After two days with some tough climbs, Linda took the day off and I took off on a 70 mile loop starting in Cortina. It took me over the Tre Croci once again but, instead of turning left toward the Tre Cime di Lavaredo, I turned right towards Auronzo di Cadore.
http://ridewithgps.com/routes/257764
Tre Croci, as discussed in the prior post, is a steady climb, not too demanding: just over 5 miles, 1886 feet, 7.1% average, 12% max. The 12%'s didn't feel like 12%--had me thinking they had the measurements wrong. In any event, the road was clear, no construction this time, very few cars. Even better, I don't recall any motorcycles. Surely there must have been some, I just don't recall.
After crossing over Tre Croci, there were several miles of downhill before reaching the next intersection and the sign pointing to Auronzo 20kms away. Never having been this route before, I did not know what was coming. The next 20 kms was pure downhill bliss. Corners not too technical. Long straightaways. Hardly any cars going my direction. The entire 20 kms (about 12.4 miles) was downhill. It was incredible. Two shots from along the road to Auronzo:
Of course I was thinking this whole time that somewhere along the line I'm going to have to gain back at least some of this elevation. I knew that shortly after Auronzo I was going to look for a left on Rd 532, 532 would take me to Rd 52, then 52 to 49, then 49 to 51 and back to Cortina.
Shortly after turning onto 532 were signs for Passo San Antonio which, if I recall correctly was 9 kms (5.5 miles) up the road. Pso San Antonio turned out to be very similar to Tre Croci. About the same distance. Pitches about the same. San Anotnio had a switchback countdown, though, that Tre Croci didn't have. Hairpins counted down from, if I recall correctly, 14 to 1. Superb climb. The road was marked with a starting line indicating it gets used by the locals for time trials. Few cars, no motorcycles, 1 bicycle going the other direction. It was fabulous.
Once over the top, the balance of the ride was not particularly challenging, but very scenic and surprisingly devoid of traffic. There is a climb to Passo di Monte Croce di Comelico that has a total distance of almost 22 kms in its total run on Rd 52 from San Stefano di Cadore to the summit. Where Rd 532 meets 52, it's about half way into the climb. It's only a 3.3% average for its total length and I doubt I hit anything more than 5% on the portion that I rode. It was a nice, steady pace--in a gear that made me feel like I was really moving.
Once over the summit it was downhill or flat to the next intersection with Rd 49. Fortunately, this stretch was very short as it was, by far, the busiest road I encountered on the day. Prior to making the left onto 49 I'd been seeing signs to Austria and I began to worry that perhaps I'd missed something somewhere and had gone way past where I wanted to be. Austria was pretty close, but not that close.
The last 20kms, or so, back to Cortina are a blast if you're headed south on 51. It is how the Austrians get into Cortina but, being a weekday in summer, there weren't many Austrians, or anyone else, on the road. There are some minor blips up, but it is mostly level, or downhill.
The last few k's are an absolute blast back into town and the hotel. You feel like you're pretty impressive coming into town doing 35 mph--yeah, with the aid of gravity. But it looks kind of flat.
Two decent climbs (like Hwy 193 out of Chili Bar, but two miles longer), 1 minor climb (a lot like Sutter Creek-Volcano Rd), lot's of flat and downhill to get speeds up to where you think you're pretty hot stuff. A nice loop, probably a good bit more challenging going the opposite direction. You'd have that climb out of Cortina to start, an easy climb to Comelico, an easier climb up San Antonio than the direction I took, then that 20 kms from Auronzo to the base of the climb up Tre Croci the other direction. Hmm, I'll have to go back and ride it to compare.
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