Passo Falzarego
Passo Cibiana
Breakfast was a planning session today. Since this was our last day in the Dolomites we were trying to decide whether to explore new passes or revisit our favorites. Eventually a route was laid out, and we hit the road.
The roads were once again wet, but the weather looked pretty good. We headed up Passo Falzarego once gain on our way to Cortina. We wanted to get some gifts for our wives, and we were also looking for a replacement zipper pull for the tankbag on the GS. One had come off, and we didn’t want to get charged for a whole new tankbag (we didn’t know how strict Moto Mader was going to be).
The castle looked great in the misty clouds this morning – couldn’t pass an opportunity for more shots.
I had a small “moment” this morning. I had pulled onto a very steep sandy/rocky shoulder to get some more pictures of the hairpin tunnel, and when I tried to get the bike back on the road I noticed that there was a significant lip to the road. I didn’t have a lot of room to maneuver the heavy RT on the rocks, and each time I tried to ride up over the lip I’d either spin the tire or come close to stalling. Eventually I gunned it enough to clear it, slewing the back wheel sideway some on the way. Not a major event, but with such a narrow shoulder and a big drop right behind me, it certainly got my attention.
Momument on Passo Falzarego
I couldn't help thinking "that little red flag is not going to stop a US military jet from slicing that cable"
On another trip I'd certainly hike these trails
Funny, I heard the Buell's going by behind me by the sound of the fan.
Not enough room in the saddlebags unfortunately
Shopping in Cortina was a bust. Most of the smaller stores were closed, and I didn't see anything for the wife that really looked nice (or affordable). We did score a close-enough-looking zipper pull at the Coop store in the middle of town, so at least the stop wasn't a total bust. With chores out of the way, it was back to riding and off to finding some new passes.
Even the parking lots have great views
Very pretty buildings
Not much happening at 10:30am
This guy was hauling down the street
Before we could get to the passes, we had to endure a boring, stinky, crowded ride down to Passo Cibiana. There were lots of trucks to deal with, lots of small towns, contruction, etc. At least it wasn't raining.
The start of Passo Cibiana is a super-tight downhill hairpin off the main road - definitely gets your attention. The road was in pretty rough shape, heavily wooded, and the path ahead looked very steep. Most of the pass had pretty sketchy pavement and spent most of its time in the woods.
Heading up Passo Cibiana
There was a very interesting cemetary along the pass
Some graves were better taken care of than others
Hey, a Multistrada!
The pavement down was mixed, and then we came to the prophetically-named town of Dont. We wanted to sample Passo Duran, but like Wurz Joch yesterday it would have to be an out-and-back to the summit rather than a full traverse. We joked this would be the day of "Duran Duran" since we'd be repeating 1/2 of it. At least we started the pass laughing.
The town of Dont
We can't say we weren't warned...
Passo Duran
Passo Staulanza
Passo Pordoi
Passo Duran started out great. Very twisty, very narrow. Jim was in the lead when we came to a steep uphill righthand tornante.
Here’s his account of what happened next:
"We were on the 5th day of a fantastic Alps riding adventure. The tornantes (hairpin turns) became almost routine. Certainly not as tough as I had thought they would be before the trip started.
Ken and I were heading up Passo Duran, planning on our usual pin and photo stop at the top. Maybe even lunch at the summit. I am in the lead as we approach an uphill right turn. I must have been thinking about lunch, because I didn't notice that there was a green car parked in the middle of the turn, for a picture. Not sure if I could clear him, I made the decision to try and stop. I put my right boot down and there was no ground. Next thing I know, I'm falling into the downhill portion of the curve, on my right shoulder. Thinking on the way down, I've just screwed up the rest of the trip...
Ken came over immediately, and helped me pick up the bike. The driver of the car helped also, then beat it.
Damage to the bike was a scratch on the fairing and brush guard. Kudos to BMW for providing a real brush guard, protecting the brake lever from damage.Damage to me was a sore shoulder (and a bruised ego). Now I had to try and put it behind me and enjoy the rest of the trip - talking to Ken helped me with that. Although, in the back of my mind, I was wondering how much of my damage deposit Moto Mader would need to replace those parts........
Just like the cliché goes, “it all happened so fast”. I saw Jim crank over for the turn, then I saw him start to tumble into the rocky inside shoulder of the turn. The road was very steep at that point, and there was a big depression on the interior of the turn, that I feared the bike might roll over on Jim and do a complete flip. Fortunately that didn’t happen, but as Jim said he took a pretty good whack on the shoulder when he hit the rocks.
I quickly parked my bike on the outside shoulder and ran over to help get the bike up. The car driver took off as soon as we were all standing and checking for injuries. Thankfully other than a sore shoulder Jim was unharmed (ATGATT, baby!), and the damage to the bike appeared to be just cosmetic. No snapped levers, busted crankcases, just a bunch of scuffs and scratches.
We were heading uphill
That's about the spot where he tumbled into that ditch
Jim was eager to “get back on the saddle”, so I took the lead and we finished the ride at a slightly more sedate pace up to the summit. Jim appeared to be doing fine. I’m sure I was a pain in the ass to Jim with my questions over the headset as we rode “how’s your head?” “bike feel ok?” “you want to stop for a minute?” “doing ok?”, etc. I was very glad that a) he was unharmed, b) he seemed mentally pretty OK, and c) the bike was still rideable.
