2008 09 02 End of the Tour

I am sitting in an empty hallway in the Frankfurt airport waiting for my flight home. It boards in a couple of hours, but the gate hasn't been assigned yet. I hope I am near the right area. I got to Marco Polo airport in Venice early, so they put me on an earlier flight. I like that because the window between flights is much wider and there is little chance that I will miss a connection.

I didn't post blogs for 8/31 and 9/1 because I was too tired at the end of each day. So this blog will be the last one of the tour and cover those days as well as today.

Sunday

On Sunday, we left Il Fae at 9:00 for Hotel Villa Stucky. We had two vans for passengers and luggage plus one van for passengers and boxed bicycles. It took us about 1 1/2 hours to get there. Once we were there, Jeff and I unloaded our luggage and walked to the train station. We got a jump on the others in our group who were not quite ready. We bought round-trip tickets to Venice and settled back for the short ride to the Venice train station.

After debarking in Venice, we went to the vaporetti ticket office and got 12 hour passes. The Number 2 line took us to Piazza San Marco where we got off. We were getting hungry, so we tried to find a small restaurant in the area where I had eaten before. We couldn't find it so we settled on another place where we had panini. Then we went back to the piazza and toured the basilica museum. We couldn't get into the basilica because mass was in progress and when we finished the museum tour, we would have had to wait too long. So we decided to take a walk so I could show Jeff some of the areas we had been to in the past. We found some of them, but my memory and navigation skills are getting worse and we missed a few. Jeff got a chance to visit the Academia art museum while I waited outside for him.

We did some more exploring and had gellato and Italian cookies. We thought that we were going to stay in Venice for dinner but we were pretty tired at this point. So we went back to the train station and rode to Mogliano and Hotel Villa Stucky. We checked into our room and found that we were assigned a room with a twin bed. If I had a cycling roommate other than Jeff, I would have insisted on changing to a room with two beds. It didn't bother us, though.

We were able to join our group for our final Happy Hour. Several of us went into Magliano for dinner splitting up into a pizza group and a real-food group. We went for real food. Jeff had pizza anyway while I had a forgettable gnoche with ragu sauce. We walked back through the town square and stopped for gelato.

Villa Hotel Stucky

Monday

On Monday morning, we said goodbye to everyone that we saw in our group. Then we grabbed our luggage and rolled to the train station. When we debarked, I checked my bicycled case at the left luggage counter. It was too heavy and bulky to carry to our hotel. We bought 24-hour vaporetti passes and took the Number 1 line to the Realto Mercanti stop where we walked a very short distance to Pensione Gueratto. This is a well-situated hotel with one side facing the Realto Market. It was mid morning and we were ready for a snack so we bought some bananas and a melon at the market, took them to our room and ate the melon. It was very juicy and hit the spot.

We rode the water bus to Piazza San Marco, ate pannini (brown bread, meats, etc.) at a recommended panini store and went to visit the Doge's Palace. (I had forgotten to bring my Rick Steves' tour information and was feeling very bad about it, but the hotel had several copies of the Venice book that were left by previous guests. We borrowed one for the day). The palace tour wore us out. It's funny that we can ride our bicycles over the Alps and Dolomites and feel more tired walking the hard, stone streets of Venice.

Even though we were tired, we walked through the basilica. The dress-code police are not as strict as before. I wore shorts and wasn't stopped. We walked back to an internet cafe where we had some time left from the day before and checked our flights and looked at our emails. Then we toured the old Jewish ghetto. After that, we walked to the bus station so that we would be prepared for the next morning's departure.

WWII Memorial in the Ghetto

Back at the hotel, we took a rest. I tried to read, but I managed to doze instead especially because Jeff plied me with beer.

Soon we were off again to find a Venician mask maker and store near our hotel. We found the store, but they were done making masks for the day. Jeff had ideas about buying a mask, but they were very expensive. After that, we were off testing our navigational and map reading skills to find Osteria Masaroni fro dinner. We got there about 40 minutes too early (they open at 7:00) so we hung out at S Formosa square watching the locals doing their after-work routine like dog walking, bench chatting, etc.

