Tarvisio to Venzone

September 7, 2018

The rail trail from Heaven- sensational views, 60 kilometres downhill, sealed surface and reasonable weather.

September 7 Friday 65kms

Tarvisio to Venzone.

The rail trail from Heaven- sensational views, 60 kilometres downhill, sealed surface and reasonable weather.

Leave Greenlife Central at around 10:00 am and find the trail almost outside our back door. From the start it feels fantastic- the slight incline allows for a good 25kph average and we’ve covered the first 20 kilometres before we know it.

Starting the trail- very nicely designed counter.

From the start too, the landscape is something special in a place of special landscapes. The mountains along the route are so close and detailed, you feel you could touch them, the river looks pristinely clear, is fast flowing and has a blue green tinge. From above, it’s easy to see the rocks and boulders it flows over and at intervals white water is greater and falls into deep blue pools. The cycle way has been built on what was once the railway line and hugs the side of the cliff face in places, curves around and between mountains and runs through tunnels.

Recent slide- this area has known earthquakes.

One of the tunnels is lit by a single strip of light along the ceiling, lengths of which blink on as we move along, so that we can see the tunnel and the light strip lengthening ahead of us. A second long tunnel has the disconcerting habit of only lighting up as we are directly beneath the light. This means that for the interval of about a second we’re in almost complete darkness. We should of course have our lights in action, and when Ann brakes and slips suddenly, we decide it’s time to do so.

The lighting in this tunnel was triggered by a sensor and blinked on several metres ahead of us as we road- not so the second tunnel, which left us floundering in the dark for a disconcerting millisecond.

At Pontebba, we find the marker that indicates the limits of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at one time. The river marked a frontier over which Austrians and Italians took pot shots at each other during WWI. The trail continues following the river, and at some points we can look down on both the autostrada traffic and the river rushing by.

Pontebba a pretty town which has formed the border of a number of states throughout history. It was bombed heavily by the Americans in WW2.

Fascinating history- the Austro Hungarian Empire’s reach was extensive. Few bridges can have seen such conflict.

Chuisaforte - the closes, locked. The brick remnants of the past fortress can be seen as well as notches and holes from buildings in the rock face.

Eventually the perfect trail ends rather suddenly as if it is still to be completed. There is a diversion sign though and as rain approaches, we follow the signs tentatively to the small town of Moggio where the cycle way continues on an unpaved road (strada Bianca) at the base of high cliffs. The sign warning of falling rocks is a little ominous and encourages us not to dawdle but before too long we reach a long bridge which takes us over the river and soon we are safely in the small town of Venzone where we find our pension and manager Claudia who welcomes us out of the rain. It has been a quite sensational day in terms of trail and scenery. It’s a path I’d happily do again!

Later we walk into the beautiful town centre. It’s hard to believe that much of it is restoration after the 1976 earthquake. It’s the ubiquitous pizza and ice cream for dinner.

Moggio Udinese. From the old railway station on the cycle trail we had to find our way under the road and continue on the other side.

Today's ride: 65 km (40 miles)
Total: 3,916 km (2,432 miles)

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