Monte Croce Carnico - Nassfeldpass

Passo di Monte Croce Carnico and Nassfeldpass are two Austrian border crossings north of here.  I thought I'd connect the two of them with a brief ride in Austria and make a loop of the two climbs.

I drove to Tolmezzo, arriving about 7 AM.  From here you follow the main road along Torrente But through Arta Terma and Paluzza.  Now the gradient steepens a bit as you follow the gorge to Timau.  See pictures of this area I previously took at Pian delle Streghe.  Timau is a pretty town, though a bit frightening because of the huge rock faces towering over the houses.  It's been here for centuries though so maybe I'm being silly.

After more gentle climbing you reach a very well-engineered scala of 12 switchbacks up the cliffs to the pass, with great views of the valley below and surrounding mountains.  The pass itself was windy and cold, shaded by a tall peak on either side- Creta delle Collinetta (2238m) on the left and Pal Piccolo (1866m) on the right.  

Now you enter a steep downhill tunnel with poor pavement- luckily there wasn't much traffic.  You exit into a lovely hanging meadow with a little lake and nice views of the mountains above.  The road continues steeply downward, with buckled asphalt and sharp curves.  There are a few flat and gently ascending stretches to keep you from getting too frozen.

At the bottom you arrive in Mauthen, and turn onto a country road through Würmlach.  Lovely country houses here, with impossible quantities of flowers tumbling from their window boxes.  After crossing the Gail River you reach Dellach and join the main road which is rather busy.  I saw some bike paths on the other side of the Gail which might actually save you time by avoiding the ride to the main road, but I had no map and didn't want to get lost. 

This stretch in Austria seemed longer than I expected, but was very gently rolling and not difficult.  At Tröpolach you turn toward Nassfeldpass.  I started out spinning up the beautiful twisty road through dense fir forest, by waterfalls and the tumbling white water of Tröglbach.  Soon the gradient steepens- above 13-14% I stood in the pedals, panting like a freight train.  This steepness doesn't abate- continuing for kilometers.  Overall it averages 8.6% over 11km, including the easy first kilometer and the easy last 2 km. 

For some pictures of the lovely pass, please see my previous climb from the Italian side- Passo di Pramollo.  Now for the descent- I was happy to see fresh asphalt as I started, then realized it was a short stretch and for the next 2-3 km the road was either stripped of its old pavement in preparation for paving, or so freshly paved that asphalt was sticking to the tires, frame etc.  This is bad because the sticky tar catches bits of glass, sharp stones etc which can cause a flat.  Fortunately I escaped that fate, the road work ended, and it was smooth sailing down to Pontebbe.  Can't wait to try this again once the paving's finished- it will be a wonderful plummet. 

Now began the longest stretch of the ride- slightly downhill (with occasional steep descents) for an hour or two along Torrente Fella then Torrente Tagliamento.  It's a wonderful road, wide and smooth with most of the traffic opting for the adjacent autostrada.  Toward the end it flattens and even has slight uphill grades from Carnia up to Tolmezzo.  I was so tired driving home it seemed the car was on autopilot- luckily it knew exactly where to go.

San Pietro di Carnia above Zuglio,
 Torrente But

Creta di Timau (2217m) cliffs above Timau

Close up of Gamspitz (1847m) above Timau

Monte Coglians (2780m) highest peak in Friuli

Looking down the scala climbing
Passo di Monte Croce Carnico

Monte Terzo (2034m) south of the pass

Monte Pezzacul (2178) with Monte Crotis peeking over the ridge

Monte Floriz (2184m)

From Austria, Creta di Collinetta (2238m)

Close up of Creta di Collinetta

Gamskofel (2526m)

From Gailtal bridge, the range between Austria and Italy

From Gailtal bridge, Schaatzbühl (2090m)

Dellach below Reisskofel (2369m)

GPS track running clockwise

Easy climb up Passo di Monte Croce Carnico
www.salite.ch

Hard climb up Nassfeldpass

Sella Ronda

Il Giro dei Quattro Passi (or “Sella Ronda”) is a popular ride on the border of Dolomiti Bellunesi and Trentino Alto Adige.  Every July for one day, all motorized traffic is banned and the route is covered in bicycles.  This year they added another day, 18 September when I planned to go.  But the provision at www.ilmeteo.it looked bad, so I decided to try this week instead.

I drove away from home at 5:30 AM and arrived at Arabba (1600m) at 8:30.  I would recommend a flatter warmup (maybe from Pieve di Livinallongo), but I started right in Arabba.  From there, Passo di Pordoi (2239m) is a beautiful ride- covered in sunny meadows surrounded by peaks, with 33 tornanti lazily looping back and forth.  To your right looms imposing Gruppo Sella (3152m), the massive range you will circumnavigate for the next 50 km.    

