Forchia Meduno

I peeped outside this morning and there were thunderclouds in all directions, except one- northeast. So I headed that way, expecting to turn around any second. I wondered where I should ride. Best case, maybe I could go to Meduno, Campone, maybe even up through Navarons to Poffabro. With that in mind, at Meduno I headed up toward Forchia Meduno (see http://dolomiti-friulane.blogspot.com/2010/04/monte-valinis.html ).

It was a beautiful climb through the forest. At 530 meters a big meadow opens up on the right, and I saw a bushy-tailed red fox bounding through the grass toward a vineyard (maybe there's truth to the fox and the grapes fable?) At 550 meters a light sprinkle began- I figured maybe it was just a little mountain shower and I continued on up slope. At 630 meters I reached the forchia and it was decision time. The rain had picked up, making the choice easy- I headed back down the same way. Because of poor visibility, braking, and road drainage I descended slowly. At Meduno I joined the main road and sped up, but the rain just kept coming down. It was a good motivator to ride fast- I put out more effort than usual on the flats.

The rain itself wasn't so bad- it's the poor drainage, causing standing water on the roads. When possible I went around the water, but often traffic didn't permit, so I rode through. Between that and the rooster tails of passing cars, I was pretty filthy with road grime by the time I got home. A nice hot soak made all right with the world again.

So I'll go back again on a clearer day soon, maybe taking the hard way up from Campone, through Forchia Piccola to Forchia Tamer.

Map of climb