DAY 5 (Wash out Wednesday)

Arabba – Caprile – Cencenighe – Agordo – Passo Duran – Dont – Forcella Staulanza – Selva di Cador – Colle Sta Lucia – Andraz – Arabba 

(68 miles with 3000 meters ascent)

The Bells!...up again and hesitated before looking out the window…would we get another day like yesterday with excellent visibility and blue skies?...Not on your nelly!...my heart sank once again as I gazed down at the puddles on the road…it wasn’t thumping down but more of a consistent drizzle…the skies were thick and grey but more importantly what about the temperature?…the temp sign in the courtyard indicated 10oC at 7am in the morning…so I suppose that was something to be grateful for…it wasn’t going to be a cold one…

Once again we made our way for breakfast and a team up with the other lads…we agreed that the big 70 mile route would be on the agenda for today…it was a good choice as the first section consisted of around 30 miles all downhill to Agordo at 600 meters…from here we would take a Left and head over the Passo Duran to reach ‘Dont’…and from there we would directly tackle the Forcella Staulanza…after the descent from there it was a rolling affair back to Arabba...the Passo Duran summits out at 1600 meters, and the Staulanza summits out at 1770 meters so both were fairly low passes with respect to the many others…ideal for adverse weather conditions!...

I had read a few articles concerning the Passo Duran on the web and it was all foreboding stuff…I had seen people pushing there bikes up in photographs and 15% gradient signs…the whole climb had real scary stats with a near 10Km section in the middle averaging 8.9%!!!...now that’s fairly serious...It’s not as well known a climb as some of the others in the region but I offered that the Passo Duran with the Forcella Staulanza afterwards would most probably be on par with Day 2 with regards to difficulty (the Passo Fedaia and Passo Pordoi day)…Allan scoffed as he heard me say that…but like I say the Duran’s not as well known…would the Passo Duran live upto it’s rep?...we would certainly find out….

Again we all got ready and were in the Hotel courtyard for 9.30am…Jon arrived and informed us that Glenn didn’t fancy it and had decided to take a rest day so we were down to 5…off fairly snappy in order to avoid getting too cold and not long before we were buzzing down towards Andraz…however on this occasion we took the small turn off to the Right before reaching Andraz, this was a class road that the lads had sussed out on Black Monday…it was a fairly  dangerous descent to start off with…with very tight corners and tricky chicanes….and the views down the valley were  still impressive…even with the bad weather…

         A wet and misty start to the proceedings - it would not relent!

The descent started to level somewhat and the Tandem team put a scary serious pace on…it was very hard work to keep up with them but fairly soon we had flew through Caprile and were speeding along towards Alleghe…the Tandem Guys must have been on a promise as there were a few Km’s along here that they averaged  +30 mph…it got to a point I eased right off…I knew the Passo Duran was going to be a brute from hell and I wasn’t wanting to knacker myself out before I even reached it…as I eased off Stu did aswell…he was of the same mindset…

                                  The views heading for Cencenighe

So we made our way to Cencenighe where the tandem Rocket team and Jon were waiting…we regrouped and made our way to the next major destination…Agordo!...as we motored along here we experienced something unexpected…A Tunnel!...we saw a small road off to the right that seemed to run parallel so we hedged our bets…we rattled along here and sure enough it delivered us back onto the R203…nice one!...we stopped and had a energy boost here and I took the opportunity to grab a quick photo…

          Jon, Allan, Kon and Stu on the side road that avoided the Tunnel 

All the way down this enormously long descent the rain had gradually deteriorated and we were all soaked to the skin…however, it wasn’t cold!...back on the bikes and another 20 mins later seen us arrive in Agordo…after a little bit of getting lost and ending up in the Town Open Market we all managed to regroup at the bottom of the Passo Duran…by now, it was now such a downpour that we agreed that we ride the pass with our Waterproofs on…Jon informed us here that he was going to hammer up the Duran then go straight onto the Staulanza…if he felt ok after that he was going to ‘nip’ over the Passo Giau then make his way back over the Passo Falzarego…Mmmm…well that doesn’t  compute with my mind and body…but he’s not got a body…he’s got a mechanical make up like the Terminator…that’s why he’s the Pedalator!...so I just admired the ability as he floated away into the distance…

                                            THE VERY TOUGH PASSO DURAN

Ok doky…the Pass sign indicated Open so off the mortals went…

                                                                           A real sore lesson awaits

A 1000 meter climb over 12.5kms awaited us…with a severe dose of steepness thrown in for good measure…

Allan and Kon were about a 50 meters upfront when me and Stu took off…and it took some time before we managed to catch them up…we told them there’s a café at the top and we would wait for them there…then off we went…the road never seemed like the beginnings of a huge pass…it weaved it’s way gradually up through fairly dismal  dwellings…after around 2 Kms we finally left the small dingy villages and we were immediately confronted with severe steep straight ramps…these were real sore…maybe around ~12% solid…one of these dead arrow steep ramps stretched for the best part of a Km and as we neared the top we looked back down and saw Allan and Kon just starting it…and in my head I thought “I bet you've had a bit of a fright seeing this mother”...

