Day 1 - Arabba-Passo Giau-Passo Falzarego-Passo Valparola-Passo Campolongo-Arabba (52 miles)

Profiles: Passo Giau
Passo Falzarego/Valparola
Passo Campolongo

Unlike Richard, I like the sound of bells.  OK, maybe at 7am in the morning they're an acquired taste, but for me they remind me very much of Italy whenever I hear them, and this morning it was no dream, we were here.

Konrad and I were that keen to get going, we went down to breakfast in our cycling gear!  Embarrassingly we were the only ones - but we don't get embarrassed easily these days ;-) After a short debate, it was decided to 'go for it' from the off, and the Passo Giau route would be the one for today.  I must say I was pleased.  I really loved this climb last time and I knew the guys who hadn't been up there before would be blown away by the fantastic views at the summit. 
I was also looking forward to passing through Colle Santa Lucia again with it's stunning little church perched on an outcrop over the valley.  The only cloud on the horizon was how we would fare on these hills on the tandem!

In no time at all, breakfast was consumed (and very good these breakfasts were too) and the seven of us (Mauro had now joined us from his hotel and was waiting outside) were ready to go.

It's a lovely start for Colle Santa Lucia from Arabba - downhill!  It wasn't long of course before we had a first stop to tweak a few bike settings which I won't embarrass the perpetrator with (schoolboy error Jon ;-) - and he worked in a bike shop!

After the initial descent, we started the climb up to Andraz shortly after which we reached the split in the road (Falzarego one way, Colle Santa Lucia the other).  Another big descent before the turn off and we started the climb up to Colle Santa Lucia.  Just before a short galleria, Stu punctured (thankfully the only one of the trip) so while some stayed behind to sort that out, we ambled our way up to a viewpoint we knew on the road.  From there, there are fantastic views.  Down below is Caprile, and the road going out to Sottoguda and the Fedaia Pass can easily be seen.  To the left in the distance is Alleghe and its lovely lake.  After a few photo's we all regrouped and were soon passing through Colle Santa Lucia and another good descent down to a junction where we took a left for the start of the Passo Giau. 

Again, we stopped here to take off arm warmers etc (these wouldn't be needed for a while!) and after a bit of banter, we set off up the climb.  We started first (at least we could say we led for a few metres on the Passo Giau ;-)  We were both under no illusions this climb is hard, but surprisingly we were both feeling very good and decided that we would 'leave it in the middle ring' and see how we got on.  Before I get carried away and you think - wow!  - we do have a mountain bike cassette on the back ;-) In no time at all all the rest had passed us and were long gone, and we were left to fend for ourselves.  It would be great if we could climb more at the others pace, but - well let's just say - that's never going to happen is it.  At least we had each others company.  Despite all that, we felt (for us) that we were going very well, never in any trouble at all, even managing to have a good natter all the way up, and as the road snaked around through the trees our confidence rose with the height gain.  Now tandems are pretty rare things to see in Italy and we had a good chat with a surprised Italian chap who caught us as we neared the part I'd not been looking forward to - the long straight ramp up through the galleria.  Whether it was the talking or what I don't know, but before I knew it we were through and up to the Rifugio Fedare where seven years ago we'd stopped for a bowl of bean soup.  No stopping this time.  We pushed on up towards the wonderful summit, and before long we could hear Glenn shouting encouragement from the cafe.  That spurred us on and we dropped a couple of gears and went for it to the top.  The summit at 2,236m was all I remembered - stunning views with great blocks of rock rising up vertically out of the ground.  Quintessential Dolomites.

I always feel a tad guilty at the top, knowing the others have been hanging around for 20 minutes or more, but either they hide it really well, or really don't mind.  Glenn was in his element.  He'd already cracked off a shed load of photo's and had even taken some videos of us coming to the summit (though we usually get something like 'come on lads - I've only got 20 minutes of video left!' ;-)  Thankfully, I never heard the usual - 'here they come - The Chuckle Brothers' though I'm sure it'll have got in there somewhere.  We had a great bowl of soup at the cafe and then it was back out for the stupendous descent.

On with the jackets and we set off, stopping occasionally for more 'must have' photos.  At one point, we passed a herd of cows on the left with a huge bull with them.  On the other side of the road was another herd of cows he was eyeing up.  The barrier between them?  A piece of orange tape strung form some very rickety looking poles.  I couldn't see that holding him back somehow!  It's a truly glorious descent.  Part way down we saw a motorbike that had gone 'off-road' down a steep embankment and two blokes trying to get it back onto the road.  I didn't fancy their chances.  The disc brake on the tandem worked really well.  No doubt it was 'glowing' at times, but it coped well around the tight hairpins.  In what seemed no time at all, we reached the junction at Pocol where we all regrouped, jackets off, and took a left for the start of the Passo Falzarego.

Now, this pass is nothing like the Giau in terms of steepness, but for some reason, it really took its toll.  We just couldn't seem to get into a comfortable gear and what made it worse was that the gradient didn't seem particularly bad.  We felt we should have been going up much faster than we were.  There are some long straight drags on the Falzarego which are maybe more psychological than anything.  Anyhow, after what seemed like an age we finally reached the summit at 2,105m.  Jon had kindly waited at the top and informed us that the others had carried on the last 2km up to the right for the summit of the Passo Valparola.  This one looked worse than it actually was and in no time we'd reached the summit and we all regrouped.  It's quite a barren landscape on the top of the Valparola and there's a fortress built by the Austro-Hungarian army in the 19th century that's now a museum of the Great War, which apparently was carnage up there.

Not quite carnage for us, we now had a fantastic descent off the Passo Valparola way down to La Villa passing through San Cassiano on the way.  This is a very fast descent, but we stopped numerous times to take photos of the gob-smacking scenery.  The others had gone on ahead but Glenn stayed with us and we stopped in La Villa where a very friendly local took a couple of photos for us.  Little did we know, but 100 yards up the road the rest were waiting. We set off for Corvara along a busier road with Mauro leading the way.  Corvara is in a lovely position at the foot of the Gardena and Campolongo passes, with views to die for.  More photos and we began the climb of the Campolongo.  Near enough to home now for everyone to do their own thing.  This pass starts with several hairpins before straightening out and becoming a long drag to the summit at 1,875m, the lowest of the day.  We started to see quite a few cyclists here and on the descent.  All warming up for tomorrows Sportif (The Dolimiti Stars).

The descent took us right down into Arabba - just a few yards from the hotel - perfect!  There was a lot going on in town.  A parade of old vehicles, and even older skiers! and the place was humming with cyclists for tomorrows event.

Thoughts on the day: