretty much all the way to the pass. After mum threw a snowball, we headed into the open Refugio, and ordered a round of cappucini.
Another few minutes of driving, we began the descent, which was considerably narrower, and at times inside a cloud! We stopped a few times, either to get out of the car, or to let motorcycles past. That proved helpful, when we came to a slight bulge in the road which enabled us to squeeze around a motorhome which I assume had been flagged down by a moto. Given there were parts of the road where a bicycle probably couldn't squeeze around that vehicle, we felt very lucky indeed...
We drove up another pass which took us into Val di Sole, which hosts a MTB World Cup round each year. I had an absolute mare making the turn up the valley towards Bolzano, both missing the right off ramp and taking the wrong one at various moments. That had us drive to and fro, including on a toll road...! Nevertheless, pocket slightly lighter, we made it to Bolzano, and found a park a few minutes' walk from the main attraction - Ötzi, a fellow fortuitously found nearby by walkers, and who turned out to be 5000 years old, from the Copper Age! We spent half an hour or so enjoying the various displays, including a blow-by-blow account of his discovery. The "wet mummy" itself wasn't much to look at, but Ötzi had been recreated and what's more, was in a section where photographs were allowed.
There were a lot of cyclists out, and adjacent to the road catering for them, was one of the many ski runs in the area. I was passed by a pair on e-mountainbikes just before one of the nifty overpasses for the skiers.
As we neared the pass, the views over the nearest mountains were glorious, though there was a nasty haze beyond them which looked very smoggy.
The climb was well marked - with the most comprehensive data of the trip so far, including a status bar along the bottom which told you how far through the climb you were.
At the pass was the base of a lift going to a building atop one of the more dramatic peaks. The sag on the ropes when it was mid-trip was quite something.
We then began the descent to Arraba, where many cyclists hung a left to continue on the "Sella Ronda". We took a punt that we'd be comfortable enough in just our lycra jerseys, and won by a whisker. The morning air was still pretty chilly, and we were descending 800m from an altitude of 2200m.
We didn't stop in Arraba, but fortuitously did so quarter of an hour later. We grabbed a table in the sun, and once we settled in, we heard the unmistakable sound of a NZ accent. We introduced ourselves to Emma and Alex, who told us they'd just arrived in Europe after 2 months cycle touring in Nepal. They had heavily laden full-suspension MTBs, and it sounded like they'd long since concluded they were the wrong bikes.
I tried to pay for their coffees, but they'd already cleaned up their bill, so we left them 10 Euros for their next pizza! (They'd remarked how expensive Italy was - something we too were finding. Their benchmark was a much lower cost of living in Nepal...)
We swapped "socials" and then bade them farewell. Onwards towards Passo Falzarego. After a bit more traversing, we began a lovely climb, which got more dramatic the higher we got.
The highlight of the road was an unlined tunnel which comprised half of a switchback turn, built above a massive retaining wall and a long avalanche shelter.
The next stretch of road gave nice insight into the design of the shelters, with a slightly angled roof to help keep things (snow or rock, I suppose) moving.
At the pass, we discovered we weren't taking the aperto pass, but instead one which was closed due to maintenance. I asked a local cyclist if we'd be able to walk around the roadworks, and he responded "you could try" but with a look on his face that suggested we shouldn't bother...
Going ahead to Cortina d'Ampezzo would add too much distance to our ride, so our only viable option was to head back the way we'd come. This gave us a chance to yell "KIA ORA" to Emma and Alex, a nice change from the usual "CIAO!!!".
Once our sidle back towards Arabba began, I noticed an open restaurant and suggested to Sarah that we stop for lunch. I began consulting a map over a plate each of lasagne.
Heading straight back over the Pordoi didn't much appeal, but it did seem that we'd have the legs for the Sella Ronda. Unfortunately, I noticed a third alternative, which was to back track 200m, then drop down to the valley floor, before climbing to the Passo Fedaia. From there, it would be a simple 12km ride, mostly downhill, to Canazei. My Garmin sync didn't work, and I hadn't paid much attention to the climb's vital statistics, other than it was only 35km or so back to base.
We descended for quite a while, before beginning the climb, which was gradual at first. For the first time in the trip, it was actually hot - 30 degrees, which was about Sarah's comfortable limit. I hoped a quick gelato stop would help!
That inhaled, we began climbing in earnest. 10 minutes or so above a picturesque village, we crossed a bridge into a tunnel. Below the bridge was a gorge, and running up it was a very tempting looking path - next time maybe!
The climb was unmarked, and the first hint of the distance to the summit came at Malga Ciapela, which reported 5km to the pass, and 17km to Canazei. What it didn't say, was that the gradient for that 5km would be a totally miserable double figures for almost its entire duration. The only respite came at a handful of switchbacks, but they barely took the sting out of regular 15% stretches.
Sarah resorted to a lie down, and tactical walks. I sat for the best part of half an hour overlooking at least a kilometre of road, and I was relieved when she finally came into view.
Fortunately, she was only pooped, and not at all cranky. We had about 2km to the summit, and I had a short wait there, before a sumptuous few minutes along a lake.
We did a lap of the dam at the far end, but didn't try to identify where the ice-cream munching tourists got their ice-creams from. Instead, we began the plummet down to Canazei, which went without incident.
There, we reunited with mum, and began swapping notes about our days, and Sarah and I began the process of rehydrating and refueling for hopefully another good day on our bikes tomorrow.
Stats: 93km ridden, and 2800m climbed, including three decent passes - or perhaps that should be two decent and one indecent. Temperature range, 13 to 41 degrees.
I am so enjoying this adventure, your positivity and enjoyment of the whole thing is palpable! Bravo!
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