Gold Refiner, Houston

Sellaronda

If little more than a month ago I had said that even after 300km route I would have turned up on the pedals to tackle the last curves of the Pordoi I probably would have laughed and, instead, the idea to complete the tour of the Sella Ronda turned in our (mine and Gianmaria ..) by sick minds a bit 'of time.

.. and once you are in the top photo with the Coppi monument was a must ..

Monument Coppi (Pordoipass)

On top Pordoi finally ..

starts on Friday, found a way to "trap" the two disassembled bike in the trunk, we have been anticipating the moment that did not seem to want to get in because of an infamous time that has accompanied us for most of the weekend and At a certain point, it seemed to screw up our goal .. Aborted after the first attempt to climb the Campolongo, light rain but above the low clouds that looked like fog had made our exit unsafe and never playing the second shipment because of heavy rain on Saturday, we spent two days with his legs below the table and drive to see the path to be addressed and other climbs (Giau, Valparola) of the area .. it was not too wise idea because the climbs through the window views always seem too hard to turn the corner before the hairpin bend and find some walls made me grow up a little anxiety that I stayed two nights, even had the race. .

Sunday, finally, after a contract with the hotel check-out, we got in gear early in the morning and left for the tour of the 4 steps .. The sky opened up with the passing of the hours and allowed us to ride in a spectacular setting, amidst the Dolomites eyes were lost in the landscape and effort went into the background .. The Campolongo legs and get used to warm the heart, Pordoi to increase self-esteem, find safety, pace and enjoy a climb from the Tour of Italy, its descent to get acquainted with the cold that freezes you and feel the hands that, despite the winter gloves, made hard to squeeze the brake levers, the Sella to test themselves on the slopes of our tougher Sunday, Gardena to complete the work, with a slope steeper slopes but not too long and punctuated by km of a slight slope where the legs can run faster and, above all, the longest downhill and technical .. and I go downhill, I have to improve a lot ..

the end I can say that the ride was less demanding than I had feared, there are just over 60km so it's pretty short but I am worried about those ups and downs with no respite in the middle, having to get used to the physical and legs to change perspective in an instant, instead of gasoline there was still .. On the other hand should improve the ability of a speed high and constant in the case plans, and sooner or later find a way to ride in a group for a minimum of confidence in traffic situations, something that worries me enough ..

happy and satisfied we put back on the road, the deviation from the " tortaio " trusted Marcialonga was discovered at a must ..