After a few more of these steep straight nasty ramps  the road relaxed and headed for a huge forested area…the road was tiny (excellent) and it had a real remote feeling…just what was needed after the busy Sella Ring yesterday!...as we entered the forest it kicked up sharply and there’s no point in trying to explain the next  8 or 9 Kms…

Absolutely relentless!…I was feeling very strong but I was being very respectful even in my 2^nd lowest gear…30x25…there was not one meter of rest in that whole section through the forest…it just went on and on at a very steep gradient…there were no tight corners or hairpins where a little rest could be achieved…just a weaving road that spiralled it’s way upwards at a back breaking gradient…even half way up Stu was getting major back pain due to the relentless pressure of the mountain, he had to continually get out the saddle and relieve his back muscles…the climb really reminded me of the forested section of the Mont  Ventoux  (from Bedoin upto Chalet Reynard) except this was a bit steeper and had some sections which really ramped up…but it also resembled a slightly shallower Mortirolo?...

Anyhow, we were about 2/3rds of the way up when we both agreed that this was the toughest climb of the trip so far…tougher than the Passo Fedaia…I don’t think it had quite as steep sections as the Fedaia but it was utterly relentless and no recuperation could be made anywhere on the entire forested part of the climb!...it felt like we had been on the climb for ages when we were confronted by a warning gradient sign…15% up ahead…Stuboy said “Oh Sh*t just what we never needed!”…the next couple of Kms did have extremely steep parts but on the whole it didn’t  differ  much from the previous 7 Kms (or at least I never felt it did?)…up ahead I could see a clearing and as we approached it the gradient slackened right off…”That’s it Stuboy…the next couple of Kms are a dawdle”…”Thank Christ” was his answer…the road then swung us round in a huge anti clockwise circle and through the intense rain I could make out grand cliffs and the like…it certainly would be a lovely spot in good weather…the road started to twist and turn its way up the small remainder of the mountain and as we approached the summit the wind kicked up and the rain was almost horizontal…it was absolutely chucking it down and off to the left a great sight greeted us…the café at the top had all it’s lights on…OPEN!...thank goodness!...we made our way for the compulsory photo by the ‘Pass sign’…and we took a turn at trying to get a photo of each of us without soaking the camera…

                              Obilgatory photo's at the Summit

Afterwards we hurriedly got ourselves off to the refuge of the café…it’s a strange café this…you have to negotiate a flight of stairs to gain access?...however we weren’t complaining and it wasn’t long before we sludged inside…there was a guy of around 50 and a young lad (maybe his son?)…the old boy seemed a bit crabbit but he did help us to get our ‘wets’ off and rest them on a rail on the warm Stove walls…it was good to be inside…and we ordered up Spag Bol and a couple of Café Lates…around 20 mins or so later we saw Allan and Kon crest the beast…Stuboy shouted over to them and the lads got themselves in from the scary rain…first thing Kon said was “what a bloody hill that was, absolutely relentless”…Allan just looked in total agreement…

The Tandem duo ordered up a couple of plates of goodness as well and around 20 mins later seen us tuck into some real nice grub…the older crabbit guy had muttered a few disapproving words then had left the Café leaving the young lad in charge…and that was just dandy with us as the young lad was a happy welcoming guy… after another 2 big mugs of good warm drink we braced ourselves for the extreme rain…

Thanking the young lad we traipsed outside the warmth of the cafe back into the cruel outdoors…and what a bloody horrid feeling that is!...quickly on the bikes for a scary steep plunge into Dont…as I gathered speed I was heading for a tight bend…I pulled the brakes – nothing!…then for around 4 seconds I had that awful feeling that a major crash was imminent but then the brakes suddenly took hold…dear oh dear talk about frights!...must have been the brakes expelling all the water on the rims first…the descent was a real scary one with extremely steep gradients… mandatory great care and attention!...around half way down something went wrong with the Tandem brake and the lads stopped to do a quick repair….as I was standing there the rain was just bouncing off me…I just laughed…I simply could not get any wetter!...a few mins later seen us continue our plunge…the scariest part of the whole descent was the last part into the town of Dont itself…Jeez that must have been 18%...the road led us to a T-Junction with the P251 where we took a left for the immediate climb of the Forcella Staulanza...I was rather happy at starting the next climb immediately…it would save us getting cold…so onwards for the next battle…12.5 kms at a average gradient of 6.7%...

