Cycling

Franco Pellizotti, winner 2008 Giro d'Italia Furcia Pass - Plan de Corones TT

Road Biking Gearing for the Dolomite Passes

In response to several inquiries and Google searches we have had regarding what gearing is best for riding the passes in the Dolomites, I suggest the following.

My Profile: I am a climber, 173cm tall, weigh 61kg and ride a very light bike, for me I want to climb when I ride. I prefer spinning Armstrong style.

My preference for training and racing here is a Compact Crank, 50-34 and a 12-25 cassette. This is enough for me for most everything, there are days where I would like a 26 but I deal okay without.

When asked what he thought of the Dolomites while racing in the 2009 Giro d’Italia, Lance Armstrong said, “”It was my first time in the Dolomite Mountains; they seemed similar to the Tour climbs.”

The passes, like anywhere, are varied, I would say 9% steepness is average, though many of the famous have sections of 10-14% steepness. The Tre Cime has sections of 19% !! And the Passo Fedaia’s east side has a brutal sustained section of 14-16% for almost two kilometers.

The Giau, arguably the best and most difficult all around pass, is sustained 9 and 10% for about 8 kilometers. This being the tricky angle to get a rhythm going and find the right gear. A friend calls it Monkey Hill because it always feels like a monkey runs out of the forest and jumps on your back to torment you while climbing. There have been days where it has certainly felt more like Oxen Hill. The Pordoi, one of my favorites, is easier, averaging 8%steepness , perfect for the rhythm.

There are countless passes; The Passo delle Erbe, Tre Cime, Tre Croci, Sella, Gardena, San Pellegrino, Valparola, Campolongo, Falzarego, Duran and the Furcia – and these are but a handful of just the primary passes – there are literally countless more secondary roads with no cars, just you, the sound of your spinning and breathing, and the smell of the forest.

This morning I rode the Furcia, site of last year’s brutal uphill time trial in the Giro d’Italia. The Furcia has long, sustained 14% sections, climbing about 550 meters in 6 kilometers. I use it as a test for how hard I can go uphill. Today’s heart rate vs. elevation profile is below, revealing an exhausting 178 bpm heart rate average for almost 30 minutes. Based on the consistent angle vs heart rate, it is obvious there is some serious output required to get up these things. No wonder I feel the need for a nap.

For the traveling cyclist, check in to a hotel in the Alta Badia Region, right in the center of it all, and start ticking  off the passes. There you will discover that the sport is celebrated and being on the roads on your bike you might come across anything. Garmin’s Christian Van Velde described the Giro d’Italia like this, “There are days where you go through a town and you might be going easy or you might be going hard and than all of a sudden you have random people like Bettini sprint to the front. You wonder, ‘What’s going on?’ and then everybody slams on their brakes.

“Suddenly you have people passing out pastries, cookies and ice cream and everyone grabs as much as they can and start stuffing their faces. Then they jump back on the bike and keep on riding. That’s just weird and crazy to me [laughs]. We get back on the bike and everyone acts like that’s a normal thing and you go on with the rest of the race.”

Garmin Edge Heart Rate vs. Elevation profile