Sella Ronda Bike Day
Twice a year, the ‘Sella Ronda Bike Day’ is open for bicyclists only.
Between 8:30 and 15:30 the roads are all but closed to motor vehicles, and thousands of cyclists go out for their ‘Sella Ronda‘.
The Sella Ronda is a 55 kms long loop of four passes around the Sella group –
Since he was in the area anyway, C. joined them…
He saved himself the trouble of climbing the 12 kilometers or so to Sankta Cristina, from where the road was closed.
So, he started his Sella Ronda Bike Day with the first pass, the Sella – a total of 12.75 km, with 785 altimeters.
The Gardena itself starts way down in Ponte di Gardena and in Plan de Gralba you turn left to climb the rest of it.
But since it was advised to cycle counterclockwise, he continued to the summit of the Sella…
After the descent towards Canazei, his Sella Ronda Bike Day continued with the Pordoi pass.
This was less demanding – the route joined this climb at around 1,820 meters, so only the last 7k were actually climbed.
The following Campolongo was almost a breeze – it’s (only) a short 4 km stretch at 6.8% from Arabba.
But since he had seen the final pass – the Gardena – from the passenger seat of the car the day before, he didn’t go full speed.
This final pass of the Sella Ronda Bike Day in this direction starts in Corvara and is the only one that you get to ride ‘in full’.
It’s also not too difficult, but a bit more demanding than the profile suggests, especially after the preceding climbs.
This pass is the one with the best views, although the Pordoi offers similar views from the Arabba side.
But the Pordoi was a downhill in today’s stage, so he didn’t stop to take pictures.
The Gardena is almost resembling the Stelvio from some vantage points (see picture above), but it is less than half as long.
And a lot easier…
Still, a great conclusion of this Sella Ronda Bike Day – the remaining descent into Val Gardena and further to Sankta Cristina was just for the mileage…
Total for the day: 66.2 km / 2,641 altimeters.
Tomorrow he might be taking on the Kronplatz, but given the nature of the second part of that climb (unpaved), he’s not altogether sure about it.
Perhaps the Furkel Pass will have to do and the Würzjoch is close by as nice alternative…