                                  A GOOD GRADED FORCELLA STAULANZA                         

We all started the climb together and it was agreed we should maybe ride up this one as a group…and almost straight away the road kicked up fairly sharply…we were all riding up in no particular formation when a bunch of cars came up from behind…Allan barked “C’mon lads get in line”…so with this Stu forged ahead and as I got a fair fright I put the foot down to get in single file…as I did so I lost slight control of the steering with such an acceleration and ended up near taking Allan and Konrad off the road… I apologised and made my way upto Stuboy…

We both agreed we should just batter on at our own pace…we never knew how busy this road was and it was obvious that riding up together wasn’t the best way forward when dealing with the traffic…so me and Stu just got on with it…we absolutely rattled up that climb…it was a bigger road that weaved it’s way up through lovely expensive looking villages…the road then entered deep forest and a superb series of hairpins were experienced…these were the absolute business..there had been none of this on the Passo Duran but this climb was making up for it in bucket loads…the climb then re-emerged into more small townships where we both stopped and had an energy boost…the rain was getting even heavier…I kid you not!...that had been around 5 hours of a constant thumping downpour?...

Off again and it almost got to a point I reckoned there was no summit…it just went on and on forever…or that’s how it felt?...me and Stu were humouring each other about climbing this forever but after an eternal effort we finally topped out…we weren’t even going to take a photo due to the extremity of the rain  but Stu had to stop and do something so I said “Get next to the Pass sign Stu and I’ll snap you there just to prove we’ve been here”…so that’s what we did…sorry it’s not a great photo but I was trying my best to protect my camera from the lashing onslaught!

               A Rapid quick photo just to prove we'd been there 

We hurriedly got on our way and picked up real speed…and again, as like on the Passo Duran I got the fright of my life as my brakes never worked for another 4 heart stopping seconds…I really should have learned!...Stu came ahead of me here and I followed his wheel as we ploughed down the road (now nearly river)…Wasn’t  too long before we reached Selva di Cador where we had to negotiate the relatively small climb of the Colle Sta Lucia (around  3 km in length)…this was fairly sore and by now the legs had been working solid for 6 hours in torrential conditions…after reaching the top there’s a very speedy descent down to the R203 where we took a Right for the drag back upto Andraz…this was sore…real sore!…it just went on and on…and it was much more of an effort than I had expected…another eternal drag later we crested the bugger and joined the R48 which would deliver us back to Arabba over the next 12 Kms …this roads a bit of a rolling one…either long slight drags up or long slow descents down…each one of these rises were a bit of an ordeal now…but we soldiered on and as we saw the ‘2km to go sign’ for Arabba we turned the corner and were faced with the ‘expected’ long  grind home...this was painful…we both knew this represented the last hurdle but it really did start to bite…it was like the last kick in the teeth!…Boy was it not good to reach the Hotel Door…

A healthy handshake with Stuboy and we got ourselves inside…Glenn was out in a shot…he’s a real caring fella and was making sure we were alright…we headed for our room and immediately got some dry slacks on…then we came back down to dry and clean the bikes…we asked about the Tandem lads and Glenn informed us they were just back and they were both ok…good stuff!

We found out later that  Jon ‘The Pedalator’ had decided not to do the Passo Giau/Falzarego extra loop after all…there must be something human in him!…he had arrived back at the hotel an hour and a half ahead of us…so everyone back safe and sound…cannot ask for anymore.

Day 5 Conclusion

Monsoon!

The rain hadn’t  haulted from the minute we left the hotel to the minute we arrived back…in fact it just got heavier…However!...it wasn’t cold and the day was anything but a waste…

No doubt it was to be 'by far' the toughest day of the trip (even in great weather it would still have been the toughest)…but we had also had the privilege to experience yet another mesmerising part of the Dolomite region.

The Passo Duran was simply a brute…but it was a delightful brute…being so remote and being only a tiny little backroad…it really did test and IMO the toughest climb of the trip so far (Day 6 still had to have it’s say!) …it proved to be one of the most unrelenting stretches of road I’ve ever encountered…but I’m so glad I did it…it does get inclusion in the Giro D’Italia from time to time and it’s one of the climbs that the Pro’s really do fear…no wonder!.

The Forcella Staulanza was a happy encounter…it seemed a very long effort but it was the perfect antidote after the rigours of the Passo Duran…the gradients weren’t ‘easy’ by any stretch of the imagination but on comparison to the previous effort it was a great leveller…

A splendid all round effort where the weather simply added to the Challenge…Great!…but I do hope we see no rain tomorrow!!!