Strada del Patriarca

Strada del Patriarca is one of my favorite climbs.  It starts at Villa di Villa and begins climbing steeply up through prosecco vineyards past Castello di Cordignano.  Next it climbs along the edge of a large quarry.  There is no let up with bend after bend revealing a never ending series of ramps up the mountain side.  After the Col Alt memorial the forest changes to large beech trees and the pavement is shady.  Eventually it joins the wider road coming up from Sarone and soon arrives at La  Crossetta.  I donned my jacket again, descended briefly, and turned steeply upward toward Monte Pizzoc.  But the snowy patches became more frequent, and at Cadolten I stopped dead in my tracks.

I descended on the wider road to Sarone.  They’ve repaved the lower part of this road down to Palu, very smooth.  Wonderful ride.