We were the first into Osteria Masaroni unlike two years ago when we were lucky to get a table. It smelled sooooo good that our appetites got got larger and larger. We ordered the house red wine and then decided on our meal. Our antipasto was a mixed selection of squid, shrimp, potatoes, sweet red peppers, onions, tomatoes, etc. It was delicious . Our pasta course was spaghetti with fresh tuna. It was very good and filling. For dolce we had panna cota with raspberries and blackberries.

Osteria Masaroni

After dinner we strolled over to Piazza San Marco to see it at night. We got lost on the way and got to see some of the Venice neighborhoods that most tourists don't get to. We finally got to the Grand Canal and then to Piazza San Marco a little later than we expected. There were still many tourists there, but not as many as the daytime. The dueling orchestras were playing but nobody was dancing. The extremely over-priced cafes were almost empty. Overall, there seemed to be many fewer tourists in Venice than my previous trips there. Maybe it's because of the exchange rate,  maybe it's because of the expense of Venice or maybe because it was the first of September and many people were going back to work.

Piazza San Marco at Night

We walked over to the water bus for our ride back to the hotel. For a surprise, we met Steve and Cynthia at the pier. They were getting off of the boat to see the piazza at night. We chatted for a few minutes and then were off to our hotel.

Tuesday

 

Jeff was up at 5:15 so that he could catch a vaporetto and a bus to get to the airport for his flight home. My flight was much later, so I slept for another hour and had the breakfast buffet at the hotel. At 9:00 I checked out and took the vaporetto to the train station. My bicycle case was still there at the left luggage counter. I paid for it, rode the vaporetto to the P Roma stop and caught the bus for the airport.

Here is a Venice transportation tip: When you buy a vaporetti pass, it is valid for the orange local busses as well. When you leave the airport, buy a pass and ride the Number 5 bus to Venice. You get dropped off at the P Roma vaporetti stop after a 20 minute ride. When going to the airport, do this in reverse. This is way, way, way cheaper than riding in a water taxi.

I got to the airport several hours before my flight was due to take off. When I checked in, the counter agent asked me if I'd like to take an earlier flight. I agreed. So I went through Security and Passport Control, walked onto the plane and was pleased that my seat was next to Art Hewig, our tour director. He, Rose, Ralph and Larry were on the flight.

After I debarked in Frankfurt, Art and Rose were rushing to there connection. Larry and Ralph were flying to Los Angeles so I lost track of them. So I wandered around the airport and had lunch - meatloaf, spätzle and broccoli chase by a large beer. When I left the restaurant, the police had the main mall area of the airport cordoned off. I quickly left the area and walked to my terminal. I was able to sit for awhile and work more on this blog until my battery ran low.

So, I caught my plane to SFO. Ann picked me up at the airport. It's now Wednesday and I am publishing this as my last blog for this trip.

2008 08 30 Belluno to Il Fae, Conegliano

Our route today, the last day of riding, was rated difficult. Because of that, were were on the road by 8:00. We were the last to leave. We rode through the old section of Belluno on cobbled streets until we reached the outskirts. Then we began a series of short climbs on quiet, narrow country roads. At 8 miles, we began a climb of 900 feet in three miles. It was gradual and very manageable. At 15 miles we had our most difficult climb of the day - 1400 feet in 4 miles. At the top in Tambre, there was a Saturday market. We wandered through part of it and saw, among other things, small birds for sale and large raptors on display.

The route carried on up and down through forested land and a couple of beautiful, green high plains. We were getting hungry but it was well before noon and the sparse restaurants in the area did not have lunch food or were booked. So we carried on. Fortunately we had a steep 6 mile descent into Fregona. Halfway down the hill the view opened up and we could see the vast expanse of the Venetian Plain. It was very hazy, though, so the view was disappointing. We could feel the temperature rising several degrees.

