From Pieve di Cadore to Valdaora

5 August 2021

Vincenzo and I knew very well that this would be the longest, hardest and most beautiful stage of the loop, but how amazed and astonished we would be was beyond imagining.

The start

Already from the start in Pieve di Cadore it was clear that the route would take a different turn compared to the previous days. The road to Cortina, all uphill, winds along a quiet and beautiful cycle path. The weather is incredibly splendid, and this is a wonderful gift considering all the rain the day before.

When we reach San Vito di Cadore we finally touch 1000 m of altitude.

In the heart of the Dolomites

The cycle path keeps climbing — today the goal is to reach Cortina at 1,200 meters and then get up to the 1,530 meters of the Cimabanche pass. The road is long, the elevation gain is too; we pedal calmly to manage our energy so we don’t arrive exhausted at the day’s real challenge: reaching Lake Braies.

I don’t have to tell you anything about Cortina that isn’t already known: a very pretty little town, perfectly groomed, a center full of “high-end” brand shops — in short, everything you know about Cortina is basically true. We stop just long enough to stock up on food (small sandwiches with cured meats and cheeses that we’ll eat throughout the day, without ever having a proper lunch so we don’t weigh ourselves down) and a coffee, and then off we go.

And here begins the good part: heading towards Dobbiaco, the cycle path is in fact a beautiful old disused railway, with a gravel surface, winding through the woods and even passing through tunnels, some of them carved into the rock.

Everything is beautiful. We’re happy to be on gravel and to leave the asphalt for a while (even if the cycle paths are obviously splendid), but here on this terrain our gravel bikes really come into their own. And nature is incredible. We climb, we strain, but the route is animated by streams, little lakes, a great silence and a fresh, crisp air.

The idea of eating our mini sandwiches turned out to be excellent: we always have fuel and we avoid long breaks. But the climb makes itself fully felt, along with the kilometers already piled up in the previous days. Up to the Cimabanche pass we have to climb for 45 km in total to reach 1,530 meters, starting from the 800 of Pieve di Cadore we touched yesterday.

And by pushing and pushing we get there.

Towards Braies

We stop at the pass refreshment point for a coffee and a water refill, and we get ready to set off again to enjoy the 20 km of descent towards Dobbiaco 😁

Pumped up like never before, we throw ourselves into the descent to fill our eyes with all the beauty of this gravel trail that runs uninterrupted from Cortina. We both feel good — here is the whole point of a journey of discovery, of emotion, of carefree pleasure, of personal recharging.

On the way down two funny things happen: the first is that suddenly, in a gravelly patch, my rear brake caliper jams — a problem we luckily solve fairly quickly, managing to release the retracted caliper without forcing it. The second is that, because of the heavy rains of the past few days, we find ourselves with a stream to ford 😁

Continuing to pedal we come across two more marvels: Lake Landro, from where you can see the Three Peaks of Lavaredo, and Lake Dobbiaco, huge and beautiful.

We’re now at Dobbiaco, the descent is over, and at this point all that remains is to face today’s real challenge: getting back up to 1,500 meters of altitude to reach Lake Braies, the true challenge of this entire long route. So we gather our remaining strength, and once we reach Villabassa we begin to climb along the cycle path that leads towards Braies. The start isn’t murderous — we pedal slowly but the gradients aren’t impossible. At the end of the cycle path, however, an unpleasant little surprise: unless I’m mistaken, the only way to get up there is via the trafficked road. There are no alternatives, so we set off. At this point we realize we’re tackling a climb of about 3 km with a relentless gradient swinging between 10% and 11%.

Later on, Vincenzo and I confess to each other that more than once we thought about giving up. We have in our legs the many kilometers ridden that day and on the previous days, and we are really struggling enormously. But the whole trip was built around getting up there, and our heads tell us to push and push. When we see the parking lot, we understand that we’ve done it. What incredible joy!

In the meantime our friend Cesare also catches up with us by car. He’ll be sharing the evenings and some daytime moments with us during these days, waiting for our arrival by bike.

It’s done, Braies is conquered. The day closes in Valdaora di Sotto where we stop the GPS at a round 100 km, to collapse onto food and wine — what a hunger!

The track

→ Giro_delle_Dolomiti_Day_3_Da_Pieve_di_Cadore_a_Valdaora.gpx

Comments

Margherita
August 7, 2021 at 3:19 pm

What a wonderful post — it’s moving to read you! You must write, write and write!👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Claudio
August 7, 2021 at 6:12 pm

What a fantastic ride! How I love reading bike stories! (It had been ten years — I think — since I last wrote a comment on a blog)

Vincenzo
August 8, 2021 at 9:30 am

Great Biccio. You added magic to a unique and unforgettable experience Thank you