Back in January 2019, before my first Bike Dreams trip started, I found out there was a semi-legendary race Bike Dreams had run three times before 2010, riding over 7000 km from Paris, France to Dakar, Senegal. The idea came from the famous Dakar Rally which started in 1979. By 2019, politics in Mauritania had finally improved so it was on again after being impossible for a decade. This time it would be a tour rather than a race. I immediately signed up and was on the waiting list for almost a year. I was in Patagonia, close to completing the Andes Trail, when I got the good news I had a place in the 2020 Paris Dakar.

Due to Covid, it was rescheduled for 2021, then rescheduled for 2022 and finally cancelled completely. It was a surprise in December 2022 when we heard it was on again. That day, I sent in my deposit and secured a spot.

I will fly to Paris on August 29 and will start riding on September 3. We’ll cross through Andorra into Spain a couple of weeks later and take a ferry from the bottom of Spain to Morocco on October 2. We’ll ride the length of Morocco and enter Western Sahara three weeks later. From there, it’s mostly rough camping in the desert, 9 days in Western Sahara, 6 days in Mauritania and a final 3 days in Senegal to Dakar, arriving on November 12. I plan to be home on the 15th.

Paris – Dakar will be physically demanding as the distance ridden averages 120 km per day. And there are several days over 170 km. Also I hear it can be hot in the Sahara.

My trusty Salsa Cutthroat, ridden over 30,000 km these last few years, is no more. The frame was damaged and it can’t be ridden. My favorite bike shop, Spokesman Bicycles of Santa Cruz, has built up a brand new 2023 version which I’ve ridden a few times. Even though it was out of warranty, Salsa stepped up and gave me a significant discount on this bike. And I am reusing the wheels, seat-post and handlebars. So far it feels just great, quite different without the front shock.

After our bike tour ended we had three more days in Venice. The first day, July 17, was still part of the bike tour and we had an interesting and unusual activity planned for the afternoon. We had the morning free and rode the water taxi to the island of Murano, famous for glass blowing. Lots of our riders were on the boat and we wandered the streets of Murano together, looking into many nice shops selling amazing glass items. As time went on people wandered in different directions and we ended up with Geoff and Betty, shopping for treasures in a little shop with a friendly owner. We ended up buying a pair of beautiful glasses while Geoff and Betty scored a pitcher with glasses.

Next, we decided to visit a couple of the glass blowing workshops to see how these amazing things are made. Google recommended one, Wave Murano, and we spent some time there watching the whole process. If we had more time we might have done the personalized tour where you actually get to pick out an item and make it yourself, with one-on-one help from an expert.

By the time we had our fill of glass blowing it was lunch time and we found a nice restaurant for pizza and cold drinks, a really great meal for hot days. After lunch it was time to go meet the group at the far side of Venice for some paddling. Our water taxi stopped at nearly every stop and took over an hour so we were slightly late, but they held the bus for us and soon we were driving across the bridge to the mainland.

It was a bit of a walk from the bus stop to the boat place, and probably many people were wondering if this was going to be a good idea. The temperature and humidity were both pretty high. The boat guide explained that we were going to paddle a dragon boat (long canoe that holds over 10 people) over to Venice, then through some canals, then back. We split into two groups for the two boats. The guide in our boat didn’t speak English so there were some comical moments. We made a strategic positioning error putting Joe, Scott and Jim in the front of the boat. Everyone else had a hard time following their chaotic and haphazard paddling. But even so, we made it 4.5 km across to Venice in a decent time. I think the guide nearly had a heart attack worrying about crossing a very busy canal with a boat full of people not paddling well and not understanding a word she said. But we managed to not hit any other boats and got into a small canal which we followed for a long time. This was the way to see Venice, at water level in a human-powered boat.

Finally we paddled by a gelato shop and pulled over – gelato must be had! It took some time to get everyone off the boats and soon everyone was enjoying not paddling and eating cool gelato. We loaded back up, this time with a new leader: Geoff. He set the pace, very smoothly, and the trip back was easier and quicker. And we beat the other boat by quite a bit. For a while we paddled right next to a team of two women rowing standing up.

We took the bus and water taxi back to Lido. It was just around sunset and the light was so perfect. The water taxi took almost an hour, cruising up the Grand Canal, with an ever-changing view of Venice, seemingly at its best.

