Arrival

Bill, Jim and I arrived at Venice airport via different flights on Friday afternoon. Flights were crammed and the airport bustled with tourists, most heading south into Venice itself. Venice, they say, is sinking into the sea, while the Dolomites are rising….

Crammed planes, crowded airports–many Europeans were visiting Venice this weekend

 

Ben of Andiamo met us at the airport, we quickly loaded up our bikes and luggage and headed north into the mountains for the town of Cortina. It was a 2-1/2 hour drive, meaning we arrived around 6 PM with enough daylight to assemble our bikes but not enough to ride.

Ben looks just like Lance–but he’s much nicer

 

6 of our gang had arrived a day or two earlier and were out cycling for the day–Rick, Todd, Howie, and Chris had tackled the Zoncolan. The Zoncolan is probably the single toughest climb in the Dolomites–certainly the steepest–and among the hardest road bike climbs in the world. They returned while we were finishing our bike assembly and confirmed its reputation–“the hardest thing I’ve ever done on a bike!” according to Rick and Todd. After looking over the profile, I was happy to have missed the opportunity–it looks like a twin to the feared Mt. Washington climb in New Hampshire.

 

Around 7:30, we gathered over dinner in the hotel restaurant, catching up on a year’s worth of news. Then it was an early evening so we’d be prepared for a Saturday of tough climbing.

 

Westies rule Zoncolan–the hardest thing I’ve done on a bike.

 

Red is hard

 


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