Cycling Dolomiti Friulane: Pian delle Femene

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Pian delle Femene

A gorgeous September day. Cruised down Via Pedemontane Occidentale to Anzano and Vittorio Veneto. Near the park in front of the municipio I headed up the road to San Lorenzo. This is a lovely shady parkway, climbing easily up 13 tornanti to 417 meters. The village of San Lorenzo is in a pretty meadow, surrounded by rolling forested hills. The road continues up to a pass, then descends curvily to a junction. I turned right, through Nogarolo and down a bad road to Revine. I think I'll try turning left next time.

At Revine I turned left on the road toward Valdobbiadene, then took a right toward Pian delle Femene. It soon steepened to 10% grade. My back was still sore from Castello Valdajer on Friday, so I stood to climb most of the ascent. At 464 meters you reach the top of the Via Crucis from Santuario Santo Franceso da Paola, which reminded me of what I'd read in Passi e Valli in Bici Prealpi Venete  : "preceduto dai capitelli delle Via Crucis, facilemente associabili al personale "Calvario" di chi sale con una pendenza che non scende mai al di sotto del 10%."

The road is less shady than San Lorenzo, and climbs relentlessly except for some easing in the 180 degree curves of the tornanti. The baseline seems to be 10%, with numerous stretches of 11-12%, and a half kilometer of 13%. The average grade is 9.7% for 9 kilometers.

I reached the end of the paved road at Pian delle Femene (1126m), a meadowy area on the side of Monte Frascon. There were biting black flies so I headed back down. Took it slow on the descent because the road is generally good, but has some craters that would be bad if hit at speed.

At Revine I headed on the main road to Longhere north of Vittorio Veneto, through town and back home. Felt great on this return leg so I'm guessing there was a tailwind, because normally I'd have been tired.

I did notice on the ride home (and the earlier ride to Vittorio Veneto) a number of Italian young ladies driving just behind or alongside me, who then passed and smiled. I found this odd and can't figure it out. My hunches are:
   1. My hair is sticking out through the vents in my helmet, like a Flowbee
   2. My olive drab CamelBak clashes with my blue bike jersey and shorts
   3. They have never seen a road biker who doesn't shave his legs.

Anyway, try this climb if you are looking for a good workout. It also has great views of Il Cansiglio, Lago Revine, Vittorio Veneto, and the pass of San Lorenzo (felt strange looking down at it so far below after climbing it earlier).