Lunch at the Rifugio San Sebastiano at the summit was fantastic. I got the ragu y pomodoro (spaghetti w/meat sauce), and it was easily the best pasta I’ve had. I love the fact that you get great food in a tiny restaurant/gift shop at the top of a mountain. I doubt this place had more than 50 customers the whole day.
Passo Duran
Interesting chapel across from the rifugio
The inside of the rifugio
Best. Pasta. Ever.
The first Uly I've seen. That would be a great bike for the Alps.
The sun was out in full force when we left lunch, the best weather we’d seen in Italy yet. We took some pictures of the damage to the bike, and talked about how things might go back at Moto Mader. Tommy Pabst seemed very cool and laid-back, so maybe it wouldn’t be too bad.
The fairing took a good scrape
The brushguard looked the worst, but it saved the brake lever
We made our way back down Passo Duran, and stopped at the ‘drop zone’ so Jim could retrieve his sunglasses. Further down I came upon a white van coming at me in the center of the road and made a narrow pass. The van never moved over, and I was warning Jim over the headset to watch out.
The road back down Passo Duran
We stopped at the base of Passo Duran to make some phonecalls home, and I witnessed a very close call between a car and a scooter. The car driver came out from behind a building, never looking where he was going. The scooter rider stayed his course, never noticing the car so far as I could tell. Finally, when the scooter was right in front of the car’s grill he swerved a bit and went around the driver’s side. All he said to the driver, as he scooted by, was “allo”. The car driver was still oblivious.
Back in the town of Dont
Nice old cobblestone street
Passo Staulanza was very nice. Smooth pavement, great hairpins, and fantastic views. We were a little bummed that this was going to be our last new pass in the Dolomites, since this area turned out to be so spectacular and beyond our expectations. Could anyplace top this?
Jim heading up Staulanza
Me
I think the perfect bike for the Alps would only need 1st and 2nd gear, and maybe a tall overdrive for the Autobahn. I doubt I spent more than 2% of my time in 4th or 5th gears on the RT.
We waited 10 minutes for the cloud to clear the mountain on the right. Never did.
Spectacular
On the way back to Arabba we started going up Falzarego since the weather was so nice. We figured we’d do a last loop of Falzarego, Valparola, Gardena, Sella and Pordoi, kind of a ‘geatest hits’ farewell tour. No sooner did we start up Falzarego did the skies blacken and threaten rain. Suddenly 5 passes didn’t look like a great idea, and combining that with our earlier drama, we decided to not push our luck. Back to Arabba we went, the direct way.
I saw this view a lot
Our Dutch friends were just pulling into the hotel’s lot as we were, also sent cutting the day somewhat short due to the weather. We chatted a bit, and I offered to get some pictures of Ralph “in action” on our doorstep tornante. He obliged, and really cranked that baby over.
Ralph and Peter
Short toes indeed
Jim having a go
What a day
Why pedal?
That's a hairpin to the right they're all heading into.
Jim returning
The weather turned nicer and nicer as we hung out by the hotel, so we decided to make a sunny run up and down Pordoi. Jim rigged up his video camera and went ahead, while I took my time and got a lot of photos along the way. What a great way to cap off the stay in Arabba, on our favorite pass on a summer afternoon. There were a fair number of bikes going up and down, and some people near the top shooting photos of the whole pass from a tripod. It was a little melancholy at the top, knowing we would soon be leaving the Dolomites behind.
Up we go!
Going up Pordoi
Jim headed down first, and I once again took my time getting photos on the way down (the view from tornante 12 is particularly nice, but hard to get a good photo of as there’s no safe place to stop).
Woo-hoo, down we go
Don't let anyone say you can't hustle a KTM Advenure around a turn
Especially this guy
Jim
What a perfect turn!
What a playground!
Which way does the road go?
I pulled into the hotel, and no Jim. Hmm. I’m sure I didn’t pass him. I checked the underground parking garage, figuring maybe he wanted to park there to ease packing in the morning. No luck. Back outside to figure out what to do. I was just about ready to saddle up and ride back up Pordoi to look for him when he rolled in. He had gone into town to look for some painkillers for his shoulder. Whew.
He had a fun time at the market on that errand. Pointing to his forehead, the lady brought him some hairspray. He pointed again, this time adding “ouch”. Ah! Sorry, pharmacy closes at 5pm. I gave him some of my Alleve.
Back at the hotel, we grabbed an outside table to lay out our route for tomorrow’s big ride. We needed to get to Andermatt by a reasonable time and still hit some highlights along the way. No sooner did we sit down than a waitress came and asked if we’d like some beers – yes ma’am. A very nice way to wind down the day, sipping beer, watching bikes go by, and unraveling the mysteries of a map of a foreign land.
Dinner was spaghetti followed by some grilled sausage that was delicious. We made sure to say goodbye to the waitress who had been so nice to us for the past 4 days, and she gave us hugs :-).
No problem swapping out pasta with olives, capers and anchovies for plain spaghetti with tomato sauce
Delicious
Since we would be leaving early, we checked out tonight. The same woman who checked us in was there, and once again she could not have been nicer. We told her how much we loved our stay there, the food, the service, our waitress, etc, and that we would certainly stay here again our next time in Arabba. She was visibly delighted.
So we were said to say goodbye to the Dolomites, but tomorrow begins our trek to the passes of Switzerland. We were planning to ride Gardia on the advice of our Dutch friends, and there was one other pass we were looking forward to riding. Just a little-known, seldom travelled road that no one in the US has ever heard of.
Map for the day