With the first stage of the Messner museums complete, it was time to get back on the bikes and head back into the Dolomites.
Another short but all day uphill to Corvara, well actually Colfosco, an adjacent village that’s about 1 km from Corvara but 100 m above it! Do the math on that gradient. More on this later.
I was a bit concerned on today’s route given that there were no designated bike routes for the first 30 km’s up the Gran Ega river towards Corvara and the greater Alta Badia ski, mountaineering, hiking and biking area. I should say that there were no bike routes shown on the maps (OSM cycle, RWGPS Cycle etc). I managed to find some seccondary roads that actually turned out to be marked as bike routes, and we had them mainly to ourselves with a few other day riders. We eventually had to ride a portion of of the SS244, the highway up the valley to Corvara we were very pleasantly surprised at how light the traffic was and the great condition of the road (no shoulder but a wide road and very courteous drivers). We ended up taking this the rest of the way into Corvara. We also had a very good tailwind making this one of the easiest ‘all day uphill’ rides we’ve had.
And it was absolutely beautiful the entire ride up!
Once in Corvara, it dawned on us why the traffic was so light on the road. We knew we were arriving here ‘early’ in the summer season, but a better term would be ‘premature’. Corvara, which is a pretty good size high end resort, is for all intents and purposes closed until 6 June. That’s probably why when we were booking things a few months ago there was a very limited supply of rooms, and the few that were available in Corvara were in the 300 € plus per night range. We did find a nice apartment in Colfosco though for a reasonable rate so that’s where we’re staying.
It was Saturday in mid afternoon. We saw no open bars, cafe’s, restaurants or hotels. The SPAR grocery store was closed with a signed taped to the window - Opening on 6 June. This was to become a very recurring sight!
However, the place itself is almost beyond words. The peaks surrounding here, Piz Boè, Piz Pisciado, Sassongher, Sas Clampac, just to name a few are stunning. This is the Dolomites that everyone comes for - except in the last weeks of May.
So we sweated up the last 120 m of steep climb to Colfosco and found our apartment that would be our home for the next three nights, got cleaned up and then set out to see what if anything was open. Google indicated that there were a couple of small food stores that were open.
We all know not to trust Google. We found the shops, and the ‘closed until 6 June’ signs as well.. K was on the edge of that vortex of doom again when she turned to me and asked ‘Have you seen anything that’s open here? Anything? Even a bar?’
Stumped, I was about to admit defeat when I turned around and saw Bar Sadla with a bike parked beside the door. The chalk board outside had ‘Open 9.00 - 22.00’ written on it, the door was open … and the place was almost full.
We were saved! We would get to know this place well over the next few days. We also found the single open restaurant - The Black Hills Pizzeria - a few blocks away. It appears that small little Colfosco has more open amenities thats its big brother down the hill. This reminded us a little of our time in Pont en Royans in 2023. Stunning place and fantastic riding with very limited services in the town. Not a lot of choice, but what was available was good and everything we needed!
We’re here for a few days with the hope of riding the Sella Ronda. Looks like tomorrow is the best day for that based on the weather forecasts. Stay tuned!
So long Hotel Ander and Bruneck. Both great places
At the 15 km mark, the side roads above / cycle way was closed. There was a lot of logging activity taking place, mainly clearing dead trees (pine beetle??) of which there were many. We decided to take the SP244 from here.
As we approached Corvara there were sections of separate bike path along the road. There was in fact a totally separate bike trail to our east the followed the river. It was good hard pack gravel but given the very light traffic we just stayed on the Sp244
Bob KoreisLooks like a Haflinger. https://www.suedtirolerland.it/en/leisure-activities/other-sports/horse-riding/the-haflinger-horse/ Reply to this comment 2 weeks ago
Looking back north towards Badia as we got close to Corvara. On the right by the orange back hoe you can see the dedicated gravel bike trail. Nice, but we didn't need it today
A portion of the Grupo Del Sella that dominates the southern skyline. Taken from our apt balcony. Piz Boè, 3152 m is in the background, Pisa Pisciado, 2985 m in the foreground
This was once, and to some degree is, a basic farming area with a few remaining old buildings. Nice to be here now when it’s very quiet and almost all of the luxury hotels are closed and empty.
So true. We saw almost nobody else as we were wandering around this town that is filled with very nice but very empty holiday hotels and apartments! All that will change in a couple of weeks.
Good night from Colfosco … an amazingly beautiful place.
