Monte San Lorenzo

One last ride of the year to test drive a new chain on my old Merckx.   Warmed up in the big ring to Vivaro, Arba, Cavasso Nuovo, Fanna.  Then up the short, steep climb of Monte San Lorenzo  to 522 meters.  Quickly home via Val Colvera, Maniago, Ravedis.  Cold but partly sunny, perfect end of December weather.  Buon anno!

Monte Raut from San Lorenzo

La Crosetta da Cappella Maggiore

After our rainy Natale and Santo Stefano the rain stopped and I wanted to get one last ride in.  I picked the climb to Il Cansiglio from the Vittorio Veneto side.  I've only climbed it a couple of times, both times shortening it by starting from Osigo near Fregona.  Today instead I thought I'd try it from lower down.  After warming up on Via Pedemontana to Cordignano, I turned right at Pinidello and headed to Cappella Maggiore, following the signs for Fregona.  Now the road steepens to 8-10% and hovers around there for the next 12 km.  It's a very good workout though I really felt the lack of training from November/December.  At La Crosetta I donned my cold weather gear and headed down the steep descent to Sarone.  Never did thaw out real good the rest of the way home; had kind of a  dopey hypothermic feeling.  A hot bath seems to have fixed that.  Good ride- will try some of the adjacent dirt roads on MTB later.

Campanile di Osigo foreground; down the hill on the left is Fregona

Looking west toward Vittorio Veneto

Aimless Wandering

I set out intending to ride a variant of http://dolomiti-friulane.blogspot.it/2013/02/due-castelli-e-delle-grotte.html today.  But our crystal-clear frigid December has changed to overcast, slightly warmer,  even foggy.  By the time I reached Coltura it was evident if I climbed above 300 meters I'd be socked-in, so I changed my plans.  At Fiaschetti I headed south to Sacile, then turned left on SS13 to Villadolt.  Got lost here awhile, rode down a nice dirt road through winter fields and fog until reaching paved road again at Ceolini.  After Roveredo I turned toward Castello d'Aviano, then headed through Aviano and Marsure till home.   Fun flattish ride; even familiar roads can surprise you.

    

Fiume Livenza at Sacile, with cormorant swimming along left bank

Love how they've left the riparian vegetation intact

A wood carver rode his bike down to this tree stump along the river;
he was using a wooden mallet with chisel to sculpt the tree 

Casera Fraspedane

I'm sorry for the long absence- after climbing Sveta Gora I had a bout with a feverish sore throat, followed by a molar with infected nerve that needed  a root canal.  I lost weight and strength in the process, so now I'm battling back.  The weather has been cold but clear and I've managed a few flat commutes to school in Pordenone the past few weeks.  Today is my first real ride.

I rode to Meduno, then through 2 large flocks of sheep to Toppo and on to Travesio.  Here I turned left along Val Cosa to Paludea and the climb up to Clauzetto.  From there took the road upward toward Orton  (Pradis di Sopra).  Later at the side road marked Rope, Zuaniers, Fraspedane I turned right and began climbing quite steeply.  I don't know if I've biked this before, but around 1996 I remember driving to the turnoff on the dirt road for Monte Pala and snowshoeing to the top (1221m) with my terrier Rocky.  It was quite snowy and I remember carrying him back down part way because he was tired from pushing through the snow.  Today instead the worst I encountered was a layer of frost at Casera Fraspedane (839m).  I wasn't sure where this frosty road was headed so decided to save it for another day.  Also might try to mountain bike up Monte Pala next Spring.

I headed steeply down to Orton then back the way I'd come to Travesio.  Here instead of Toppo I took the Sequals-Arba route.  Somewhere along there I ran out of gas and just kind of slowly turned the cranks the last 20 km home.  If you don't use it you lose it, and now I'm back in rebuild mode.    

Turn right here off SP55, the road from Clauzetto to Pielungo

View northeast- Monte Gran Pala

North- Monte Rossa (1369m)

Northwest- Zuc di Santins (1309m) 

Casera Fraspedane with Monte Flagjel (1467m) in background