Casera Palantina - Valle Friz MTB

Last Fall I tried to reach Casera Palantina from Pian Rosada via a couple of MTB trails.  Each  ended in a steep climb up the mountainside and I couldn't continue.  So today I tried again; started riding from La Crosetta to Col Indes/Pian delle Lastre in southeast Alpago.  Here I turned off of the pavement onto a very good MTB trail, CAI 923.  Some of the steeper parts I had to walk up, but it's a bikeable trail.  Then at 1400 meters there is a branch to the right that was mostly unrideable to me.  It takes you to Casera Palatina, ruins of a cheese maker's stone house at 1508 meters.  The casera is surrounded on north and east by some of the tall peaks of Cavallo Gruppo. 

From Casera Palantina I joined CAI 993 headed south.  I wanted to see if I could reach Valle Friz by bike.  The answer is No: you can hike it, but a bike is merely a 15 kg albatross around your neck.  Most of the time you can roll it over the rocks but in many instances you end up carrying it, in a few cases up very steep rough trail.  I was beginning to have my doubts, but I decided to keep trying.  At Antro delle Lamate you reach an area of caves.  I didn't explore them but I've seen some interior photos and they seem pretty big.  I believe they were used as human shelter in millennia past.

Finally I got on CAI 984 which was headed for Valle Friz.  Still too boulder-strewn to ride but there were a few stretches of grass I was able to coast for a few meters.  Around a bend I spotted Casera Valle Friz and the road to Candaglia.  This was great fun after the long push/carry, especially the glorious dirt road from Candaglia to La Crosetta.  I drove home and conked out from the exertion.  Next time I will try hiking from Valle Friz to Casera Palantina and back.  Maybe into Antro delle Lamate?  

Start of trail 923; like the bambi-esque fawn

Here you turn right off of 923 onto T 7

Casera Palantina with Cima delle Vacche

Palantina with Cimon di Cavallo

Join CAI 993 here

The karst strewn slopes

Beautiful wildflowers

Bees' eye-view of the flowers

View northwest of Lago di Santa Croce

View west of Il Cansiglio

Antro delle Lamate cave

Close up of cave opening

Another cave nearby

CAI 984, the trail to Valle Friz

Excelsior!  Casera Valle Friz and the road to Candaglia!

Socher - Soverzene Pista Ciclabile

There's a missing link in the bikeway from Vittorio Veneto to Cortina and Auronzo.  The main road between Ponte negli Alpi and Longarone is too full of trucks and tourists' campers for bikers to safely cross the narrow bridges.  Luckily a fix is in work.  From Socher to Soverzene they're building a bikeway along the Enel electric company aqueduct.  The article I read wasn't too clear about the present state of progress, so I rode over to check it out.  

I rode down to Vittorio Veneto and over Passo di Fadalto to Lago di Santa Croce.  After getting lost at Socher (and running across some caves and an old castle ruin) I found the paved bikeway.  At the edge of town it turns to hard-packed white strada bianca, perfect for 23mm slick tires.  Before long I could see the centralina (electric distribution plant) on the bridge across the Piave River about 200-300 meters ahead.  But the bikeway ends suddenly, with construction of a causeway visible ahead.  Fortunately there's a horse trail/footpath leading to Soverzene, which is quite muddy but would be no problem for a MTB.  It also has a short tunnel, which is less than 2 meters tall, so I have no idea how horses get through.  At the end you return to pavement, and a rolling ride to Longarone.

From Longarone I climbed up to Vajont dam and  Passo di Sant'Osvaldo.  From there almost all downhill, all the way home

Mountain reflection on Lago di Santa Croce

Public fountain at Socher

Grotto Mole near Castello di San Giorgio ruin

Strada bianca bikeway by aqueduct at Socher

They are building this causeway on the Piave to complete
the final few hundred meters of the pista ciclabile

Monte Dolada

A clear day!  Rode down to Vittorio Veneto and up over Fadalto to Lago di Santa Croce.  Past the lake I turned right toward Pieve d'Alpago.  Long climb through Tignes, Pieve and Plois to the start of the real steepness:  Monte Dolada.   Here I finally had to started using the 34-30 gear, yet still I  was struggling.  But I didn't stop once to rest, which may be the first time I made it up Dolada non-stop.  At the end of pavement (1495m) I panted for a moment and then began descending.  Lots of drainage channels to jump but otherwise a good road.  A guy was coming up on a mountain bike making a whirring noise: it had an electric motor.  18% grade or not, that's cheating.  At Pieve I was supposed to take a shortcut I had researched, but I was so tired I completely forgot.  So I went several km out of the way.  

At Puos d'Alpago I began the climb to Tambre and Il Cansiglio.  This is less steep than Dolada but if you're tired it's a good challenge.  After crossing Piancansiglio I climbed up to La Crosetta (1150m) and descended to Sarone.  Felt hot down here after being up high.  The hilly climb home took another hour, and then a nice soak in the bath.  Ahhh.  Good ride.

View of Alpago toward the east from Monte Dolada

Monte Dolada on left: the white house in the trees is
Rifugio Dolomieu, end of the road

Mountains to northwest 

Mountains to northeast

Lago di Santa Croce from below Pieve d'Alpago:
Col Visentin on right, Monte Pizzoc on left

Via Buscole

I've been hearing horror stories about Via Buscole and had to investigate. After riding to Vittorio Veneto, over Fadalto, and down the eastern shore of Lago di Santa Croce I arrived at Farra d'Alpago. Ride past the start of Mezzomiglio climb, over a short bridge and you reach the first roundabout of Farra d'Alpago.  Take the first right exit, marked Buscole.  After a brief ride the road ahead is marked dead end, so you must go up to the left.  This street switchbacks through the town until another sign indicating road is closed.  Often you can still get through on a bike, so I rode steeply up to a barrier bearing bad news: Ponte Crollato (bridge washed away).  But there was a footpath around the barrier so I donned my cleat covers and carried my road bike down to the stream bed then climbed up the opposite bank.

