Il Cansiglio da Villa di Villa 2

Another 2 weeks of rain and finally a chance to ride- still overcast, but at least no rain.  I thought I'd climb from Villa di Villa to Il Cansiglio, then continue to Monte Pizzoc (1500m).

After cruising down Via Pedemontane to Villa di Villa, the climb began.  I stopped to take off my wind jacket, which was too hot for the humid 40s temps.  This is a very remote climb- no towns, few houses and hardly any traffic.  I did see a couple of hikers and one descending mountain biker.  It starts off with some steep 11-14% bits, then settles into a long steady climb through dense faggio forest at 8-10%.

I had to stop 4 or 5 times to catch my breath.  This is unusual on a climb of this moderate difficulty- it's not easy (1037m altitude gain in 15 km, at average grade of 6.8%), but normally I can do this without stopping and without feeling beat.  It's like I can't get enough air in my lungs.  Yesterday I had gone for a spirametry test and it indicated I don't have asthma, but something else is wrong.  Hopefully my doc will figure it out.

Anyway because of this and the fog/clouds I decided not to do Monte Pizzoc (an additional 438m elevation gain).  Instead I donned my wind jacket at Passo La Crosetta (1118m) and swooped down the hill to Sarone.  There were some stretches of dense fog, and the road was damp with some fallen rocks and lots of wet leaves in the corners so didn't descend as fast as in summer.

I thawed out awhile on the flattish road to Polcenigo, then climbed the additional 300m home,  quite beaten.

Gradient