The descent down the other side of the pass toward Canazei is a different environment.  It is covered in medium-size pine trees, and at this hour was cloaked in the mountain's shadow- very cold.  There’s a turn-off around 1750 meters heading up to Passo di Sella.  This was the hardest part of the ride to me- steep and cold, panting clouds of steam.  I soon warmed up and took off my windjacket, then continued grappling up the slope to 2244m.  Beautiful Sassolungo (3181m) towers to the west- I kept turning around to see it from different angles all the way to Passo di Gardena.

The descent from Passo di Sella to Plan de Gralba (1871m) was gentle and not too cold.  It passes through the rolling meadows of Val Gardena, very pretty. After the Plan you climb gradually up to Passo di Gardena (2121m).  

The view of green meadows descending to Corvara is gorgeous.  It’s a very long, easy descent, lots of tornanti, peaks to admire, mountain bike tracks crossing the road, and today a raduno of old Triumphs, wallowing around curves and straining up hill.  All the while, Gruppo Sella dominates the scene, high above on your right.

Corvara (1522m) is a big tourist area, and the start of the climb to Passo di Campolongo (1875m).  It’s quite steep up until Corsa Alta Badia (golfing), then mellows out.  After the pass is a fun descent to Arabba.

Can’t beat the scenery on this ride- really magical.  I’ll have to try it in the opposite direction next time (hopefully soon!)

Tornanti on climb to Passo di Pordoi

The meadows below Passo di Pordoi

Gruppo Sella (3152m) looming above the meadows

Close up Gruppo Sella

The last of the 31 tornanti on Passo di Pordoi

Sass Pordoi (2950m)

El Capitan-like rockface towering above climb to Passo di Sella 

The Marmolada glacier (sorry about the haze)

From Passo di Sella looking back at Gruppo Sella

View down Val di Fassa toward Canazei

Sassolungo (3181m) above Passo di Sella

Cinqueditta (2918m)

Looking north across Val Gardena

Gran Cir (2592m) above Passo di Gardena

Close up of tall spires along Gran Cir ridge

Looking back at Sassolungo from Passo di Gardena

The view toward Corvara from Passo di Gardena

Sass Songher (2665m) above Colvara

Satellite view

Left to right: Passi Pordoi, Sella, Gardena, Campolongo 

Casera Crosetta

Casera Crosetta is one of several backcountry shelters on the rim of Alpago, a beautiful bowl-shaped valley east of Belluno.  I've climbed a number of nearby mountain roads but never this one.  Today was my chance.   

Woke up at 3:30AM for some reason and it was raining.  I had breakfast and fed the animals etc, and the rain continued.  So I took a nap.  Woke up around 8:30AM and the rain had quit, so I got ready and left about an hour later.  When I headed out, my neighbor Nerina advised not going too far because of the heavy cloud cover.  She's lived here a long time, so I was a little worried it would rain later.  

I turned off Via Pedemontane (30m) below Sarone and started the gentle pre-climb.  A fellow and a very cute girl passed me, the girl standing in her pedals on the 5% grade.  I was hoping this would continue until Il Cansiglio, but they veered off at Sarone, only a few hundred meters later.  I was rather crestfallen, as she really rocked that tight pair of Exte Ondo's.

After the top of this climb (1118m), I cruised across Piancansiglio, and down through the pretty towns of Spert, Tambre, Borsoi and Cornei (456m).  At this last town, you turn right and head upward toward Lamosano (725m) and then on to Funes (820m).  The road onward and upward to Casera Crosetta is well-marked with little wooden signs.  Almost immediately it hits a wall of 20-30%.  I made it a little way up this slope then died.  Donned cleat covers and walked on till it flattened to 10-15%.  The road is very well paved.  I continued on up the hillside till the next +20% stretch and walked again.  I think this may have happened a third time.  Pavement ended around 1100m, but the strada sterrata looked good so I tried it.  Not bad but after a few hundred meters I reached a crossroad and decided to turn around (1115m).  So I never reached the Casera, but there is a great picture here, as well as several pictures of Alpago's surrounding peaks here.

Cruised down to Cornei, and started the climb back up to Il Cansiglio.  I was sore but had enough strength left to spin right up the hill, only standing to stretch my lower back occasionally.  Again across Piancansiglio (quite windy), back up to La Crosetta (1118m) and thankfully downhill again to Sarone.  I was pretty beat but just kept on going nice and easy till I got home.

View of southern Alpago, with Monte Pizzoc (1565m) on right

Close up of Tambre and surrounding towns

Lago di Santa Croce, flanked by Monte Pizzoc, left,
and Col Visentin (1763m), right

Funes backed by Monte Venal (2212m)

Funes with Monte Teverone (2345m) on left,
Monte Venal behind

Close up Lago di Santa Croce, Mt Pizzoc and Col Visentin

Map of the climb

Close up of Funes-Casera Crosetta climb

Left Il Cansigio, center Casera Crosetta

Steep Casera Crosetta ramps

Bicycle Race

Raining buckets here so this is the closest I'll get to riding today.  A friend on Facebook reminded me of Freddie Mercury's birthday so here's my all-time favorite cycling song