Tutti Dolomiti Stage 4

Fiera di Primiera to Canazei

Strava: 99.73 km, 3,187m, 6:40, 113 shifts, max speed 77.5 kph

This was truly a day of fun cycling in the Dolomites! It had everything. Each of our passes today has been featured in the Giro d’Italia many times. We left at the usual time, 8:15. Our first climb, Passo Rolle, started pretty much right away. I guess I was feeling a lot better than yesterday and it had less climbing and distance than Cima Grappa yesterday. Anyway, it was fine cruising up – it took me over two hours for the 1,250m but who’s counting? I had a banana on top then a high speed 8 minute descent to a junction where we turned up our second climb, Passo Valles. This one was shorter but kicked at the end (steep). This was our first time over 2,000m and a really nice, longer, descent took us to lunch down in the lowlands, 1,200m below.

I enjoyed lunch then had my chance to hitch a ride but I felt I was close to full power and could ride the whole stage. We thanked Ben and Dion for lunch, then headed off, a little more downhill, some tunnels (one fast and squirrely), then we turned up the road to our final pass of the day, Passo Fedaia. This one was different. The final 5 km was a real test of mental and physical capacity. It felt like climbing forever at 13-15% and just when it got really steep, it started snowing. First just a few flakes but for a while it was blasting down, sticking on me everywhere except my (bare) legs and my gloves – my hands run hot. It was a situation where you know you’re ok, you only have a kilometer to go and even at the glacial pace you can manage, you’ll be there soon, so you just keep going! The snow stopped as I arrived at the pass and I added two more layers for the decent. Ben took some nice photos and we were off.

The last descent was 14 km, nice and fast and smooth although there were three traffic lights protecting one-way sections that I spent more than my fair share of time at. At the last one, we blew it off and rode the sidewalk. We pulled in to the hotel below Canazei and Wijnand had the onion soup cranking! Everyone was really happy. I guess this type of day is what we came for.

After snacks and soup we went inside and got a room, parking our bikes in a very well equipped ‘bici’ room. I sat outside on our balcony, warmed by the sun and video chatted with Katie back home. Then a 10 out of 10 shower! So much salt to wash off!

We had a super relaxed and fun dinner in the hotel. When I walked in I saw a massive buffet plus a nice salad bar. So I filled a plate with everything non-meaty and then filled a giant bowl with salad. With a beer from the bar this was a great dinner! When I was about 3/4 done, someone passed me the dinner menu. The top item was “Appetizer Buffet”. After that were four options for the first course and four for the second! I was already full but went for a first course, passed on the second, then had coffee ice-cream for dessert. I figure that any day you climb 3,187m/10,456′ you can go as big as you want on dinner.

What I thought was my dinner, actually just the appetizer course

And just like that, the biggest, hardest stage of the whole tour is done. But we’ve found before that the numbers don’t always tell the whole story, so stay tuned here…

Tutti Dolomiti Stage 3

Asiago to Fiera di Primiero

Strava (to Cima Grappa summit): 67.83 km, 1,849m, 4:50, 113 shifts

I woke up maybe feeling a little better and popped another Mucinex. I didn’t feel like riding but at least it was not supposed to rain much today. After breakfast I made my decision and got on the bike; it is a cycling trip after all. We rolled out of Asiago at 8:15, wet roads but no rain. We were up at 1,000m and had to descend back down to the Po plain again, at around 100m. The descent was nice and it was quite a bit warmer down below.

We stopped in Bassano del Grappa at 40 km on a nice bridge, then started the main climb of the stage. The Cime Grappa climb is famous but the only thing hard about it is the length. You climb for 26 km, ascending 1,600m. It lets off for a little while halfway up, but is pretty continuous. We don’t have this size climb in the Santa Cruz Mountains at home. It will be interesting to watch the Giro when they do this climb in two days. I am still pretty stuffed up and was feeling maybe half power for the climb. Lots of people passed me but I just kept at it and eventually, the lunch trucks appeared out of the fog on the summit.

