We left Mel at around 10:30.  Cristiano accompanied us as he now found himself 'marooned' by an Italian rail strike and some sort of Plan B was being worked on by Sergio to get him back to Milan in time for work the next day. 

Sergio took us to 'Locanda Conti' first of all, his 'home from home' in Mel where he normally stays, to meet the patron.  Unfortunately it was full when he tried to book. A great shame - the smell of home-cooking was amazing. 

On leaving Mel, we headed toward the Valle del Mis via Trichiana, Bribano and Sospirolo.  At Sospirolo, we once more met up with Daniela, Davide and Barbara and enjoyed a leisurely ride up the side of the Lago di Mis.  This is a lovely quiet road which skirts along the lake, disappearing into short unlit tunnels now and again, but don't let these put you off using this route, they're no problem at all.

At the head of the lake, we stopped for some food in a cafe/bar.  The others then rode with us a little further until rain started and Daniela (who was riding the wooden rimmed FANINI - wonder if she knew she had no brakes? ;-) had a problem with her gears.  We sheltered in a derelict 'Osteria' where Sergio did some running repairs, and this was where we all finally parted company.  They heading back to Mel and we heading on for Caprile. As you'll see from the map opposite, Autoroute (well my 2002 version) doesn't have the road shown as continuing from the head of the lake, but trust me - it does.

After another couple of small tunnels, we climbed up to Tiser - a nice looking place, where we received applause and shouts of encouragement from three women sat on a bench at the entrance to the village!  What a nice gesture (I didn't like the look of Konrads though ;-))

The road climbed on and as we reached the summit we met another couple heading in the opposite direction who kindly took a photo for us. From here, it was all downhill to Agordo.  

From Agordo to Alleghe it rained very heavily with the odd clap of thunder.  The sky was black.  At Listolade, we took a side road (it's shown as closed, but ignore it) which runs alongside the main road.  This got us off the busier main road as everyone, no doubt caught out by the thunderstorm, all sped home.  We passed through Cencenighe and eventually arrived at Alleghe - which was shut!  There was one hotel open, but they didn't serve food, and there didn't seem to be anywhere open where we could eat either!  This was a shame, as Alleghe is obviously quite a well heeled town with a wonderful location on the lake shore.  A very kind couple and an old gentleman spent quite some time with us trying to find somewhere open, telephoning various places, but no joy.  April Pedersen Santinon kindly pointed out (after our return) that perhaps we were fortunate in finding Alleghe 'closed'.  Apparently it was the scene of  a series of murders back in the 1930's / 40's. Subsequent murders were all done to hide the original murder, and the culprits were a family of hotel owners (the Albergo Centrale) which, as Konrad reminds me, was the one where the old gentleman, who was kindly trying to help us, telephoned from!

So, it was back on the bikes, and off we headed for Caprile.  Arriving in Caprile, we spotted the Hotel la Montanina and decided to go for that one (we were wet, and hungry).  What an inspired choice this turned out to be.  The owner was super helpful and asked us if we would like to use the Sauna.  We spent a good hour in the Jacuzzi and Sauna, followed by a great meal.  The total bill for the triple room, sauna, meal and breakfast was approx. €170.  I was glad in a way that Alleghe was closed, otherwise we wouldn't have found this hotel.  Highly recommended by all of us. 

The hotel was very quiet.  We were the only ones in apart from a group of 5 young promising Austrian cross country skiers (I guess aged from 15-20) who used cycling as a form of training for their sport.  The owner of the hotel told us they were apparently a select group!

We all slept like the proverbial log, and this was the hotel which changed our priorities when searching out a hotel.  The first question from now on would be - 'avete la sauna?' :-)

Hotel details...

Hotel Montanina