Munich→Venice Day 8 to Longarone

Nathan’s stats: 68.06 km, 516m climbing, 3:21 riding time

After yet another yummy, decadent breakfast, we started out riding in cool temperatures, with many people wearing jackets. The day was nearly all downhill, and there were some fun sections of gravel in the beginning. We stopped in a little village where the guy who invented the gelato cone lived. It was slightly raining but afterwards, the weather improved.

We carried on – the bike path here was a rail trail. It was gently sloped down, sometimes paved and sometimes gravel. We went through tunnels and really enjoyed the views of the dolomites as they got smaller and smaller as we headed down in the direction of Venice. Every few kilometers we passed through another village with its cute but defunct train station. We stopped at a lake for lunch and a swim. It was a gorgeous setting and the water felt fantastic.

After lunch, we continued on to Longarone. After we parked bikes, checked into the hotel and had showers, we checked out the memorial church for the victims of the devastating 1963 disaster that killed 80% of the town. A giant rockfall into the lake created by the Vajont Dam caused a 250m high wave and air blast supposedly stronger than the blast at Hiroshima to destroy the town. Sobered by the memorial, we walked back and had dinner in a nearby restaurant.