Bridge over the Brenta River in Bassano del Grappa

While climbing I wore shorts and a normal jersey plus a warm one unzipped all the way. On top, not riding, you needed way more. Lunch was tasty and I thought about how fun blasting down the descent would be but I honestly didn’t think it was the right move. I had a look at the WWI Military Shrine that has over 12,000 graves, mostly unknown. It was a foggy white-out, hard to see anything (and I had to carefully remember how to go back down to return to the vans!) When lunch was finished for everyone, I got in Dion’s van and rode down to town, sleeping the whole way.

When I woke up we were pulling in and it was much warmer and super scenic. Wijnand made a big batch of curry soup and we had snacks, then got our room, spacious and nice. The shower felt fantastic. I fell asleep but remembered to set the alarm so went down for dinner at 7. It was nice chatting with guys who have done so many of the crazy rides in this area. The ride for tomorrow is much stiffer, over 3,000m of climbing and 98 km of distance. I’ll have to see if that’s in the cards for me in the morning.

Tutti Dolomiti Stage 2

Recoaro Terme to Asiago

Unfortunately, when I woke up this morning my cold was much worse and by the time I was finishing breakfast I decided it just didn’t make any sense to fight the rain that was forecast to fall all day. I need to heal, not get sicker. So I loaded up my bike along with four others into Wijnand’s luggage truck. Skip and I got the two seats. The rest rode in Dion’s extra van or Ben’s lunch van.

Here’s how my bike rode in the luggage truck, tied to the wall, front wheel on the soup stove

We left soon after the riders and drove a shorter route, with a stop for groceries – vegetables for Wijnand to make today’s soup plus lunch for us. After that I fell asleep for a while then woke up as we were stopping at a coffee shop, maybe 10 km from Asiago. After a nice drink and a chat, we continued on and pulled into our hotel right outside Asiago.

The place is quiet and spacious and only had one family of four staying plus our group. They had a nice garage for the bikes and a covered area for soup cooking/eating. They only needed to see one passport for the whole group so we used mine – that way I could get my room right away and have a nap. I helped with baggage until mine was uncovered, then went upstairs.

I was asleep when Mike came in, pretty wet. The weather was better than predicted; it only actually rained for half the ride. Still, it was about 71 km with almost 1,900m climbing – not an easy day. After he washed up and took care of his bike we hung out until dinner which was quite tasty. We had tomorrow’s briefing: a big ride, 127 km with almost 3,000m of climbing. The forecast has worsened to showers all day starting at 10 am. I’ll have to see how I feel in the morning. But I really don’t want to miss this ride since it includes the climb of Monte Grappa, one of the famous ascents in the Dolomites. In fact, it is included in Stage 15 of this year’s Giro d’Italia which will happen on May 25, two days after our ride. Here’s to a night of improvement!

Tutti Dolomiti Stage 1

Verona to Recoaro Terme

Strava: 79.11 km, 2198m, 5:06:36, 209 shifts, 72.5 kph max

I don’t know if it was my cold or jetlag or excitement about the tour starting but I slept maybe two hours, then just could not get back to sleep, from 1 am until we got up at 6. It was the worst night in my memory. But eventually we could get up and do some packing, then went down for breakfast just before 7. We’re used to the hotel breakfast after three days and know the optimal mixes of fruit, yogurt and granola, croissants etc.

The official starting photo for Tutti Dolomiti at Verona Arena May 21, 2025

Then we headed out on the route familiar to Mike and myself. We led the way, through the construction zone, and then out of town. Eventually some hammerheads went ahead which was fine with me. There were 3 climbs before lunch, then one more after. The first two climbs were a bit over 500m each, not really all that steep mostly. It’s a little more humid than at home but as we climbed it got a little cooler. The predicted rain did not fall which was super nice. Once we were done with the second climb, I stopped for a banana break, then we had a glorious descent. It was fast with little traffic and beautifully cool. I got dried out and felt great by the bottom. One interesting thing about this area is how many slugs and snails there are around. The slugs were big and brown but I’ve seen them lots. Thousands were squashed on the road.

Here’s what the local snails look like, size about 10 cm

The third climb to lunch was steeper but slightly shorter. Eventually everyone made it up that and enjoyed the feast that our mechanic/lunch driver Ben prepared. Bread, hummus, nuts, delicious salad and several kinds of cheese. That’s what I had – there was also salami and more stuff like candies. I still had a full water bottle so didn’t fill up. Pretty soon we headed out, down another nice fast descent.

