I climbed the 20 kms from the town of Auronzo (864 mts on the sea level) to the Pearl of the Dolomites, the beautiful Misurina at the foot of the climb towards the Tre Cime di Lavaredo. Here you can see what kind of scenery I had before my eyes when I collapsed on a bench completely spent:
It was a wonderful day for a ride and the first 12 kms until the resort of Palù San Marco (1125mts), where the Italian National Sky Team - or at least part of it - is having one of its summer camps, went smoothly despite my being completely out of form due to the sedentary job I have actually got. The road went gently upward until there but after that...
After Palù San Marco you have a couple of kms where the road hit an almost steady 6% crescent to 1250mts and ten you pass a sign or your right that read: 12% crescent ahead. My legs (who already rode 15kms in the morning) started to tell me "please, can we go home please?" to which I replied stubbornly that I wanted to climb higher. My pace slowed there and I almost never got above 10km/h again until Misurina.
The final 6 kms feature some breathtaking scenery with Mount Sorapis on your left and the Mount Cristallo (Crystal) right in front of you. And you know that at km 135 of the National Road 48 you'll find the junction that will take you to the Tre Croci pass if you turn left (it last featured in the Giro in 2007), but when you look to your right at the sign you're still at km 138,700 and you're still at the Hotel Cristallo where some of the paths leading into the Mount Sorapis begin.
I admit I couldn't do it all in one go, I had to take 3 breaks before climbing back on the bike to push it higher and higher, but the satisfaction on seeing the old hospital for asthmatic kids first (even though the slope was still going up at 7%) and finally the lake was wonderful. I reached my goal, took a picture of the scenery and sent it to a Dutch sports journalist who's a good friend of mine to tell him: "next time you come to Italy remember that the Dolomites are waiting for you" and I finally got my teeth on the sandwich I brought with me.
For the ones that feel bol enough to keep climbing after reaching Misurina there is always the road that leads up to the Rifugio Auronzo and the Tre Cime probably the most gruesome climb I've ever did (only once, back in 1997 and 10 kgs ago).
The descent back to Auronzo is a technical one until Palù San Marco, and I was unlucky since I found a damned Mondeo ahead of me that either couldn't drive or was the first time he did that road (I vote for the former). Luckily I could overcome him after 3kms and I was then able to hit 70km/h in one of the few straights before Palù San Marco. From then on it was like riding through butter with some of my strenght back courtesy of the cheese sandwich.
Right now my legs are killing me, but I feel nonetheless satisfied. The forecast for tomorrow is grim looking but if it's wrong and it doesn't rain I'll do another 20+ kms loop around Mount Rusiana.
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