When we arrived at the hotel it was nearly 9 so we were under strict orders: no showers, dinner is NOW! We ate in the hotel and it was pretty funny – course after course of fish. Hardly anyone could eat it all. We had an awards ceremony and each person had the chance to share his or her best moments of the trip. This was a great end to a fantastic group tour.

The next morning most of our friends headed home but we had an extra day. Since it was still hot and humid we got up early and took a water taxi at 6:30 to Venice. After another look at the Piazza San Marco, we walked through many tiny passageways, looking at shops and sometimes having to turn around at dead ends. We found ourselves at the Rialto Market and wandered through the fish area. We crossed the famous Rialto Bridge where people line up for a long time in crowded times for a photo; we had it almost to ourselves. We stopped at a sandwich shop for breakfast and Nathan discovered a great drink: Moretti Limone, a very low alcohol (1.3%) radler, delicious.

Then we walked back across the Piazza and down to the Giardini della Biennale, a famous garden created by Napoleon. After admiring the sculptures and having some cold drinks, we headed back over to Lido on the water taxi.

It was getting really hot so we decided on an easy afternoon activity: take the water taxi to another island, Burano, famous for lace work. The ride was an hour and lunch was the first order of business when we arrived. We found a place with air conditioning inside, and after lunch with cold beers, we checked out the small town with its brightly painted houses. We saw the famous leaning tower – it really leans a lot but photos don’t show it somehow. We looked around in some lace stores and loved one special vintage showroom. Some of the pieces take months or even a year of work. After a little shopping we headed back – the heat was just too much.

Back at the hotel we relaxed until it started cooling off then had dinner at a restaurant down the street, planning for another nice trip down the Grand Canal in the wonderful evening light. Dinner was good but took a long time and it was already past sunset when we boarded the water taxi. So we didn’t go as far down the canal but got off and just started walking, kind of trying to get lost. And we did! The small walkways twist and turn and dead-end so at night it’s hard to keep your sense of direction. It was a beautiful night, uncrowded and really fun. We had pistachio cannoli for dessert and eventually found our way to the water taxi and home to Lido. It was a fun last night in Venice.

In the morning we had to leave early for our flight since the water taxi to the airport takes about an hour. It was a nice ride though, and certainly an interesting way to arrive at an international airport. Our flight to Frankfurt left only a little late and was painless. It was a bit of a rush through the airport in Frankfurt. We hustled between terminals with a couple of guys from Santa Cruz who were on a research trip studying European Via Ferratas and how they could be brought to the US. Together, we made it to the check-in line just before our group was called. 11 1/2 hour flights take a long time, but we watched lots of movies and then were suddenly in San Francisco. We ubered to Frannie’s where our car was stored and drove back to Santa Cruz. We had burritos in the backyard for dinner….what a fun trip!

Nathan’s stats: 80.62 km, 135m climbing, 4:13 riding time

Country	Distance (km)	Climbing (m)
Germany	109	1038
Austria	110	1529
Italy	439	3783
Total	658	6350

In the morning after breakfast, Nathan’s friend Jure surprised him with a gift of his “Team Pogi” cycling jersey and bib shorts. Pogi is a nickname for Tadej Pogačar, a world famous Slovenian biking star. Jure trains with Pogi’s team which promotes cycling in his country. After a quick change into the new jersey, we were ready for our final day of biking. It was another flat ride, and it felt even hotter than the day before. We left at 8:30 and started with a funny loop around Treviso, back to the hotel. We got it the second time and started riding toward Venice. We accidentally split into two groups pretty quickly, and the bigger group with Nathan ended up doing 8 extra km, mostly on shaded, gravel bike paths, but including a long section with no cycling allowed. Katie’s group had an extra half hour to relax in the shade at the lunch stop.

After lunch, we had a long way on a peninsula to get to a ferry terminal where we could catch a car ferry to our finishing point in Lido, just across the bay from Venice.

It was a short ride from the Lido ferry terminal to our hotel where we dismounted for the last time. It was very hot and humid so some people went swimming in the sea. We took a walk toward the beach. The water is quite warm and the beaches are very crowded, and we were melting, so we opted for cool showers and some gelato instead. We had a group dinner in the hotel, then most everyone took the vaporetto (public water taxi) over to Piazza San Marco on the island of Venice in the cooler evening air. It was uncrowded with a few quartets playing for late night diners.