Lunch stop after three of our four climbs of the day

The final climb was the steepest yet, also with the most climbing. But all you have to do is start, and then keep at it and you will succeed. The grade was up to 15% and I used my granny gear 44×50 for some time. The payoff was in the form of another nice fast descent. The final 8 km was a gentle climb up a valley to the town of Recoaro Terme, famous for mineral waters/baths. I checked in then headed out back where Wijnand had cooked up a giant pot of delicious tomato soup, served with several kinds of bread and lots of salty things and drinks. Then it was time for showers and laundry.

I was tired from the ride, and from only sleeping about two hours last night so I took a one hour nap before dinner. We ate at the hotel and they had a veggie option for each course. For a hotel dinner it was actually pretty tasty, in a big dining hall with a 10m ceiling. We looked at tomorrow’s route, slightly easier than today’s but with rain forecasted for the whole day, so maybe not so easy. My body is still fighting the cold – here’s to a great night’s sleep and only light rain tomorrow.

Tutti Dolomiti Day Zero

After a solid but a little short sleep, I had a nice call with Katie, just getting ready for bed. We had breakfast then Mike and I walked over to visit a castle we had seen on our ride the day before. I was quite a few steps up from the river with a really scenic view over Verona.

After a relaxed chat we headed down, crossed the bridge to the old town and wandered through the streets, eventually getting to the touristy area around the Verona Arena we had seen on our ride yesterday. The square there is nice, but we didn’t feel like going in the Arena. As we walked back to the hotel I noticed my throat felt a little funny, like I might be catching a cold. So I just relaxed and read in the afternoon, opting out of another beer and snacks session at the nice café across the road.

Our tour briefing was at 5pm, the first time all 28 of us (plus 4 Bike Dreams crew) were together. Snacks and drinks were provided, then Wilbert, our leader, gave a nice talk, familiar to me from the three previous trips I’d done. Our riders vary from first timers to Lex, who’s done 20 tours, some of them repeats. We moved our bike boxes to a small room in the hotel garage where they will stay for the two weeks of the tour. Then we did some packing and organizing, getting ready for the start tomorrow.

Second page of the ride sheet for stage 1 showing both route options and the all important hotel name.

About 7:30 I went out to dinner with three of the riders – at the restaurant from two nights ago. As we walked in there was already a table with at least a dozen Bike Dreamers. We had another delicious dinner, senza alcol for me. Now the forecast has improved to predict a dry morning which is nice. Everyone seems very excited to start riding in the morning.

Tutti Dolomiti Day -1

I could get used to just hanging out in Verona, Italy. We had a nice breakfast in the hotel then assembled bikes. I put mine together then got dressed for riding but when I went to grab my bike 30 minutes later the front tire was flat. I ended up replacing the valve core and that seemed to fix it. I rode with my roommate-to-be Mike to a nearby bike shop to top off our tires to 60 psi and mine was still holding, so we went for a ride.

We rode the tour track for Stage 1, which took us over a couple of bridges, past the Verona Arena and then out of town. After all the traffic and traffic lights faded behind it felt so great just riding through the countryside. It was sunny and warm. After a while we left the route and headed up on a tiny country road where we saw some bikers descending. Through vineyards and tiny villages, so nice. We weren’t up for anything big so turned around after about 15 km. We rode back through the more touristy areas and made it back to the hotel. Just your basic shake-down cruise.

After a shower, lunch was just across the street where we found Kiwi Blair testing the local beers. We had pasta and large, cold beers – just great. Funny when the bartender asked if I wanted large or medium and I said grande, he showed me what that actually was, a giant one liter stoneware mug – I switched to medium! I took a bit of a nap after that but had the alarm set for 5pm so only slept a little. We had dinner warm-up beers back across the street, and met another rider from California, Keith. He was staying a different hotel, one that he picked because it was near a particular beer place. Of course we said, “Ok let’s go, where is this amazing beer place?”

