Sella Ronda Bike Day
Twice a year, the ‘Sella Ronda Bike Day‘ – a combination of four passes in a 55 kilometer loop around the Sella group – is open for bicyclists only.
Between 8:30 and 15:30 the roads are closed to motor vehicles and thousands of cyclists go out for their ‘Sella Ronda’.
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 only had to climb the last part of the first pass, the Sella – a total of 12.75 km, with 785 altimeters.
The Sella was first, since it was ‘advised’ to go counterclockwise; in Plan de Gralba you can also go left to climb up the Gardena Pass.
After the descent towards Canazei, the climb to the Pordoi pass 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, but since he had seen the final pass – the Gardena, albeit from the passenger seat of the car – the day before, he suppressed the urge to go full speed.
This final pass in the Sella Ronda, from Corvara, 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 course.
This pass is the one with the best views, although the Pordoi offers similar views if you come from/descend to Arabba.
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.
Still, a great conclusion of the 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’s planning on 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…