Nathan’s stats: 54.17 km, 196m climbing, 2:43 riding time

Our second-to-last riding day was pretty much all flat, and hot. It was on a bike route that was partly bike path, partly roads. We had gravel sections including one with a challenging tunnel with a steep incline at the end that caused Greg and Katie to have slow speed crashes. Post-crash celebratory high-five is shown in the photo. Along the way we saw a farmer irrigating his crops and lots of interesting old and new houses.

Lunch was in a small park, nicely shaded but the best feature was a fountain where we could soak our heads and refill our bottles. We found that swimming was not allowed at the lake we planned to detour to, so we took a shorter route to Treviso, arriving relatively early in the afternon.

After showers we headed out with Geoff and Betty to see the famous Fontana Della Tette. We walked through narrow streets, and found it, tucked away in a narrow little alcove. We drank from the fountain and took photos. It’s a modern replica from 1989 of the original 1559 fountain from which flowed free red wine from one breast and white from the other for three days each year after the election of the new mayor, until the fall of the Venetian Republic in 1797.

We all realized we’d been in Italy for quite a while without having any pizza. Also by this time Nathan had hit a modern day record of something like 4 or 5 days without a single beer. Google sent us along an intricate route to a pizzeria that was open at that hour and we had some delicious veggie slices with cold beer.

We headed back to the hotel and relaxed a bit before dinner. The whole group ate across the street in a decent restaurant. After dinner, Nathan’s Slovenian friend, Jure, met us. He and his family drove all the way from Koper and spent a night in our hotel so we could meet up. He brought some amazing Slovenian IPA and a beautiful mug as a present. He’s getting back into unicycle racing and Nathan made him really happy by offering to send him a spare Schlumpf 2-speed unicycle hub so he can race faster.

Nathan’s stats: 62.58 km, 555m climbing, 3:11 riding time

After breakfast, we started out in nice cool air, cruising down the bike path. We were really impressed with the bike paths in this area. It’s so nice to be able to ride from town to town for long distances almost without riding on roads at all. Our guide Rosita told us that one town nearby did a study and found that the investment they made in bike paths was paid back in economic activity five times within 4-5 years.

We stopped for lunch at a lake where water from a hydro project was running past. The water was cold and nice for swimming but it wasn’t officially allowed. After lunch, the Rebel Swimming Group (Katie, Rosita, Scott, Wendy, Greg and Suzy), found a secret place and went in briefly. They were very refreshed and happy.

We still had 20 km or so to our finish, but before we got to the hotel, we stopped at Bianca Vigna, a Prosecco Winery, for a tour. The tour through the production facility was interesting but I think most of us were most excited about the tasting. A very long table was setup outside for us, and once we moved it into the shade, we were set. We sampled four types, a standard Brut DOC, a DOC Rose and then a dry and a sweet Rive (top quality) Prosecco. This was really fun and refreshing too.

From the winery we had a short ride to Conegliano, and soon were checked in to our hotel. After showers and some relaxing, we headed out on a walk to dinner. There was a gelateria right next door, so even though dessert was limone sorbet (the kind you drink), most of us had second dessert next door. Then we took a detour downtown and stumbled upon a Friday night party (all night every Friday in July). It seemed like the whole town was there! We saw little kids racing on toy tractors, dance contests and an amazing game of foosball played with humans who had their hands taped to the bars.

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.

As planned, after breakfast, we headed to the bike shop that rents Via Ferrata equipment. It was quick and soon we were walking to the gondola base station behind the 1956 Olympic Ice Stadium. It was sprinkling a little but we didn’t worry. During the ride we had a beautiful view of the town and two giant rabbits chasing each other on the ski slopes. About 15 minutes later we were 550 meters higher and … it was raining. The next step was to hike down 20 minutes and take a chair lift to the bottom of the Via Ferrata Ra Bujela route. We waited in the restaurant for the weather to improve, but it really didn’t. We had some hot drinks and tiramisu, but after watching it rain for 90 minutes we decided to call it a day. We noticed a few lightening flashes and thunder and sure enough, when we got to the gondola entrance it was stopped; being suspended from a long cable in a lightening storm is not a good idea.

