I rode up from the Lago di Caldaro into the dolomites after having a nice swim. The area made me feel kinda weird because so many of the italians there speak german and i would just chat people up in german. Freaked me out a bit to do that. A total non issue for non german speakers and many german speakers will welcome this, but i didn’t like it all that much, haha.

The climb was great, an old rail trail that serpentines up for several hundred meters at a mellow grade. Then i cycled through the Val di Fassa and i was shocked how touristy it all was. It was adventure playground after adventure playground, rafting here, ebike there, Gretl and Edelweiss - the fascinating rock formations of the Marmolada group almost felt like made of papier-machée as a backdrop for this strange adventure park. That was yesterday though, thank god it didnn’t continue like that.

So earlier today i rode up Passo Fedaia. The traffic was fine, i think most traffic was roadies. Lots of roadies here. When i reached the pass there was Joy Division on the radio and that song stuck with me all day. Still does stick. Looooove, love will tear us apart…

Riding down the eastern side made me really happy that i came from the west. Those were some really nasty steep ramps i was going down to Caprile. So many roadies came towards me again from that side, riding up, much respect to those guys.

In Caprile i made a coffee break and then wanted to ride a bit up towards Passo di Giau, then make a break and cook up some spaghetti. The climb up has a relatively steep average, but it’s all on quite even ramps. I was then looking for a spot in the shade to get cooking when i saw another guy on tour. I chatted him up, he came downwards. He wanted to cook something as well. He didn’t care much for shade though, i guess riding down doesn’t heat you up as much as riding up, haha. So we sat in the sun and cooked some pasta and talked.

His plan was going up Fedaia the hard way, after he’d finish his descend. I told him about the mean ramps, which are especially mean on the last bit. I then continued my way up the pass. I was mostly surrounded by trees, but the higher up i got, i got nicer views back onto the Marmolada group.

Reaching the pass (title pic), the north east side opens up so incredibly. You see different mountain groups, i was thinking to not post a picture from around the pass because it is such a weak impression. Really amazing. I texted my pasta buddy and he was also already 3km before his pass, what an animal.

I then rolled down to Cortina d’ampezzo, had a beer and checked in on a campsite. When i was setting up my tent, a very old man with a walking stick came up to me, my neighbour i guess. At first it seemed like he wanted to go past me, but he stopped and spoke to me. My italian is super weak but i could not really hear what he was saying, he had no real voice anymore. He made some gestures - cuts around his neck and chest. I said i know, but my italian is weak. He then communicated that he was also cycling when he was young. He was ‘Champion’ he breathed. I told him how nice that was. We gave each other thumbs up and he went back to his trailer. I felt like that was another reminder that i should really quit smoking.

I will try to say goodbye tomorrow morning to this man.