Cycling Dolomiti Friulane: Strada della Venezia delle Nevi MTB

I climbed this gravel road in July 2014 and vowed to only descend it if I rode it again. But today that was all forgotten so up I went. I was already hot by the time I finished the paved introduction so at the start of gravel I stripped to bike shorts only and headed up. It's a rough surface and fairly remote so I was careful not to break the bike or any bones. Most of the climb is across from Croda di San Tome, a beautiful sheer cliff face. At the base of the cliffs runs a wide stream, Torrente Artugna, which was quite noisy with all the cascading snow melt.

I was hoping to reach Sauc and Piancavallo like last time, but ran into snow above 1000 meters. I pushed the bike a few hundred meters hoping it was just a patch but it kept getting deeper. The descent is very long and rough even with front shocks. Luckily there are many treefalls which require you to dismount so I got some brief respite from the beating. I'll have to try this again this fall, the wildness is worth the effort.