After some more time relaxing, the gondola finally started back up and we descended back to Cortina d’Ampezzo. As we walked back to return the equipment, the rain stopped and then the sun came out. Suddenly, everywhere we looked around the valley looked clear and fine.

Plan B was quickly made: don’t return the equipment, have lunch and head back up and do the route! We walked the 1.5 km back to the gondola station only to find that the whole system was shut down due to high wind. It was windless and sunny in the valley so this felt weird, but there was nothing to do except make a plan C. This was to drop off the climbing equipment at the hotel and take another cable car up to a point called Refugio Faloria. We were laughing as we tried to imagine what condition would occur to thwart this plan, but it actually worked and soon we were in a 40-person cable car, quietly moving fast up the steep slope.

Linda was in the car with us and we met quite a number of our group on top. Several of us did a short nature walk with amazing views of the valley over 1000m below. We walked to the ruin of the “Cliffhanger Lodge”, used in making the 1993 movie Cliffhanger. The two of us did another short hike before returning to the Refugio for some cold drinks in the shade, entertained by Art and Shelley’s hilarious stories.

We took the 4:40 cable car down, then returned our unused Via Ferrata gear. We had gelato to reward ourselves for having fun regardless of what happens, then walked back to the hotel for showers and a rest. Dinner was the usual affair, in a big group with lots of tasty food in the hotel restaurant. We had tasty eggplant parmigiana followed by polenta with massive slabs of fried cheese.

Nathan’s stats: 59.19 km, 1327m climbing, 3:27 riding time

Katie’s stats: 19.2 miles, 1250′, many hours, relaxed style

Instead of starting the day right after breakfast with riding, we walked a bit from the hotel to a local cheese factory. We had a fun tour, and really got to see exactly how they make cheese. The tour ended with a tasting session, complete with wine and breads and crackers. They also had a delicious quince-based mustard sauce.

We didn’t start riding until 11, but it was a short day, only about 32 km if you took the quickest route. We headed up the most gorgeous valley into the Dolomites, on a gravel bike path that was perfectly graded. We passed a couple of lakes and mountain scenery that was off scale. We pedaled by cliffs that seemed to be taller than those of Yosemite.

At the second lake, we split up. Some people (Nathan included) headed out for an optional ‘extra ride’ up to the top of the Three Peaks of Lavaredo–see more about that below, while the rest of the group continued on to the Province of Belluno (the home Province of Miriam) and on down to Cortina. Katie, Scott and Rosita of the famous “Swimming and Gelato Team” took a relaxed ride back with a deliciously cold and refreshing swim in the lake, followed by a rest in the shade at the Provincial border to await Miriam driving the support-van (with cold water to refill our bottles and dark chocolate) and making many stops, mostly for photos but the last one being for a gelato cone from a young Gelato ‘Pedaler’, whose business is aptly named ‘Il Gelato Pedalato‘.

The most bicycle-adventurist members of the group did (or attempted) the optional 13 km ride up Tre Cime di Lavaredo, climbing 925m. It averaged 12% and had long sections of 15-16% grade. Several riders became disheartened and turned around, and a few others succeeded with some walking. Nathan rode with Geoff and Betty on their E-tandem and successfully summited with a few others. It was hot and sweaty work – likely Betty would have a far worse description for it. The views from the top were amazing.

It was a zoo on top with hundreds of cars and many busses. Luckily on the descent, it was possible to pass both cars and busses and cruise at speed. The hairpins required lots of strong braking though, on one of them, slowing from 80 kph to 30. The descent felt like it took 5 minutes vs over an hour for the climb.

We met back up with the bike path, then opted for the paved road for the last 13 km down to Cortina. The hotel was right at the bottom of the lively downtown area and quite nice. Cold showers again felt SO good.

We went out for a walk around town and noticed a video screen showing a Via Ferrata (equipped climbing route that anyone can do without a guide, using simple safety gear). We enquired and were directed to a rental store who said we should come by at 8:30 the next morning and gave us a couple of recommendations for “starter” routes.

Then it was dinner time which was fun and loud as usual, in the hotel dining room. Dinner started with a delicious pumpkin gnocchi and salad. It was Greg and Wendy’s 25th anniversary today so we had an extra toast with prosecco.

