Well despite my day off in Croatia I made up some kms yesterday, the Monte Zoncolon was on my mind, I would have hated to get this close and not had time to ride it. After all it was one of the prime reasons I took this route.
I heard riding the route up from Ovaro was the harder direction, hmmmm why would I take any other route.
I designed the route last night and when I got out on the road somehow (sheer incompetence) I had neglected to notice the designed route was anticlockwise not clockwise. Added to that there was a large street marked in Tolmezzo blocking many of the streets.
But after some calming 😌 moments I followed the GPS route backwards. My bike void of any luggage felt fast and nimble.
The climb twists and turns ziz zagging. 3 or 4 times I did have to focus and steel myself, seeing what looks like a near vertical face in front of you to cycle up is momentarily daunting.
But I gave the climb too much respect, I mostly climbed sitting down with just a few occasions standing up, but these were on the dlightly less inclined parts and only to relieve the pressure on my ass. There is always the chance that if I had pushed just a little harder I may not have made it. As always different days/time/fitness/etc/etc all contribute to how one is feeling while climbing, but the Angliru, a couple of years ago, there were points I could only just turn the pedals over.
At just over 8 kms I was quickly at the top
I was going to put some more kms in but saw this campsite by a lake and couldn’t resist.
A Couple of Days Ride Outta....... 