August 17, 2022
Pontebba to Fagnano, Italy (Aug. 17, 2022)
This part of the Alpe Adria is spectacular, magnified by the wonderful cycle trail that was conveniently 1 - 2 percent downhill for much of the way. The ride has a number of tunnels but most are lighted sufficiently.
Dave kept pulling over to take pics and I would “piddle-pedal” (our phrase for Jill to continue riding but at a slow pace so Dave could eventually catch up). The scenery along the Fella River was so beautiful it deserved to be savored so piddle-pedal riding worked great. Again, we will let the pictures tell the story:
We stopped for coffee at the well-known Illy coffee place in Chiusaforte that was remodeled from the old rail station. There were many cycle tourists there, and a lot of Italian road bikers with high end racing bikes. Other cycle bloggers report that this stretch of the Alpe Adria Route is one of the best and most beautiful routes in the world and we heartily agree.
As we were sailing along and I was contemplating how I could explain in the journal just how glorious a day it was, things came to a screeching halt-literally! We passed an abandoned train station and all of a sudden we came to the end of the asphalt bike trail, it being rudely blocked by a chain link fence. Off to the side we noticed an unmarked dirt trail. It was a foot wide single track goat trail leading off into this narrow gorge. Rock falls from the mountain were all over the place. We could see no signage (so Italian) just a trail leading off into the bush that ultimately came to a really torn up old road and some construction equipment.
| Heart | 1 | Comment | 0 | Link |
On faith we decided to follow this poor excuse for a trail. This lasted about 3 k (although it felt a lot longer) and there were no other cyclists to reassure us we were on the correct route. It looked like the Italian government just ran out of funding to finish the route. (Those of you who have travelled in Southern Italy know the look: overpasses and roads that just suddenly stop…) We pondered mightily if this was the right trail but continued on without seeing a single rider. Finally, and to our great relief, three mountain bikers came at us the other way. We eventually came out to a construction barricade that forced us onto SS 13 (the busy state road) and it worked out that we needed to ride on this busy road. This stunk because it required us to cross the highway with fast traffic and poor site distance. The road did have a modest shoulder but it was unpleasantly busy for a few more miles until we pulled into Carnia. We ran into a stressed-out family with two children huddled on the side of the highway asking us (in Italian- but we got the idea) if this was the route: by this time I was recalling my review of the route in the Italian Cycling Guide and assured them that this WAS IT! (Aftermath: In fairness to the publishers of the Alpe Adria route, when we revisited the route notes the following morning we realized that it was user error (ie: Jill and Dave’s mistake - imagine that). Somewhere along the way we should have veered onto the highway and never did. We came to a fork in the road and chose the one less traveled 😎
Carnia and the adjacent town of Venzone were devastated by several earthquakes in 1976. We stopped in Venzone for ice cream and walked around to learn about the earthquake and its aftermath. It was quite moving and the town has recovered pretty well with a lot of support and effort.
As we were leaving Venzone we suffered the minor drama of a malfunction of my phone mount; one of the two elastic band attachments that keep my phone in place had fallen off. We spent 15 minutes retracing our steps hoping to find it, to no avail. Since the attachment resembles a hair scrunchie, McGyver-like, I donated my scrunchie and we used that as a replacement. It worked okay but we are thinking it will prove difficult in the future. Having both of us with phone navigation has worked well so we hope I don’t have to give up on a phone mount altogether.
| Heart | 1 | Comment | 1 | Link |
The next 23 k or so was pleasant. The route was not well-marked and a bit complicated with many changes of direction, but Komoot did us right. This stretch would have been a real pain without modern online navigation. At some point we veered off the Alpe Adria to reach our destination for three nights, a spot in the road called Villaverde, located between San Daniele del Fruili (of the ham fame) and Fagnano. The idea was to take a break off the bikes and enjoy the Fruili region (Jill had been there in 2009 and remembered it very fondly and wanted to share it with Dave.) The resort was to be a bit of a splurge: we rented a 2-bedroom condo at a golf resort (really, the only reason we rented 2 bedrooms vs. a hotel room was because that was the only way I could get a tub!) I originally wanted to book into some cool manor or castle or whatever but I couldn’t find one that had a tub. So the Villaverde Golf Resort it was to be! We arrived at this very dramatic modern building and the beautifully dressed, correct Italian concierge comes out to greet us as we arrived on our bikes. (I don’t think we were improving the class of the place but he was very nice). It turned out that our apartment was about 500 meters down the road so he gave us very specific directions and a well-drawn map (plus sold Dave a beer) and we were off to our new place ready to be unpacked and settled. This is where the clueless American thing kicks in: we arrived at our assumed destination and we could not figure out where we were supposed to go. Unit 304 was nowhere to be found. We walked up to several apartments, tried the door with our card key, snooped around and just couldn’t figure it out. (Not to mention the flats were a bit dated and didn’t look anything like in the photo when I booked it!) After 20 minutes of futile effort we rode back to the reception area and one of the guys agreed to follow us over in his car. Turns out we were in the next batch of units further on and our confusion occurred because this little narrow road we thought was a bike or ped path was actually the road that continued on to the next bunch of units. In any event we arrived at our lovely condo with a great view of the course and a lovely tub and we’re sure we provided fodder for humor among the hotel staff.
We opted to eat at the golf club that night which exceeded expectations and I leave it to Dave to tell the story of the cookie:
Ah, yes, the cookie. Thanks for bringing this up, Jill 🙄 As she stated, we enjoyed a wonderful meal at the golf course restaurant. No hamburgers or nachos here. It was legit Italian cuisine--Ziti all'Amatriciana, gazpacho with shrimp, a beautiful salad and, dessert-sable con melone. Now for you connoisseurs, I'm sure you know that a sable (accent aigu over the e) is a short bread sugar cookie. Jill and I wanted to share the dessert but I asked the waiter to be sure and give us 2 cookies. We didn't want to fight over one! This requests confused the heck out of our waiter but he finally agreed to a "cookie"-shaking his head as he left the table. WWell, I thought that the dessert would be 2 scoops of sorbet with the cookie. I should have known better. This is Italy and they would never serve anything so pedestrian. The sable was 2 layers of different custards atop a cake layer-the sable. When the waiter brought the dessert, he also put down a plate with a single chocolate chip cookie, just for me! Crazy Americans.
Today's ride: 60 km (37 miles)
Total: 506 km (314 miles)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 8 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |