Valle Friz MTB

-Dove vai?

-Alla strada sterrata da Piancavallo al Cansiglio

-Ah, per questo hai comprato la bici di montagna?

- (sheepishly) Sì

My neighbor Nerina always can read my mind.  Maybe because she has two sons about my age.

I set off down to Costa and rode up the back way to Rifugio Bornass, then continued on the main road to Castaldia.  Normally from there I take the Col Alto road, but today I stayed on the main highway.  It's actually very nice when traffic is sparse like this morning, immersed in green forest all the way up to Piancavallo.

At Piancavallo I headed southwest toward Sauc, Casera Campo, and finally on the dirt/gravel to Casera Valle Friz.  This is a beautiful little pastoral zone at 1515 meters.  A sign said they raise organic sheep and goats.   From here the gravel road continues to Col della Palse, where I ascended from Mezzomonte a few weeks ago.  The forest gets thicker here, with beautiful fir trees.  A charming little farmhouse at Casera Costa Cervera was covered in bright flowers, with  a small herd of very clean, healthy-looking cows basking in the sun, chewing cud.

The road continues southwestward, generally descending but with some saliscendi as well,  past more rural eateries: Malga Folador, Malga Brusada, Malga Pizzoc and finally Malga Coda di Bosco.  At this last you join the main road down to Sarone, then home.

The mountain bike worked great- about the only minor complaint I have is the soft seat, but I have a spare I can install.  It's the perfect bike for these mountain dirt roads, so I'll be trying to explore more of them in future.  This ride today was fantastic and I can't wait to return.

Casera Valle Friz

View of the forest above Mezzomonte

Steep slopes loggers used to slide  trees down to Coltura

Toward the malghe above Caneva and Sarone

A primitive rock wall to keep livestock from wandering away

Contented cows at Casera Costa Cervera