Nathan’s stats: 81.11 km, 1056m climbing, 4:10 riding time

After an early morning stroll through the village, we sat down to breakfast. Based on the dinner the night before no one was surprised that it was about the best breakfast ever. All the foods were amazing. People loved the omelet bar and there were all kinds of extra treats like homemade smoothies.

We started out riding the longest stage of the trip really well fed, carrying nice lunches we packed. The route was down the valley, rolling, almost all on bike paths. It was pretty warm and a little humid. We passed through little villages, along the river. There were occasional castles and quite a few other bikers cruising. This is the Autonomous Province of Bolzano – South Tyrol where German is the first language.

By the time we had ridden 50 km and climbed 450m, we arrived in Bruneck – Brunico (all towns here have dual names, German – Italian). We had our picnic lunch on shaded benches next to an fountain where we refilled our water. Nathan had a nice refreshing smoothie and Katie had … gelato … again! The final ride after lunch was about 30 km. The bad part was that it was now the hottest part of the day and some of the climbs were really roasting. The good part was that we had plenty of fountain stops for soaking our heads and bodies. Katie even stopped at a lake and went swimming in nice cool water. The last 8 km was spectacular with amazing views of the Dolomites.

We checked in to our hotel in Dobbiaco and enjoyed cold showers. We had a walk through the town and sat in a shaded café for drinks and snacks. Then it was time for dinner. We sat with Geoff and Betty and it was a relaxed and tasty experience, with many courses and plenty of wine. Geoff and Nathan also had the local beer. After dinner as we got ready for bed, we were treated to a thunderstorm.

Nathan’s stats: 72.41 km, 1298m climbing, 3:37 riding time

It seemed like a normal day starting out: wake up, pack up, breakfast, drop off our bags, get on the bikes, wait a while until everyone is ready, then take off. Actually, since Suzy had just arrived and our group was finally complete, we did a group photo with our jerseys before starting.

After just a few km, we started climbing steeply – a long section of 10-13%. It touched 15% a couple of times. By the time we had done less than 10 km, we were already seeing amazing mountain views.

The angle eased off as we continued toward the famous Brenner Pass, but the temperature was rising. At one point Nathan caught up to the Santa Cruz squad and it seemed just perfect – and a little comical with us all in our checkerboard “lederhosen” jerseys. But just when you start thinking it’s perfect, something happens. In Nathan’s case it was the clang of a broken spoke – and on these bikes you can’t continue really. We adjusted as much as possible to try and get the wheel to spin and our amazing guide Fabio rode the bike down quite a steep hill, wobbling like crazy and making scary sounds as it rubbed. There was a cycling race on so our support vehicle wasn’t allowed to proceed. Nathan ended up waiting an hour for the van with a replacement wheel, then headed up to the pass at a good pace with Fabio.

We were reunited at a gorgeous little café, high on the mountain where Katie and others were taking a break. After that, there was another 10 km of climbing, some of it on gravel and the final section was on the road but super hot; this was tough for lots of riders. On top of the pass, we entered Italy and came upon the Santa Cruz squad again, swilling beer at a nice outdoor bar. We ate a second lunch, drank some radler (cold beer mixed with lemonade), and reunited again.

We had heard that the 32 km to go after the pass was up and down but it ended up being the most gorgeous, continuous, smooth and perfect downhill ever. The bike path is really just perfect. If we had paths like this in the US, cycling would be so much more popular! It was a dream descending. Fabio and Nathan raced a guy on an e-Bike and won soundly on a section Nathan had unicycled in 2012. Everyone was having fun. Some people had taken the train up, either all the way from Innsbruck or from a higher station, but you would not want to miss this descent for anything.

We had another refueling stop with the van, then headed the last 10 km to the hotel. Chilled watermelon was brought out to the bike garage which seemed surprising but we didn’t fully realize the extent of our luck until later. We had a suite, spacious and nice. After delicious cold showers, we sat outside drinking more radler, chatting away the afternoon. We walked around the extensive grounds…what a place.

Finally it was 7:30 and time for the main event: dinner. We have been having three course meals, with soup or salad, a main course and a desert, one drink included. Tonight was six courses with two drinks and off the charts. We heard many people say, “Best meal in my life!” And it was! We found out toward the end that the chef has a nearby restaurant with 2 Michelin stars. The service, the presentation, the tastes…off the chart. When you are here, stay at Romantik Hotel Stafler.