July 21, 2023
Udine to Venzone.
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The major concern for today was the weather. The forecast for the next few days looks quite variable and thunderstorms are expected each day for the remainder of the week. Today, we were lucky enough to dodge the rain for most of the day, until it couldn't be avoided. It was an adventure alright.
When I looked out the window at 5am, the sky looked ominous and purple, but we knew we had a good window of time until about mid-afternoon to ride and take advantage of the most favorable weather. It rained lightly during breakfast, but it didn't amount to much. But, this was just a harbinger for things to come later in the day. More on that later.
With the window of favorable riding conditions for today being slender, we packed up early and were on the road by 7:30am.
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Once we got our bearings straight, we were able find our way out of Udine without too many issues and we pointed ourselves north toward the Julian Alps in the far distance.
The Julian Alps are a limestone mountain range found in the Northeast of Italy straddling the Slovenian border. They are mainly limestone in composition and are said to have some of the only remaining European bears left on the continent, sadly. There are also ibex, lynx, chamois and other large ungulates. Over the next week or so we'll be getting more acquainted with this range as we head north, then east into Slovenia.
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Much of today's ride was on the Alpe Adria cycle route that runs north/south from Salzburg to Grado. It's about 415kms long and is a dedicated cycle route for most of its stretch. Throughout the day, we passed dozens of other tourers heading south, the opposite direction from us. There were many waves and hellos to be had.
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This would not be the first time we would pass these same sunflowers, much to our growing frustration. When we neared the town of Tricesimo, our window of time seemed to slam down on our fingers, and we spent the next hour literally going in circles. Unbeknownst to us at the time, this faffing about would have consequences later in the day.
If you look at our map above near the town of Tricesimo, you can imagine two cyclists scratching their heads on the side of the road with cartoon thinking bubbles over their heads each with the capitalized acronym "WTF?" floating above.
It was kind of comical as we recognized several cyclists coming toward us on more than one occasion. One old chap said in a thick German accent, "Haven't we seen you two before?" Yes, yes you have.
What we failed to notice was a tiny Alpe Adria sticker hiding out of view on a stop sign pole indicating the way north. We had passed this little lane at least three times, and it appeared to us like a private driveway of some sort. But, 'clearly' it wasn't. It was our route.
Once we were pointed in the right direction, we had a good laugh and got on with the day. The day was not without minor hiccups with route finding, but we managed alright, picking our way along small roads in the general direction of our destination.
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These were the best kms of the day! The pastoral scenery and rolling terrain was a delight. As we were pedaling along, we passed someone's property whose entrepreneurial spirit begged us to take a break and stop for a cool beverage. There were other cycle tourists lounging on picnic tables and sitting around under the shade of a beautiful locust tree. This place seemed to be also popular with the community as joyful banter between neighbours filled the air.
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Soon after this, a consistent light rain began to fall which required us to pull out the rain jackets. We were actually wondering if we'd need them at all on this trip, with the searing heat and dry weather gripping most of Europe at this time.
We had about 15kms left to ride, and the rain began transition from a light sprinkle, to rain, then on to something completely different. At this point in the ride, the dipsy doodling that is typical of many European cycle routes made us wonder if we should just get on the road and make haste, a more direct route to our destination. But, we thought, it doesn't matter now, we're wet and we'd rather be wet than get on a busier road with increasingly darker skies and deteriorating visibility. How bad can the rain get anyways?
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What ensued was the worst weather we have ever cycled in, period. This was not just heavy rain, but a severe storm. The wind picked up and the rain came down in sheets and blew at us head on. The sheer power of this rain battered us, pelted our eyeballs to the point of pain, and whipped us around; rain jackets flapping in the wind.
To our left, the mountainside rose quite steeply, and we both remined ourselves to keep a close eye on the slope above us, just in case a debris torrent would not come crashing down on us. Increasingly, the narrow paths of these debris torrents went from trickles of water to cascading across the road we were cycling on. I tell you it was intense. We re-crossed the Tagliamento and finally arrived in Venzone. We found refuge under a building's eave, fumbled with a water soaked screen, and eventually pulled up the address of our guesthouse. Thankfully, it was only two hundred meters away.
When we arrived at our guesthouse, the wonderful host came out with umbrellas. Sue and I both found this quite comical, as we both looked like drowned rats. We were both beyond the help of any umbrella at this point. We both also knew that we would have arrived dry if it were not for our getting lost earlier in the day. Oh well....
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So, once we dealt with the wet gear and showered, we were off to explore the incredible town of Venzone. I'll post a separate photo montage of our time there in a separate post.
Today's ride: 67 km (42 miles)
Total: 67 km (42 miles)
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Or we could split the difference and meet in Seattle. I’m sure I’ll be up there to meet with dad sometime. Something to think about later this year, but you’ve got a tour to get back to, don’t you?
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