At the bottom of the descent in Fregona, we stopped at an Osteria and had pannini. Then we started another series of ups and downs that were fairly gradual. We stopped ju st outside of Fregonia to look at some grottos. We had to pay .50 euros to park our bikes and then hiked down a path to look at the series of caves. Jeff went farther than I and got some good photos.

 

Pretty soon we reached the old town of Vittorio Veneto. It had an old square surrounded by ancient buildings with interesting frescos on their facades. It also had a new square with fountains and flowers.

Our final stretch took us through rolling hills past vinyards of prosecco grapes. This is the region where prosecco comes from. We had no time for wine tasting but we did stop for gelatto. The temperature was in the high 80's, so it really tasted good.

We reached Agriturismo Il Fae B & B in mid afternoon. I immediately disassembled my Bike Friday and packed it while Jeff turned in his rented bike and went for a swim in the B & B's pool. Once I showered, we joined the rest of the group for refreshments and conversation.

Dinner was al fresco. We had several tasty dishes cooked by the B & B's owner. Wine was from grapes from their vineyard. We also had grapes that were freshly picked while we were eating and fresh figs from their trees. Dessert was fruit tarts that were the best I have had ever.

Daily Statistics

Mileage	54
Maximum Speed	38.4
Average Speed	10.1
Moving Time	5:19
Elevation Gain	5355
Weather	60's to 80's and sunny

2008 08 29 Alleghe to Belluno

Our start today was much easier than the previous two days. We left the ski town of Alleghe at 8:40, rode beside its lake for a couple of kms on the main road, and then branched off onto a secondary road. We followed the river that came out of the lake downhill for another 18 kms for a descent of 1100 feet. We had to ride on the main highway for very short stretches, but our main route was away from cars, busses and motorcycles. It was very peaceful and quiet.

After we went through the town of Agordo, we branched off of the main road again and began a 1250 foot climb in 5 miles. This climb was very gradual and had many switchbacks. We had shade most of the way which was becoming valuable. We went through a few small villages and finally reached the top and rode along the ridge for a couple of miles.

The Church in Agordo

We reached the bottom of the Mis Valley after a steep descent of of 7 miles and 1700 feet. Here we started riding along the Mis River. There were hardly any cars on the narrow road. We passed through a series of ten short, unlit tunnels carved under the cliffs alongside the road. One tunnel had a curve in it so light wasn't showing from the end. It turned pitch black and I had to stop until the headlights from a car coming from the other direction gave me enough illumination to ride forward out the end of the tunnel.

Sample of a Short Tunnel and the Mis River

The narrow valley finally ended at a dam where people were picnicking and fishing. We passes through the villages of Mis and Mas and had several short climbs and descents into Belluno. The directions to our hotel were complex. We met several riders in our group at the outskirts, so we all were able to share our navigational skills to get to the Albergo Cappello e Cadore ***.

After showering, Jeff and I wandered around the hotel's vicinity trying to find a pizzeria for lunch. We finally found one next door to our hotel. We each had a beer and whole pizza. The wood-fired pizzas were large, but the thin crust made them lighter than most US pizzas.

After a short nap, we did some more city wandering. Jeff took pictures of the old buildings. The city was not very impressive in terms of old buildings and churches. There were very few people in the streets and almost no traffic.

Old Buildings in Belluno

Dinner was on our own tonight. We ate in La Taverna, a nice restaurant in an old timbered building. We shared bruschetta and white beans for appetizers. Jeff had thin noodles with a pesto sauce for his main course while I had flat noodles with a ragu sauce. Desert for Jeff was tiramisu. Mine was panna cotta with chocolate saute. Everything was good except the soggy bruschetta - the tomatoes were too juicy.

