Pieve di Cadore to Conegliano to Mestre (Venice Mainland)

Link to Venice tour day uno

The weather forecast for this morning's ride wasn't looking too good, with rain expected in the afternoon.  We did our best to get out early, but with colazione not starting until 7:30Am, it didn't work out so well.  We were on our way at a little after 8:30 with our cycling jackets on.

We felt pretty confident about getting this longer ride completed quickly, because we were dropping from the mountains on to the coastal plain.  Maybe we could be done before the forecasted rain?

Pretty happy at this point

Downhill

About an hour and 20km into the ride, just before Longarone, the rain started. Before it was forecasted!

So, we deviated from our route, climbed into Longarone and found a spot to get out of the rain.  Luckily they served up some mean cappuccini.

Due cappuccini e cornetti

We sat around for a half hour admiring the local's outfits and willing the rain to stop.  The outfits were colorful, but the rain did not stop.

Not looking too good

Sweet jacket and slacks

With the rain not letting up, I walked over to a local market and picked us up some redneck rain gear to try and keep our hands and feet dry.

Tamara putting on her booties

Some sweet gloves

 All geared up, we headed out in the rain with only 50km to go.

Smiling for some reason

We stopped occasionally to take pictures, but for the most part just kept pedaling since it kept raining.

Lago di Santa Croce

We pulled into the Hotel Cristallo a little before 4PM.  A little wet, but for the most part not doing too bad.  To our surprise, we had twin beds rather than the "matrimoniale" that we had been accustomed to.  Oh well, we were too wet and tired to worry about it.

That night we had an awesome meal at a place called Osteria Ripasso.  Tamara had a pasta dish where they used ginger (yes ginger!) in the pasta, while I had a a pasta dish with local sausage and tartufo.

Days stats

Distance: 555 miles

Elevation: 2200 feet (gain), 5500 feet (lost)

Link to GPS track

Day Two - Conegliano to Mestre
For some reason we had agreed to a 1-3PM meeting time to turn in our bicycles.  With 90km of riding, we would need to have a much faster pace than we had been previously maintaining.  Luckily the hotel had colazione at 7AM and we were on the road by 8AM.

The weather is looking much better today

With a lot of distance to go, I kept the camera in it's case, and we tried to maintain a 20km/h average on our not so fast hybrid bikes.

But we did have to stop for some cappuccini and cornetti.

I just love the chocolate cornettos

Unfortunately, we were also leaving the countryside and entering larger cities, i.e., Treviso. Negotiating traffic and people causes the average speed to diminish.  We were not keeping to our 20km/h required speed.

Entrance to Terviso

Traffic, traffic, traffic

Once through Treviso, the cycling path followed the River Sile in all it's twisting fashion.  Realizing that we were probably not going to make our meeting time (damn cappuccini!), I figured out a shortcut on my phone to eliminate some of the twists and turns.

As we moved down a secondary road, bypassing the river trail, it started to drizzle.  To make matters worse, I was getting hungry.  We stopped to look for something to eat at a couple of places with no luck, either no food  or only whole pizzas cooked to order.  We eventually settled on a grocery store and sat out of the rain while constructing and eating our panninis.

The rain stopped as we finished getting fueled up, so we put the pedal to the metal toward Mestre.

Old boat graveyard on the River Sile

We followed the provided GPS coordinates to the bike garage only to not be able to find it.  After a phone call, some WhatsApp chats, and circling the block a couple of times, a guy walked out of a building and smiled.  Ahhh, we made it and just in time.

Anthony (the smiling guy) was kind enough to give us a ride to the stazione a couple of kilometers away.  Before we knew it, we were dragging our suitcases through the mass of humanity called Venezia trying to find our B&B.

Gotta love Google Maps.  A few bridges over a few canals, a few missteps down the wrong  narrow alleys and we arrived at San Stae B&B, our home for the next three nights!

View from our room

Venice

Stats for day two
Distance: 60 miles
Elevation: 2000 feet (gain), 2100 feet (lost)

Link to GPS track

Dobbiaco to Pieve di Cadore

Link to Dolomiti days tre e quattro

We were slightly depressed to be moving on from the Hotel Pider, in La Val to start the third stage of our Italy adventure.  We were leaving behind extraordinary views, heated bathroom floors, and fantastic food of the South Tyrol, for the unknowns of Venezia.  After a couple hours of bus and train travel, we were exploring the small town of Dobbiaco, in the Sunday afternoon drizzle.  Not much happening on a Sunday afternoon in a very small town.

That evening we meet up with Angelina of Fun Active Adventures, to get our trip itinerary, and the bikes we'd be riding for the next three days.  These guys are another outfit I found online and had great communication with. We contracted with them for luggage transport and bikes for the next three days and 150 miles.



It was a bit cool, but the sun was shining when we departed.  After a not so quick stop at the tour company's shop for a bike switch and some shopping, we were off to Cortina d'Ampezzo.

The valley we would be riding through

Lago d'Dobbiaco

As this ride was following an old railway line from Dobbiaco to Cortina, the grade promised to not be steep.  Maybe not steep, but it was long - 10 miles worth of gentle incline along a gravel pathway.  There were mountain peaks everywhere, and I spent the majority of this uphill travel gawking.

Not paying attention to the road

Ten miles in we reached the summit, Passo Cimabanche, and started the long downhill to Cortina d'Amprezzo.

As this was an old railway, there were many "stations" along the way that housed the railway caretakers.  This is one, of twenty or so, we noticed.

Again, more peaks and more gawking.  Unfortunately, clouds were building causing flat light and crappy photo opportunities.

Tamara enjoying a short break while crossing the river.

Entering Cortina d'Ampezzo

We stopped in Cortina at a bike shop and inquired about a pizzeria.  The owner's son suggested one down the road, so we stopped in and fueled up with a pizza and Patate fritte (fries)!

No picture of the fries

Cortina

More views of Cortina

Close up

Another railway caretaker's house

After a long stretch of ups and downs we pulled into Pieve di Cadore and found our hotel.  That evening, while wandering around finding a place for an Aperitivo, it started to rain.  Luckily, we were done cycling for the day.

Stats
Distance: 43 miles
Elevation: 2200 feet

Link to GPS track

Link to tour to Venice day due