Circumnavigation of Mount Cristallo.

July 16, 2022

With the hardest 4kms I have ever ridden.

Some great gravel riding. Some road riding. And, one beastly climb.

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Late yesterday afternoon, the heat and convective nature of the terrain around here produced thick cumulus clouds, a drop in temperature, and a nice release of rain. Thought this was a neat photo of the downpour last night before bed.

So, on to today's adventure. This time Sue chose to hang back and take a needed day off. She didn't get a great night's sleep, so I was on my own today for this adventure. We've actually never done this on a tour before; going our separate ways for a few hours, but it suited us both well. Sue got to rest, and I had the chance to follow through with a plan I had hatched out months ago. A circumnavigation of Mount Cristallo, and a side trip up to Tre Cima.

With the crafty use of a stick stand, I was able to catch this shot. Sue and I passed through this tunnel six years ago on tour from Prague to Venice. This time I'm going through it in the opposite direction. Now that I am here, it's strange how it doesn't feel like six years have passed. Time really does fly, so make the best of it.

The Soma came with tires that were perfect for this type of terrain. A fast rolling center bead, with some small knobbies for gravel just like this. They were also set up tubeless, which I have found to be a surprisingly quieter and more supple ride with less rolling resistance. I was a skeptic about tubeless, but I may be a convert now. Maybe I should set my road bike up with tubeless when I get back. Alright. Enough of the bike nerd stuff.

The first 20kms of today's ride was on fast gravel just like the photo pictured above. This route is called the Lunga Via delle Dolomiti and is a converted rail route; and with railway grades, the route climbed at a steady but manageable 2-4% until reaching Passo Cimabanche at 1,529m. When researching the history of the line Wiki states: "The line was begun in 1916 to supply the military needs of the White War, when Italy attempted to annex the Austrian province of South Tyrol."

It was later used during the 1956 Winter Olympics to transport tourists, spectators and athletes to Cortina on what was called the 'white and blue train'. It was decommissioned in the early 1960's and, in 2003 converted as part of a rails to trails project. It is a now a spectacular multi-use trail. Come see for yourself.

Area of likely debris flow. The bridge I am crossing has been raised and newly re-built.

What is very apparent when cycling through the Dolomites is the efforts to reconstruct the infrastructure from the devastating Tempesta Vaia hurricane that occurred in October 2018. Winds of up to 200km/hr and torrential rain caused widespread damage to villages, houses and roads, and there were several deaths. Throughout this tour, Sue and I have observed the re-routing of roads, the reconstruction of bridges, and the efforts to climate-proof the embankments of many rivers. Debris flows like the one pictured above are common sights.

Nearing Misurna and the turn off for the big climb to Tre Cima. The clanging of cow bells ringing in the mountain air.

Before turning off for the climb to Tre Cime, I had a Coke and sat perfectly and blissfully ignorant, and had no clue about what I was about to tackle. I downed the Coke, strapped on my helmet and began the 700m climb. What I didn't know was how steep it was. Here is a little blurb about the climb:

"Only 7.5-kilometres in length and with an average gradient of 7.5% the climbs statistics can be a little misleading. The iconic road can be easily split into two sections, the first 4-kilometres a relatively easy ascent, with one sharp part for around 500 meters. What follows in the second 4-kilometres is completely different as the road rises dramatically, and the maximum gradient increases to 19%."

The last 4kms was perhaps the toughest and punchiest climb I have ever done on a bicycle in my life. Imagine 4kms of sustained 12-19% unrelenting grades. It was tough. It is a feared climb and one of legendary status. But, like I said, I was blissfully unaware. If I had have known, I would have taken the Dolomiti bus shuttle to the top. But, I was all in and I was determined to get to the top.

Oh yeah. I know what your thinking. Your getting close to the refugio perched way up there, right? But, you're so wrong. Distances in the mountains are so deceiving!

Each car was charged to drive up here. Ha ha. Take that car people, I did it for free. Jokes on you!

You have to click on the link below for one of the best national anthems around, in my opinion.

Italian National Anthem

Looking Southwest towards the town of Auronzo.

Once I arrived, I sat and had a sandwich at the refugio and wiped the salt from my face. I don't recall too much as I basically zoned out for about 30 minutes, not thinking about anything, really. I just stared out the window in a dazed stupor. But, I was also proud of myself for the effort.

Everyone up on the top was equally dazzled by the vistas.

Stopped by the side of the road on the descent for this shot.

After dropping down, I made my way back to Cortina. What was great about this solo trip, was that Sue was able to watch my progress on her phone through a feature called LiveTrack, which is connected to the Garmin GPS that I ride with. She could literally watch my dot avatar that was displayed on a map on her phone. I was also able to text throughout the day on What's App, as we purchased a portable pocket WIFI through HipPocket. I just carried it along on my ride in my back jersey. We have used this service over the past couple of tours in Europe, and we have always found it handy.

At Lake Misurna. Heading back down to Cortina after one more small climb over Passo Tre Croci. But, any climb at this point of the day was not a small climb.

The last hump and then down, down, down into Cortina.

I was glad to get back to the hotel, have a shower and meet up with Sue again. All in all, a great day and one that I will surely never forget.

Today's ride: 55 km (34 miles)
Total: 388 km (241 miles)

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Scott AndersonYou say you’ll never forget it, but you might surprise yourself. I had forgotten all about that agonizing climb to Tre Cime from Misurina four years ago: https://www.cycleblaze.com/journals/dubrovnik2018/to-dobbiaco-toblach/. Thanks for the reminder, I think.
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2 years ago

Patrick O'HaraScott. I recalled you doing this hike, but I was not sure if you rode up there. There is no way I will be doing this climb at 70. You're a superstar. Seriously!
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2 years ago