Daily Statistics

Mileage	40
Maximum Speed	34.2
Average Speed	12.3
Moving Time	3:16
Elevation Gain	2422
Weather	Sunny 50's to 80's

2008 08 28 Selva to Alleghe

I should have expected it, that today was another climbing day. When we left our hotel at 8:40, we turned right and climbed 2300 feet in the first 6 miles up to Sella Pass. Along the way and, in fact, the last two days we saw marking on the road encouraging riders in the Giro d' Italia. We are actually riding through the passes of the Giro. Of couse, it takes us four days to do what they do in one day. Pretty impressive.

The ride up to Stella Pass was not real steep compared to what we have done in the last few days, especially in Austria. The temperature was cool and actually got down into the high 40's. I had on arm warmers, leg warmers and a jacket. When I got to the top, my arms felt a little wet so I took off my jacket. When I did so, water was pouring out my sleeves and my arm warmers were very wet. I didn't realize that I sweated that much.

Jeff Near the Top of Passo Stella

Jeff and I split up here because he wanted to take an extra out-and-back on Passo Pordoi, another Gyro pass that added another 13 km and 1000 feet of climbing to our route. I continued on the main route, pausing at a memorial to Fausto Coppi, a legend in Italian bicycle racing. I dropped down to Canazei where I stopped at a cafe and had cappuccino and apple strudel with Peter. I hadn't eaten a very big breakfast because I have been avoiding milk products so this stop was good for me to refuel.

Jeff showed up a while later. He was hungry, so we went to another cafe where he had una pininno. Then we were off again for our second climb of the day up to Passo Fedaia. This was a steady climb of 8 miles for just under 2000 feet. The grade was fairly gradual at an average of 6%. There were some steeper sections, though. Jeff stayed with me on the climb and we stopped near the top and at the top for some photo ops.

The remaining ride was downhill all the way to Alleghe. The first part of the descent was very steep and had a bunch of switchbacks. I had to do a lot of breaking. We went through a couple of well-lighted tunnels.

When we got to Alleghe, we checked into our hotel, Hotek Alleghe ***, we showered and then went to a brew pub that Jeff spotted. We sat outside and had a couple of its micro brews, a cold meat plate with several kinds of fatty meats and cheese for protein, and some French fries for salt. We were soon joined by the pannier girls and Norbert. Dinner was to be much later, so we felt justified to refuel.

Dinner was good. For a starter, Jeff had pasta carbinara. I had minestrone. We both had roasted-on-a-spit young rooster. Desert was birthday cake for Spoke.

Daily Statistics

Mileage	34
Maximum Speed	39.5
Average Speed	9.7
Moving Time	3:32
Elevation Gain	4380
Weather	Sunny 40's to 70's

2008 08 27 Cortina to Selva

We had two major climbs today. The first started right outside of Cortina. The temperature was on the cool side when we started at 8:30, but the start of the climb warmed me up enough to shed my leg warmers and jacket. It was a steady climb that averaged 5.6%. There was a short break at 3.5 miles where we stopped for a few minutes to take a rest. Then the road tilted up again until we reached 11 miles. This was the top of Valparola Pass at 7200 feet. We had climbed 3500 feet.

The views from the top were incredible. There were towering mountains above us and emerald valleys below us. There was an Austro-Hungarian WWI fortress on the side of the road that now functions as a museum dedicated to "The Great War". There also was a huge signboard that depicted where all of the Austrian and Italian battlements were with their artillery. You could easily imagine how the soldiers would fire at each other.

Where the Battlements Were

We went down the other side of the pass into the Badia Valley. We passed through several small towns and at 20 miles, we started a gradual climb. Jeff and I were getting hungry so we pulled over to a small hotel and ate pasta on its terrace. My lunch was thin noodles with fresh tomatoes and basil. Jeff had penne pasta with a sauce that had red peppers and garlic. We know that the next major climb was coming up, so we had to get some fuel in our bodies.

After another 1 km of gradual climbing, we turned right and saw what was ahead of us. Straight ahead was a wall that rose 2000 feet. Fortunately there were lots of switchbacks so the grade wasn't too steep - 9 km at an average of 6.1%. I told Jeff that I would see him at the top and he slowly accelerated ahead of me. I shifted down to my lowest gear and panted my way to the top making one stop to drink some water. It's hard to drink while you are peddling up a grade, especially when you are on a squirrelly Bike Friday.

