Last week, to get in the mood for riding the mountains, I changed my Twitter handle to ‘Dolomites Lindzon’.
So far so good.
Yesterday was a big climb (my one day longest ever), the Erbe pass (connects the town of Brixen to the heart of the Dolomites, Badia Valley) over 3 hours on the bike going up for 23 miles and 5,300 feet.
Living where I live I just can’t prepare for a ride like today so I was definitely nervous.
The only context for this ride was my first big Alps trip back in 2016 when I climbed the brutal Stelvia (the last 6km in the snow).
There is no rest today, a planned day off, as we tackle one of the most famous circuits in the area…the Sella Ronda loop. At 52km (32 miles) it might sound easy, but that covers another 5,500 steep feet of climbing. We want to take advantage of the sunny weather before the rain starts later in the week.
Here is our group shot at dinner…
Thank goodness my pals Mike Dean and Ali went all in on safety, intense planning of routes, hotels, equipment (and food). They have hired Fillipo the founder of Biko Adventures for a few years to organize their trips. Fillipo is running a Master Class and we have become quick friends. I am a creature of habit and Fillipo and team have won my trust and future trips. As part of the package we are getting a lot of video. Fillipo is a sports documentary director as well.
Here is Fillipo with me at the top yesterday…
Here are a couple video clips as well…going up and going down.
Fanes Hotel is hands down the finest hotel I have ever stayed at and the room is magnificent. Here I am resting in the room enjoying the views…
PS – The e-biking already outnumbers the regular bikes on the mountains and roads on every pass we have done. It is weird and funny being passed going up a mountain by people in their 70’s, making you look like you are standing still. It takes a bit of getting used to.
