Venezia delle Nevi on Road Bike

I intended to scale the moderate climb from Dardago to end of pavement at Val di Croda this afternoon.  When I reached  end of pavement I noticed the road had been graded fairly smooth and widened.  I continued upward to see how long it lasted.  It just kept going on and on.  All of the scruby trees that had overrun the road were gone, as were the giant piles of boulders that had blocked  the road for decades.  At 1100 meters I quit because snow made it too muddy to continue on a road bike. Will try this on MTB next spring.

Getting too slushy at 1140 meters

Crode di San Tome

We suddenly have a wonderful new climb

Castello di Ragogna

Merry Christmas!  As it turns out  Christmas afternoon is a good time to ride because everyone is feasting with their family.  Roads were deserted.  I rode to Pinzano, across the river to Ragogna and down to the base of the castle.  I’ll return to explore on a longer day.  A slight tailwind helped tired muscles on the ride home.  A lovely cold day for a ride.

WW I artillary emplacement at Pinzano

Fiume Tagliamento at Ragogna

Tagliamento looking north  

Castello di Ragogna

Via Borgo Canalet

Another medium length winter ride, this time through Sarmede, Capelle Magiore and Montaner.   Very steep climb up to Montaner, I stood the whole way, even with rear wheel slipping on frosty bits. Pretty much a perfect bike ride.

Olive grove at  Rugolo

Via Canalet craziness

Colle Umberto

Down through Budoia, Fiaschetti, Caneva, Cordegnano to Colle Umberto, a group of hills out on the plain east of Conegliano.  I rode up the ridge to the castle and headed back down to the pianura.  Took the low road home- much less strenuous.  Very cold but fun.

Travesio Loop

Easy winter ride through Maniago, Meduno, Travesio, Sequals, Arba and home.  Cold but sunny and calm. Nice.

Castello d'Aviano

I’ve passed by this castle hundreds of times but never stopped to look around.  Today I visited and took some fotos.  It’s lovely and I’ll be coming back.  Continued to Budoia and the bike path which passes under the railway line.  Since last time they’ve paved it all the way to the main road to Viganovo.  Beautiful countryside.  On the ride home I finally got a burst of energy and felt like normal again.  Rough autumn this year.

The castle church

Golf course on the plain below

Cedar shaded lane

Side view of castle church

Ruins of castle tower

Ponte della Delizia

Another long flat cold ride, this time through Cordenons, Valvazone to the bridge across the Tagliamento.  I returned home on SS13, making another first crossing of  Ponte Meduna .  Much less bike friendly than Ponte della Delizia: zero tolerance for error.   Rode home on the old route to school through San Quirino.  Good ride.

Fiume Tagliamento flowing to the Adriatico

Valcolvera - Valmuie'

A favorite ride in all 4 seasons, even today at 3 degrees C.  Be careful descending from Navarons, it has some landslides from the heavy rain earlier in the month.  Also lots of paving work around Maniago.  Otherwise pure joy regardless the temps.

San Leonardo Loop

Cold ride but sunny and calm.  Took the lovely road above the banks of Fiume Cellina from Montereale to San Leonardo.  Sweet.

Across  the Cellina toward Alpi Giulia

Pala Fontana

Two Bridges Loop

A favorite long flat ride to the junction of the Meduna and Livenza rivers.   At the bridges I turned north between the two rivers through Ghirano and Villanova: very pretty area.   I'll try to explore more of this zone in the future.

Fiume Meduna

Conjunction of Meduna with Livenza

Fiume Livenza

Sequals Loop

Finally back in the saddle again after a week tooling around with the Mini.  I took a spin through the easy rolling countryside to Meduno, Solimbergo, Sequals and home.  Very pleasant ride.

View near Solimbergo tunnel

Basaldella Loop

Another brief pause in the gloom, perfect for a short flat spin.  This time to Arba, Tesis, and a gravel road to Basadella.  Haven’t been there in years since they built a long bridge across the guado through the Magredis.  On then to Vivaro, across the new Cellina bridge,  San Foca, Via Partidor to San Leonardo, the bike path near Malnisio and home.  Refreshing ride.

Fiume Cellina to the north

Fiume Cellina looking south

Painting on a dairy barn

Godega di Sant Urbano loop

After a week of floods I ventured out again on another long flat ride.  Felt like I was flying all the way to Colle Umberto but when I changed direction the wind was in my face and I started getting tired.  At Sacile the train crossings were all stuck closed so I got a half hour of rest, then back into the wind.  To make matters worse I had chosen to bring only water without gatorade so the climb home was in zombie mode.  On the plus side my hip tensor seemed a little better.  Good ride overall.

Fiume Livenza

Red tree

Tesis Loop

A flat easy ride today, hoping to nurse my right hip flexor back to health.  Our wonderful Indian summer is coming to an end, though I still overheated on the gradual upgrade on the return leg so I stripped off my tights and jacket.  Nice recovery ride.

Osservatorio Ciaerlac

After riding to Meduno I took the little roads along the base of Monte Ciaerlac to the hang glider landing strip near Toppo.  After the castle and the blast furnace take the little road uphill toward La Genziana restaurant.  The road gets steep and eventually even steeper.  The worst are the last few hundred meters up to Osservatorio Ciaerlac.  Nice views from here.

On the way down note the Lama farm with two big white Pastore dogs on your left.  Lovely ride.

Parapendio over Castello di Toppo

Parapendio landing strip

Monte Ciaerlac northeast of castello

Toppo campanile

Blast furnace near Toppo

Monte Ragogna and Fiume Tagliamento from
osservatorio

Monte Pala above osservatorio

Monte Rossa

Monte Ciaerlac

The climb

La Pussa MTB

A long MTB ride through Barcis, Claut and the beautiful road along Torrente Settimana.  I left too late for my intended destination, Casera Senons, so I took some photos at La Pussa and headed home.    At the junction with the road for Cimolais my slow-leaking front tire suddenly went flat.  Pumped it up and continued toward home.  Had to reinflate it a few more times along the way but finally made it.  Will try Senons again soon.

La Pussa

Torrente Settimana climb

Lago del Ciul Hike

I last tried this hike in 2013 but ran out of time after only reaching Frassaneit, a ghost town.  Today instead I continued to the dam at Lago del Ciul.  It’s quite empty in Autumn so I’ll have to return in Spring someday. I continued along the shoreline looking for a bridge on the map but never found it.  So I turned around and headed home.  This is a lovely walk with easy access from Tramonti di Sopra.

Chiesetta Tramonti di Sopra

Waterfall shortly after start of hike

Pozze Smeraldine in
Torrente Meduna

Acquila di Frascola

Deserted village Frassaneit

Diga Ca' Ciul

I turned around here after walking
a bit of the shoreline 

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Monte Pizzoc

A nearby climb that seems easy and familiar at the start then keeps shoveling  more and more ramps at you.  I was on Maxima, my lightest bike, but still my right leg-front attach point was aching from the effort.  I tried to use more left leg to compensate.

At the top it was fogged in but a hole opened  up long enough for a picture.  The ride down was long and cold but I warmed back up on the way home.  Very tired now.

Sudden hole in the fog

A long climb