After a nice 20 minute walk we arrived at the Santa Maria Craft Pub and it did not disappoint. They are serious about their beer and the bartender spoke English and set me up with an Italian IPA from near Milano that was absolutely great, maybe the best Italian beer I’ve ever had. My Balkan Boulevard buddy Lex joined and we were now seven. After that I tried ordering about the strangest looking beer on their draft menu, a lambic called 21 Con Sangiovese from Toscana (Tuscany). It was also a total winner.

It was after 8 when we finally left and walked around looking for a restaurant with an outdoor table that would fit 7 people. We found one by the interesting looking Torre dei Lamberti – I might have to go back tomorrow and go up it. On the menu they had a pizza with cherry tomatoes, fresh basil and buffalo mozzarella, all added after cooking. It tasted as good as it sounds and with a limoncello spritz, it was the perfect dinner. Since we didn’t really ride today, we skipped dessert and walked back by a bit after 10pm. All that and tomorrow is still another pre-tour day! Amo l’Italia!

Benvenuti in Italia!

I added it up and from home it was 21 hours door to door to the Hotel Italia in Verona, Italy. I also counted my trips and this is my 13th trip to Italy! Other than being long, the flight to Munich was fine and I had plenty of time to have lunch and relax a little before the short flight to Verona. Besides treating your bike box as a normal piece of luggage (free), United now texts you a link to a baggage tracker site, which worked well – although if you use a tracker in your box you don’t really need it, but it is nice to see everywhere they scan your baggage.

The airport is small and we got to walk down to the tarmac rather than use a jetway.

I walked in and prepared for a wait at the oversized luggage area. Soon I met a local cyclist waiting for his bike plus four more Bike Dreamers who I’ll be riding with. One from Portland and the rest from California. I texted my roommate Michael and he had just successfully arrived at the hotel.

The local guy got his giant box first, then the outside door closed. But eventually it re-opened and disgorged five more bikes, mine in the lead. That was a great moment – 🚲🚲🚲🚲🚲!

Out at the taxi stand there was a sort of long line but it ended up taking maybe 30 minutes for us to get to the front. Because we all thought good thoughts the whole time, right as it was our turn, up pulled a giant van taxi and we were able to cram in four bike boxes, lots of luggage, plus four people. It was a relief to pull up to the hotel. I opened my box and the bike looks fine but I might wait until the morning to assemble it. Step one complete!

In the evening 7 of us walked down to a highly rated pizza restaurant for delicious pizza and beer. It was great fun getting to know some of my fellow riders. Now I’m really ready for sleep.

Ready for Italia!

Tomorrow is the big day when I fly off to Italy – via Munich! I can’t wait for another biking adventure to start. If all goes well, I’ll arrive in Verona on Sunday and have a couple of days to get time adjusted and test the bike before the first tour starts Wednesday the 21st of May. Packing was pretty easy starting from my last year Italy packing list and adding just a few things like spares and tools. I haven’t been training all that much in the last weeks but felt great on the larger rides I’ve done recently so am feeling confident. I feel ready for day after day with lots of climbing! Woo hoo!

2025 Bike trip to Italy

It’s that exciting time again, when I start getting ready for another big bike adventure. I’ll be heading out to Verona, Italy on May 17 for a pair of Bike Dreams trips…

May 21 to June 4 – Tutti Dolomiti

All new to me except Tre Cime and Passo di Giovo

June 8 to June 20 – Milano San Remo

All those passes will be a lot of climbing, averaging over 2,000m per day for 25 riding days. Each tour is 1,100 km. It will be almost all paved so I finally decided to get a road bike. I still love my Salsa Cutthroat gravel bike dearly, but this trip will be on my new custom-painted Specialized S-Works Roubaix SL8. It’s lighter but similar to the Cutthroat in that it’s got 12-speed SRAM electronic shifting. After I added water bottle cages, it weighed in at only 7.7 kg / 17.0 lb. I really like the clean look of the single front chain ring, 44 teeth this time, so I can pedal faster. It fits me perfectly and the 32mm tires are fast but still feel very robust and safe. It feels like a dream to ride. The Roubaix has a small shock above the head tube with 20mm of travel. It claims to be the smoothest endurance road bike made. After 7 rides so far, it really seems like I made a great choice.

