Tutti Dolomiti

Five years in the making

By EAT MORE LARD

July 6^th, 2025

I had a little moment at the top of the Passo Rolle. It was day 4, a magnificent first climb of the day, straight out of the hotel and under glorious weather. It's not a hard climb, rising steadily over 20km to almost 2000m. I was riding solo for the first time and in a good rhythm. I paused at the top and was suddenly in tears. I couldn't believe I was finally here in the Dolomites. This trip was supposed to happen in 2020, except, of course, Covid. Life since then has been challenging, a personal roller coaster that sometimes felt endless.

I honestly thought that this trip would never happen for me, that my chance had gone. Yet, here I was, experiencing everything I had hoped for and I felt so privileged to have finally made it.

All the climbs

Everyone always asks for favourites and it's always really hard to answer. Some days I rode with my fellow Macedon Ranges folk (although one is now in exile in Victor Harbour), enjoying the company and the collective effort, other days I was on my own, setting my own tempo for the day. I definitely remember more fondly those shared climbs.

This trip was effectively a highlights tour of the climbs of the Dolomites. You can never ignore the true magnificence (and altitude) of the Stelvio and its ludicrous 48 hairpins. It's almost opposite is the goat track and isolation that is the Gavia (my favourite mountain). We were lucky enough to have the Gavia to ourselves as the road was still closed to traffic yet it was clear enough for cyclists - plus, the Refugio was open for much needed coffee and strudel!

Maybe it's the endless climb (and even longer descent) of Monte Grappa, a mountain steeped in tragedy. We felt every moment of it in the cloud and cold. Some climbs are consistently solid but never ridiculous - looking at you Passo Pordoi or Passo Giau - while others are deep into Type 2 territory - suffice to say, the Fedaia will live long in the memory, if not in the favourites list! Definitely put the Sella Ronde on your bucket list, 4 cracking climbs and descents in less than 60km whilst immersed in classic Dolomites vistas.

The weather always had an influence. We had a few days of rain and a few more hours of rain on a couple other days. The Passo Tonale would have been stock fair but the rain and cloud somehow made for a far more interesting climb than I expected. I do think having to wait for a helicopter to take off as it airlifted an unfortunate motorcyclist to Trentino haunted my thoughts on that climb.

Maybe the Passo Pennes would have been a highlight and at 27km long it's a beast on a good day. The fact that the first 20km were a false flat drag up the valley into a block headwind before the fun stuff began definitely dulled the experience! Conversly, some of the lesser known climbs were knocked out under perfect skies, making for some unexpected delights.

All the descents

Of course getting up a climb is only half the story. You have to get back down the mountain. Oh, boy, were those descents fun. On the early transition days, as we headed towards the high mountains, they were at times a little sketchy. Some rain, lots of descents through forests and some questionable surfaces made for absolute concentration. Once into the high mountains, it was everything you might imagine, with stacked switchbacks and awesome road surfaces, punctuated by the odd clench through a dark tunnel. As a mid-pack descender I was loving it. One descent off the Erbe had a long section traversing the side of the mountain, where I was taking advantage of the sight lines and the butter smooth surface, my elbow millimetres of the stone wall on my right hand side. Wheeeeeee!

Turns out, it is still possible to bomb off a mountain on a steel road bike with rim brakes and live to tell the tale.

It's not all high mountains

Of course, Italy is not only known for the mountains. We came for the mountains, we stayed for coffee and 4 course dinners. The cycling infrastructure is amazing with dedicated off-road trails running along the valleys, way away from traffic. Oddly, they seem to love a 20% climb on a bike path, but then almost every other cyclist you see is on an e-bike. We got to use a bunch of these trails as we headed out of the mountains and down to Lake Garda.

Of course, any day in Italy without a stop or two for coffee is a day wasted. There was the always excellent and endless €1.50 macchiatos, offering an opportunity to flex my limited Italian and watch the locals cracking a mid-morning glass of wine. We also enjoyed the ritual of the aperitivo, an Aperol Spritz or a tasty German beer pre-dinner (yours for €6 with free snacks).

As ever, the Bike Dreams crew were amazing. The hotels provided breakfast - an epic buffet include cake, not the traditional Italian breakfast of espresso and cigarette! - and dinner, all of the aforementioned 4 courses of it. At one hotel, the chef even came out after the meal so we could tell him how good dinner was. Maybe his name was Gordon? On the road, the Bike Dreams crew set up lunch somewhere on route every day, supplying all kinds of goodness to fuel our efforts. Not only that, but when we got to the hotel each day at the end of the ride, there was the crew again with soup and snacks! Calorie deficit was not an option on this trip.

Return to sender

Inevitably, all things must end. So it was, that after 15 days of pedalling, we were back in Verona. 1200km, 28 000m of climbing and a lifetime of memories. A winning combination of company, mountains and more mountains, coffee and food and the ever hospitably locals. Yes, the roads were sometimes busy with Porches, BMWs and motorbikes but there was never a moment when it felt unsafe (I've been back in Australia for almost 4 weeks and been close passed, beeped at and abused by some bogan hanging out a car window).

Footnotes

Thanks to the family for the time to finally experience the Dolomites. Thanks to Amanda, Blair and Mark (hey, roomie!) for the inspiration and the company. Of course, big thanks to the Bike Dreams crew who were amazing in their organisation, support and route choice, taking us to some magnificent passes that we had never heard of.