April Fool's Climb

The ridge road from Frisanco to Valdistali is one of the prettiest rides in our area.  Lots of wildflowers, mountain views,  and a fun rolling profile.  The road heads down steeply at Valdistali toward Fiume Meduna, so I've always turned around and headed back toward Frisanco.  But today I thought I'd see how far down it goes.  It steeply twisted downward and I began to worry, until pavement ended at Forcella.  I put on my cleat covers and searched for a trail to Preplans, a village above the Meduna, but the slopes were almost vertical on 3 sides so I headed back up.  Wasn't as bad as I expected but still a good workout.  I'll try to reach Preplans on the mountain bike from Meduno- apparently there is a little bridge across the river at Paludea, and then a brief steep climb to Preplans. 

Valdistali

Madonna del Stangada church along the ridge

Monte San Lorenzo - Frisanco

Buon anno!  Perfect sunny winter day so I took a little ride toward Fanna, then turned left toward Monte San Lorenzo.  This is a smooth, wide, well-paved road, usually full of large trucks hauling rock from the quarry on Monte San Lorenzo to the cement plant at Fanna.  But on Sundays and holidays it's deserted.  The gradient is a good workout but never impossibly steep.  Very nice to descend too because of the wide switchbacks.  Today instead I descended northward on a narrow mountain lane to Valcolvera.  From here I continued north to the turnoff for Frisanco and headed up again, steeply but not unreasonable.  Just before Frisanco I turned right at the sign marked Madonna della Stangada.  This is a beautiful ridgetop road that climbs high above Val Muie (to the north) with great views of Monte Raut, Monte Valcalda, Monte Rest, and the hillside town of Casasola.  Soon you reach a pretty old church, Madonna della Stangada.  The road continues briefly to Valdistali then dead ends.  I think you can hike down to the Meduna River from the road.

Rode back quickly so I'd make it home by dinnertime.  No black-eyed peas, collard greens and sweet potatoes but I substituted ceci, costa da bietola, and zucca.  Hopefully it brings good luck in the new year!

"Reclaimed" remnant of Monte San Lorenzo's east slope; luckily the
west slope is still a beautiful hiking area with 13th century church  

View northward toward Monte Raut

Beautiful Madonna della Stangada church

Looking down at the campanile di Frisanco; note
characteristic wooden balconies on house (right)

Monte San Lorenzo, Valdistali

I had an ulterior motive for this ride- needed a brake test for a new front rim. A few months ago on the descent from Clauzetto to Pradis di Sotto, I hit a pointed rock in the road. It blew the front inner tube, which I replaced and continued. I trued the wheel when I got home and didn't see any obvious damage. But in subsequent hard braking during descents, I've gotten bad chatter from the front brake. I substituted my old Campagnolo Montreal wheel (with 1996 Chorus hub) on Piancavallo last week, and had no chatter. So I thought I'd rebuild the Ambrosio Evolution wheel using a spare Mavic Open 4 CD rim I've had in the attic for 10 years, but it's 36 hole, and the 2005 Chorus hub on the Merckx is 32. I ordered a replacement Ambrosio Evolution rim from www.all4cycling.com . It arrived in 2 days, the price was the cheapest I could find online (€24), and they sent me an extra rim! Now that's good service. Maybe I'll use it to rebuild the rear wheel later.

I built the wheel yesterday, using some DT Swiss double-butted 2.0-1.8 spokes I had in the attic- amazingly they were almost the perfect length, though I had to lace them 3-cross to fit. What are the odds with different make/model rims and newer model hubs?

So today was the test- could it handle the mountains?

I warmed up on the plain and turned upward at Fanna. The road is wide and has great switchbacks- it was a good climb, though with many trucks hauling crushed rock from the mine at the top to the cement plant in Fanna. At the crest, 475 meters, I saw the closed road to Chiesa di San Lorenzo, which is a 13th century church. I hear it's a beautiful place, so someday soon I'll try to hike to it via a different route- many pics and info about the Monte San Lorenzo church, Roman road, old houses, and the environment here: http://www.montesanlorenzo.org/chiesetta.htm

From there I descended on an old mountain road- no switchbacks, narrow and steep. At speed I grabbed a handful of front brake and stopped on a dime. Sped up again and braked the front as hard as I could- no chatter, and so strong I could feel the back tire lift up, which was a little hairy because for a moment I felt like I was balancing on the front wheel on a curvy road with steep drop off to the side. The new rim works great.

Up the Valcolvera, and then climbed up past Frisanco to Valdistali. It's a beautiful ridge road with the plain stretching to the horizon on one side, and on the other, the wooded Val Muiè, with the hillside town of Casasola across the valley. 568 meters is the highpoint on the road.

I turned around at the end of the asfalto and descended to Valcolvera, stopping in Bus di Colvera to take some pictures. It's an awesome gorge, with Monte San Lorenzo on one side, and Monte Jouf on the other. Go see it if you're in the area.

New Ambrosio Evolution rim

Wild primule near Valdistali

Frisanco campanile from the ridge road

Bus di Colvera

Grotto in Bus Colvera

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