Picking up my new bike at Spokesman Bicycles in Santa Cruz, March 28, 2025

Home from la Bella Italia

The last day of my trip was October 5, 2024. After a last lap walking the dog, Wytze drove me to a nearby breakfast place where we had gone two years ago. Ype and Joke biked over and we had a lovely breakfast. The setting is so gorgeous it’s hard to even comprehend, although it just seems normal there. It was the third straight day of perfect weather which is probably uncommon for this time of year. We sat outside and I was so thankful for the company, the day and the whole trip. Wytze, you were the most wonderful host and touring partner! Thank you!

Wytze dropped me off at the station, and I had an easy trip to the airport. I was already checked in but bag drop took some time. It’s always such a nice feeling to leave the bike box with its tracker and proceed to the gate with just a carry-on.

The flight was a little late, full, my neighbor was large and spilled over into my seat, I couldn’t sleep, in short it was normal for coach. But three meals and four movies later I landed at San Francisco. Just like last year, immigration took no time, passport not required. Just look in the camera and Global Entry does the rest. The whole giant baggage claim hall was empty which was a good sign and sure enough, my bike box came out quickly – I had seen via its tracker that it flew with me.

Katie drove over from the cell phone lot and while she did I opened my box and assembled my bike. She had her aunt from New York along and a box cutter so the big box could be cut and folded up in the back of the car, bike on the rack, and three people could fit. It was strange as there was a heat wave and the evening temperature was 33°C (over 90°F). As we drove home everything felt surprisingly normal. Soon I was showered and tired as it was 5 am Holland time. I slept so well in my own bed!

The part I didn’t mention was that since the day before I had some slight congestion in my nose. I had worn a mask the whole time in the plane, but when I got home and tested for Covid, sure enough I was positive. I don’t know where I got it. I wrote to all the people I had contact with at Wytze’s and no one had any symptoms so I guess I wasn’t contagious then. Ype replied: “Hi Nathan, take care and get well soon! Feel fine but if I would get ill; small price to pay for a great party with good company!” That seems like a really good way to think about it. Reading that somehow made it feel easier for me.

I’ve been thinking about the biking, about going on trips like this independently versus on supported tours. I thought it would be harder than it turned out to be. And financially, it’s much cheaper. In fact, we made a daily budget for our trip which was equal to the daily cost of the equivalent Bike Dreams trip we could’ve done. When multiplied by the four of us, we couldn’t ever come close to spending that much even with 17 course dinners and nice apartments. On the 17 course dinner day we actually did spend just over half the budget but on most days we spent under a quarter, while intentionally living about as large as we could.

Carrying your own luggage sounds harder than it is. We each carried 4-5 kg of clothes, tools and spare parts etc. I did somewhat miss having a laptop, but really could do everything on my phone. In fact I could’ve reduced my luggage a bit and still been fine. Sure it’s a bit harder climbing hills with your bike weighing 4-5 kg more, but it’s not like my old days of fully loaded touring. That really is harder!

Here are a few things I learned:

Unsupported “credit-card” touring is awesome and feels very free
With the right group, it’s cheaper and more fun than an organized tour, although it’s more work
The most free feeling is the ability to throw in a full or half rest day anywhere. For instance we liked San Marco dei Cavoti so much we booked a second night instead of riding on.
Be flexible and panic-free because reservations can fall through at the last minute
You can get by with far less clothing and other stuff than you might think – none of us brought pants for example
In places like Italy, you can find things you need like replacement parts or items you forgot to bring. We bought parts (pedals, cleats, a tire, tail/head lights), socks, charger, cable and batteries etc.
There is a ton of very steep, rough “trail” on the Italy Unite route, and the route itself is sometimes just an idea, not actually followable
Don’t deflate your tires for flights – it’s not needed and re-assembly take longer
I need to get rid of my bike pump that rotates the valve core when it is removed
It’s nice to have trackers (Tile, AirTag, etc) in each bike for times when riders get separated
I used the latest Ortlieb waterproof bike-packing bags. The Seat Pack QR and Handlebar QR (quick release) bags worked great. Panniers and racks are overkill.

Finally, my hugest thanks to Andrew, Daniel and Wytze for the most fun bike trip ever. You guys are fantastic!