From this end of the missing bridge the road corkscrews upward very steeply.  I decided to just push the bike, and even this was difficult.  After several switchbacks the 20% lets up to 10%-17% so I found a flat runout and started riding again.  I wanted to stand on the steepest parts but the surface is wet, covered with dead leaves, and paved with round pebbles stuck in old asphalt.  Had to stay seated to get traction.  Finally this mellows out around 800 meters and you return to sub-10% gradients.

Soon you are in Spert, a pretty frazione of Tambre at the south end of Alpago.  The main road dips down to a stream crossing then you ascend back up to Il Cansiglio around 1000 meters.  Gorgeous ride through the dense forest and grassy Piancansiglio, then La Crosetta, down the hill to Sarone and home. Fun ride.

Lago di Santa Croce 

Boats with Monte Dolado in background

Washed out bridge and steep road on opposite bank

Looking back at the road coming from Farra d'Alpago

Mellower gradients just below Spert

Val Cantuna

Today was an Italian holiday and the weather was good so there were many hundreds of bikes on the road.  I rolled down through Caneva and headed to Anzano.  After Vittorio Veneto I headed north toward Lago di Santa Croce.  This section had the only "bad" weather of the day, a bit of drizzle.  I barely got wet.

After Lago di Santa Croce I continued on SS51 almost to Ponte Nelle Alpi, but took a right toward Arsie just before PNA.  After riding through a couple of little towns the climb proper begins.  It's called Val Cantuna and is part of the Giro d'Italia this year, on the stage from Longarone to Treviso.  It's a gorgeous road, wide, well-paved with long, looping switchbacks to ease the gradient.  The scenery is spectacular as well, woodlands and meadows in the conch valley of Alpago surrounded by Friuli's mountains to the east,  and Dolomiti Bellunese to the north and west.  The road ends at Pieve d'Alpago, a pretty hillside town.

Below Pieve d'Alpago I tried another new road connecting Garna with  Chies d'Alpago.  All down hill this direction, but it would be a steep climb going east to west.  I descended to Cornei and started the long climb to Tambre, Spert and Il Cansiglio.  The toughest part is the climb from the gorge below Spert up to Campone and Il Cansiglio.  After that you're home free.  Plenty of visitors picnic-ing and hiking around Il Cansilgio on this sunny day.

The descent was fun but the long ride home up Via Pedemontane was hard- I had already used up all my energy and there was none left the last few miles.  Good ride though- I may try the Val Cantuna approach next time I climb Monte Dolada. 

Val Cantuna with Monte Dolada (1938m) in background

Across the meadows toward Nevegal and Belluno

Sign for the Giro d'Italia stage

Monte Dolada, La Carota-San Martino sterrata

Monte Dolada is a sort of benchmark for me.  The first time I tried it a couple years ago I couldn't do it- had to stop, rest and hyperventilate several times.  Then last year I did a little better but remember struggling badly.   Today wasn't easy but I never felt overwhelmed, just kept gasping  and grappling away till the top.  

I arrived at Vittorio Veneto early (0630) and started the warm up to Sella di Fadalto.  Quite windy and cool- some windsurfers with parasail kites were hydrofoiling across Lago Morto- they must have been freezing.  Then around the west side of Lago di Santa Croce, past La Secca, take the right turn toward Tignes.  From here steeply upward to Pieve d'Alpago, and higher still to Plois (850m).   Now you head up a narrow farm road through the meadows with a half km of 15% average gradient.  Finally it levels out briefly at La Carota rifugio (1025m) and you can catch your breath while rolling toward the next challenge, a series of long steep switchbacks, the steepest being 1.5 km averaging 13.8%, with no chance to catch your breath.  The agony ends at 1494m, a parking lot for Rifugio Dolomieu.

I rolled back down, bunny hopping drainage channels every 20 meters it seemed.  When I reached the level spot near La Carota on a whim I headed down the backroad toward San Martino.  I had attempted this from the opposite end last year but flatted on the rocks and with no 2nd spare, gave up.  The ride from this end was considerably easier, with even a paved stretch at each end, and also briefly in the middle where it ascends a short wall.  It is also generally downhill in this direction (except for the wall).  It crosses a little bridge over the gorge of Torrente Tesa, which separates Pieve d'Alpago to the west from Chies d'Alpago in the east, then eventually becomes a paved farm road which descends to San Martino (866m).

Fun curvy descent through Lamosano and Cornei to Puos d'Alpago.  Great ride, though I wouldn't advise doing the road from La Carota to San Martino with 23mm slicks- something wider and knobbier would be better.

Early morning Lago di Santa Croce with Monte Dolada in background  

Closer shot of lago and Monte Dolada

Campanile of Pieve d'Alpago, with lago and Col Visentin in background

Lago from Rifugio Dolomieu.  See fungus on tree branches to right-
looks like Spanish Moss in Alabama, but with smaller tufts

Bowl shaped conch of Alpago, looking east

Close up of Alpago villages, meadows, forests 

Monte Teverone (2436m)

Monte Dolada's rocky cliffs, upper left

Cliffs of Montagna del Vescovo

Monte Teverone from near San Martino

Lago and Col Visentin from near San Martino

Rode clockwise

Monte Dolada climb on left, La Carota-San Martino sterrata center