View of the Switchbacks (That's me in the lower left)

Jeff was waiting for me at the top of Passo Gardena at just under 7000 feet. We went across the road to the pass sign and took some pictures. This seems to be a tradition in Italy because we had other cyclists stop for the same reason. I took a picture for a woman cyclist from Florence and she took a group picture for us.

Paul, Cynthia, Steve, Me and Jeff

The views from the top were just as spectacular as the previous pass. The mountains are very steep and they tend to rise to craggy peaks. They look like monster cathedrals with large bases and towering steeples.

We mounted our bicycles again and rode downhill all the way to Selva Gardena. Our hotel, Hotel Krone *** is in the middle of town. Our room is small, but we have a fantastic view of the green hillside above us with a gondola lift taking people to the top of the mountain. As it was in Cortina, Selva is centered on winter skiing. There are lots of shops selling ski gear as well as hiking gear.

Gondola from Our Hotel Room

Happy Hour was at 6:00 with dinner following at 7:30. Jeff and I had lasagne, salad from the salad bar and frog fish (we don't know either). Jeff had ice cream for desert while I had macaroon cake. Our meal wasn't the greatest but it was OK.

Daily Statistics

Miles	36
Maximum Speed	41.1
Average Speed	8.8
Moving Time	4:03
Elevation Gain	5700
Weather	50's to 70's and sunny

2008 08 26 Cortina

This was our last rest day. After eating from a huge breakfast buffet, I decided to laze around town. I caught up on internet stuff, cleaned my bike, walked up the pedestrian mall, had pizza and beer for lunch (good, crispy pizza with capers, anchovies and olives) and beer, and read. Jeff went for the optional ride and reported that it was difficult but had great views. It was also part of this year's Giro d' Italia. There was writing up and down the road surface with riders' names. He ran onto a herd of cows, had a few difficult ascents along with their screaming descents, took a run on the bobsled course and arrived back at the hotel at about 3:00. Here are some photos from his ride:

Dinner tonight was the hotel's great buffet. Here are some pictures of it:

2008 08 25 Obertilliach to Cortina

I really slept well last night. It must have been because of the exercise, the altitude (5000 feet) and the quietness of our location. We got up at 6:30, had breakfast at 7:30 and were on the road at 8:30. The weather was clear and cool hovering around 50.

We started by climbing out of the valley we were staying in for about 6km. Then we had a fast downhill for 9 km into a different valley. This valley was wide and flat compared to yesterday where it was narrow and hilly. We turned onto a bicycle route and rode along a river for several kms. Along the way, we crossed into Italy. This was a non-event. There were no border markings on the bicycle route so we had to look to our left on a parallel road to see the old border crossing buildings. We rode over to the road and Jeff took some pictures.

Entering Italy

The bicycle route continued for a long ways. It was fairly flat. We saw hundreds of cyclists riding in family groups. Maybe it was a holiday in Italy, because nobody seemed to be working. The shops in the villages along the way were open, though. We stopped in S Candido/Innichen for a snack - chocolate filled pastry.

Family Cyclists

After a while at about 36 km the bicycle road turned to compact gravel. It was easy to ride on for the most part. We had the option to ride on the main highway, but we decided to keep on the gravel. The trail turned into mountain bike single track for a stretch of about 1 km. There were several muddy, slimy spots as well as some very short major downs and ups. I walked through a couple of these but Jeff powered over them.

The Mountain Bike Trail

The trail ended shortly before Durrensee/Lago di Landro. We stopped at a restaurant at the lake for lunch. The outdoor patio overlooked the lake and it was warm enough to eat there. I had the house macaroni while Jeff had a huge salad. We ate with Ralph and Larry. Cynthia and Steve arrived while we were eating. Steve and Jeff negotiated for our extra loop going up to Tre Cime. I eagerly volunteered to ride along with Cynthia along our main route to Cortina. (My legs were toast).

