Cycling Dolomiti Friulane: Passi Falzarego e Valparola

Returned to the border of Dolomiti Bellunese and Alto Adige today after a week of rain, scheduling conflicts etc. Felt good to be back in the mountains.

Passo Falzarego is at the crossroads of Cortina- Alta Badia and the road from Caprile. I decided on the southern approach from Caprile (998m) because it starts closer to home. The road begins climbing a set of switchbacks almost immediately, so I didn't warm up sufficiently. It was quite a chilly, shady morning so I tried standing in the pedals to generate heat, but the grade was only 7-8% so standing didn't help much. Around 1500 meters you emerge from the mountains' shadow and cold is no longer an issue. Now you begin the actual ascent of the pass, with a series of 17 tornanti carrying you through meadows, forest and finally rocky alpine-scape to Passo Falzarego (2117m). Some lovely peaks here- Sass di Stria and Lagazuoi (2752m) standing out. Continued another couple of kilometers upward to Passo Valparola (2192m). Wonderful views from the pass to the north, south and west.

I headed down the descent into Alta Badia- first beautiful San Cassiano then La Villa (1420m). The shady curves were damp- it had snowed earlier in the week, and though the roads were cleared I worried there might be black ice from snowmelt and low temps at night. No problems though.

After La Villa the road climbs gradually toward Corvara (1522m). Here I repeated the climb over Passo Campolongo (1875m) as on the previous ride of Sella Ronda. At Arabba (1600m) I headed down the rolling main road toward Digonera and Livinallongo (1470m). From here it's a fun descent down into the gorgeous valley of Torrente Cordevole to Saviner di Lasta, Rocca Pietore and Caprile.

This is a fun ride, not too steep. I'd love to ride it clockwise someday, as the climb from La Villa to Passo Valparola looked quite inviting.