Woke up to the alarm as usual and went
to have some breakfast. At breakfast we met two other bikers which
where spending the days biking around St. Vigil. After packing up all
our things, getting out our rain gear (as it had started raining) and
repacking our rain gear (as it stopped ten minutes later) we set of
towards the Pederü house. Biked past the place the bike group had
stayed four years ago and proceeded up a hill before going up along
the valley. The GPS encountered some problems, so we took a few
detours at some points. Had a few more metres in altitude thanks to
that. We meet six bikers on our way up the valley, all German
speaking. Had a chat and turned out they don't like water as they
used every mini bridge across the stream we where following. They
turned out to be a lot faster than us as they left us in the dust.
Last time I biked up that valley it was blue sky and sunshine, but
this time we had a very heavy cloud cover and getting near to the hut
we where caught in a downpour. We stood under the Pederü house until
the rain had receded, like so many other bikers. Had a good view of
the concrete road our group had tried to get up four years before.
After the rain had turned of downpour
mode we set up towards the Rifugio Fanes. A way up where we met a lot
of other bikers. On the way up, the clouds lifted a little and we had
some sunshine moments in the dolomites. Stunning views as I remember
them. Nico had a small competition against two women and I (tried) to
keep up for the most time. The sun shone over us for a while on the
way up, so that kept us sweating. Reached the Rifugio Fanes and
ploughed on to the top. Reaching the top (after passing a very
Scottish/Welsh lake -> misty) we put our long and waterproof
clothes on, enjoyed the view (50m sight) and biked down to the Malga
di Fanes Grande where we had a very good lunch. Just at the right
time as well as it started raining a bit again. We also met our six
collogues from before again. We had overtaken them when they had some
breakfast in the Pederü house. Going downhill we where greeted with
sunshine again and a very rocky track. Typical Dolomites again. Some
spectacular scenery again, but we had already reached the bottom in
the valley of Cortina d' Ampezzo. Biked through forest, along
riverbeds and even on an old airfield towards Cortina. Lots of people
in the area again.
After following the bike path in to Cortina we had
a short break to eat our sandwiches from the morning. Passed a lot of
people, some strange some not and Nico got a picture of a car. We
rolled down most of the time, just sitting on our bikes and letting
the bike do all the work. There where some parts uphill, but they
where few and far apart. We managed a lot of kilometres that way, but
it felt really slow to me. After some time we started looking for an
overnight possibility but the first place we found was a bit over our
budget. So roll to the next town we did. Also nothing there. It
complicates the situation a bit when Nico and I can not speak Italian
and no one here speaks English or German. After rolling on, asking at
a bar and then a tourist information we finally got a place located
just about next to our track. Very cheap considering we got a whole
flat for ourself. TV, kitchen, etc. everything there (except internet
of course *grumble*, but we had had no luck what so ever with that in
the Alps). The owners even drove us to the nearest supermarket and
then to a very good pizzeria. Very friendly people, with lots of
forthcoming help. Thank you again to the Rosa appartamento in Valle
di Cadore for all they did. After stuffing ourselves with Pizza we
went back to watch a DVD. Then to bed and to write the blog.
Time in saddle: 5 hours 36 min.
Distance: 69.28 km
Average speed: 12.37 km/h
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