We had two more climbs. The first was towards Tre Croci Pass. At the top was the picturesque Lago Misurina. The last was over Tre Croci Pass. Neither one was very difficult or long although they both had some 12% sections. The final downhill was steep and fun. I was held back by some cars, so I couldn't go very fast.

View after the First Climb abd a Shot of Lago Misurina.

When we got to Cortina, our route to the hotel took us through the main shopping/strolling street. There were lots of upscale shops along the way.

We arrived at Hotel Majoni ****, parked our bikes and checked in. Jeff was still on the road coming in from his Tre Cime climb. When he got here, he reported that it was extremely difficult but worth it for the views. Our room is large, clean and comfortable. It comes with free internet.

View from Tre Cime

We had Happy Hour at 5:30. It lasted for an hour. To kill time before our 8:00 dinner, we walked up and down the main shopping street. Our dinner was a buffet. It had all sorts of antipastos, salads, fruit, meat, seafood, pasta, etc. There was too much to explain. Jeff and I grazed and came away happy.

Daily Statistics

Miles	45
Maximum Speed	41.4
Average Speed	10.4
Moving Time	4:18
Elevation Gain	3000
Weather	Sunny to partly cloudy. Temps low 50's to mid 70's

2008 08 24 Lienz to Obertilliach

Thunderstorms from yesterday were all gone. We awoke to some fog in the mountains, but it soon burned off but it was a little cool. Leaving our hotel, we retraced the last 5 km our our route from two days ago and then continued on the bicycle path alongside the river all the way to Oberdrauburg. An interesting note, along the bicycle path there was a signboard with several bicycle tools that people could use to make repairs. We were wondering how long these would last in the States.

Bicycle Tools and a View of the River Along the Bicycle Path

We now began our first climb of the day for 6.5 km. It was a moderate climb, somewhat like Tunnel Road but slightly steeper. We dropped down to Kotschach were we stopped for a brief rest as we caught up to some of the earlier starters at a roadside cafe.

The Roadside Cafe

Then it was off to Lesachtal, a remote unspoiled valley with a small population. It was here that we began a series of climbs. The valley is narrow with high mountains on both sides. It contains many small villages, farmland with hay and areas famous for beef and lamb. The weather was in the 60's and 70's with clear skies and very little wind. The topography of the road reminded some of us of the Pacific Coast route with many ups and downs - down into corners and up the other side. Some of the ascents into the villages were quite steep.

We stopped in the small village Birmbaum for lunch which turned out to be pretty good. I had chicken pieces that were in a rich cream sauce. There were vegetables in the sauce, too. Speatzle was my side dish. Jeff had ham Cordon Bleu with fries.

We peddled on after lunch and stopped a few times for pictures. Jeff is taking most of the photos because he is faster and has to wait for me. While he is waiting, he takes pictures. He also stops for photos and catches up to me. It doesn't seem to wear him out, though. One highlight of our day came when we stopped in a village where they were having some kind of celebration. They had a portable beer hall set up with a band and dancers. Jeff got a good video of the dancers doing woodmen's dance. You will see this on our website later.

The Beer Hall and the Dancers

We arrived at our hotel shortly after 3:00. The Hotel Gasthof Unterwoeger*** is a huge gasthof in Obertilliach at 5000 feet elevation. It is furnished with a lot of stuffed hunting memorabilia and has the feel of an alpine lodge. Our room is large and comfortable. Dinner was in the hotel. Jeff and I had the same thing. We started with salad from the salad bar. Then we had a clear soup with three kinds of dumplings. Our main course was lamb with string beans wrapped in bacon and risotto. Desert was three kinds of ice cream.

Daily Statistics

Miles	44
Maximum Speed	37.8
Average Speed	10.4
Moving Time	4:15
Elevation Gain	4785
Weather	Clear and cool to warm