Monday 15th of August

I was woken up at 5am by the thunder and the lightning and soon to follow the rain pounding on the roof.  I was feeling a bit guilty after not doing any exercise yesterday afternoon when I said I was going to but if it was going to rain all day then there was no chance of making up.  However by early afternoon the rain was slowing and the sun was coming out.  Lunch was a big portion of pasta and pesto sauce along with salad, cheese and fruit, white wine and red wine, a great base for a long ride....  So it was that I set out on the bike about 3pm.

The warm up consisted of about 2km downhill with very little pedalling needed.  Hmm.  Still I've never got particularly worked up about long warm ups so I immediately dropped to bottom gear as soon as the slope arrived and took it steady.  28km.... It was going to be a long climb.  I had been down the route in a car and nothing looked particularly bad but I didn't know how well I would do.  I wasn't worried because at any point I could turn around and coast back down the hill and the temperatures were unlikely to drop as low as they did on the Col de Galibier, it was also unlikely there would be any rain.

Oh well, let's go for it and see how far I get

Family having a late lunch on the balcony overlooking the valley

Today was a national holiday for the Italians - Ferroagosto but the early rains which had been predicted appeared to keep the majority of people away from the hills.  The first stretch was long and I stopped only to take these two photographs on the ascent.  I kept pedalling away up the 17km first section and the majority of it was showing as 7-8% on the GPS with occasional bursts of 11-12%.  Occasionally it would drop back to 4-5% and that felt like downhill and I was able to shift up a gear or two.  I had a gel after an hour and then again after another half an hour but these were taken on the go and washed down with plenty of water.  The temperature wasn't too bad as the bulk of the climb was done on the shady side of the mountain.

The first section of level downhill was bliss and I was soon up in to the big ring and the pace was increased dramatically.  All too soon another 8% section arrived and I was back down to the lowest gears.  Of the last 5km only a couple of them were uphill so it could have been far worse.  Once at the top the view was as expected although not quite as good as the last time I was here because of more 'polution'(?) over the cities and towns on the plains.

Cima Grappa (summit)

View across the Veneto plains

I'd made it up there in just under two hours which I was quite please with.  I didn't hang about for too long as it was getting a little later now so after a few mins I set off back down the hill, back the way I came up.  I stopped a few times to take some photos on the initial section.

Looking west

The picnic I'd had with Chiara and a couple of friends was taken not far from the road I'd just ridden up and I knew there was an alternative road that went parallel to the main road but was much steeper in places.  20% inclines had been mentioned so I'd put out of my head the possibility of riding up there on the road bike but I thought it would be ideal to ride back down.  With hinesight this might not have been such a great idea.  A good section of this alternate route was through the forest and the road hadn't seen the sun for a while and therefore was damp.  Additionally there was a fair amount of growth and rubble in the middle of the road.  The roads were too small to appear on the GPS and I was out of signal when I tried looking up some directional assistance from Google maps but it turned out I'd gone the correct way in navigational terms.  The road was immediately very steep and it got worse, in terms of having to spend 98% of the time on the brakes. The rims were getting somewhere between warm and hot to the touch and my fingers were getting cramp from slowing the bike down on the brakes.  The occasional stretch that was straight enough to let go of the brakes meant immediate and rapid acceleration.  Again I stopped quite a few times for pictures on the way down.

Houses can be seen on the other side of the valley 

looking back up the valley - the road can be seen in the top right

Few tornanti (hairpins) but they show how steep the road is

And the tornanto again 

Still something like 800m to descend

20% decent (1 in 5), tight turns, falling rocks and people with guns capable of making holes in the metal sign

I'm there somewhere...

The church in Chiesa Nuova (New Church) 

To the left the way into the village from the north, to the right the exit to the south

The last section from Nuova Chiesa is relatively flat and it was a chance to get in the big gears again and build up some pace for the last half a dozen or so kilometres, made a nice change from being on the brakes.

So the details:

Map looking not overly impressive 

Two hours up to the summit - you can spot where it's level/downhill - 45-50km/h at the end

Not as hot as I expected as it was late afternoon and a lot of the route in the shade

This says it all really - 1 * cat 1, 2 * cat 3, 2 * cat5 - just under 27km of climbing

I'm really pleased I completed the ride and I might think now about attacking the summit from another side although I'll check out the slopes first before I do so.

Later...

Dinner was back at the football pitch site and back in the big tent.  I asked Chiara for the cheese dish as they were out of burgers but I asked in English and she thought I said Chicken so roast chicken I got.  It was rather nice though along with the chips and small beer.  Her father was helping with the control of the parking in the grounds (Protezione Civile)

Giorgio (Mr Hi-vis) and Chiara

It was the last day of the Festa there so the tent was full again with people there for the dancing.  We looked for another 'special couple' and although the choice wasn't as good as last time Chiara spotted this couple.

Prize for the most outlandish shirts of the evening

It was a long day but a good one and the view back towards Seren was nice too.

On leaving the tent it was dark and we could see the letters WSR high up on the hillside.  Viva San Rocco.  It was the village Rocca's turn for a festa tomorrow.