Tutti Dolomiti, final stage 13

Torbole back to Verona, June 4, 2025

Strava: 76.46 km, 351m, 2:59, 88 shifts

Our last morning was somehow less stressful and easier than the other riding days of the tour. Due to the hotel serving breakfast late and the short, easy distance of the stage, we got up later and also knew that there was no threat of bad weather today, only warm sun. We loaded the truck one last time, packed our bikes and took off at 9.

The ride along the lake was magical. We hadn’t had any flat riding like this and the scenery was off scale. This part of Lake Garda really has to be seen to be believed. My tires just hummed as I pedaled easily.

Wilbert told us not to rush, that lunch at 55 km was not until after noon, so make sure to stop early and often. I stopped for photos a number of times, then a group of us stopped in the town of Garda for cold drinks. It was so relaxed sitting in the shade at a café by the lake shore, talking about all our recent adventures.

We had a short ride to our final lunch served up by Ben and Dion, along the bike path to Verona. It was the mostly the standard fare, upgraded a bit, very tasty and very appreciated. Eventually it was time to ride and we headed out in groups to ride the last 20 km to Verona. It was gently downhill, mostly on bike paths, calm and easy. Traffic in Verona was unlike what we’d been dealing with lately but no problem at all. Mike and I were leading a group and thought we were about one km from the bridge where the final ceremony would be. Then we heard yelling and realized it was a different bridge all together and we were already there.

Wilbert and Wijnand put together a fantastic assortment of foods and drinks. Once everyone arrived, including the lunch crew, out came the champagne. Wilbert’s toast amazed me, something like: “Here’s to all of you, the first group to do this tour without requiring a hospital!” I think we were very lucky (and careful) as there really were no biking injuries. We then walked onto the Castelvecchio Bridge for a series of group photos that I think came out well.

The final 1.5 km felt like it took two minutes, then we pulled up at the Hotel Italia, which looked the same as two weeks ago when we left. My new Aussie roommate John is also doing Milano San Remo, and we will have two nights in Verona before driving 170 km west to Milano.

The last seconds of riding Tutti Dolomiti, don’t crash now!

In the afternoon, I relaxed and tried hard not to take a nap – John did the same. A cold shower felt so good. We did last until 7 pm and then went to the final banquet in the hotel dining room. It was a great dinner, with lots of fun conversations. Wilbert handed out souvenir milestone markers made by his dad, and recapped the trip, thanking everyone especially for riding safely. Ben gave out some awards like “Worst design” – to various hotels for various design faux pas. The bravest person was Cathy, for riding in the van with Ben. And best bike cleaner – I got first runner up and Keith scored the win. It was a great ending to a fun and challenging tour. If I had been healthy I would’ve enjoyed it even more but loved it nonetheless. A few days off now to rest is just what the doctor ordered.

Tutti Dolomiti Stage 12 to Lake Garda

Mezzana to Torbole

Strava: 107.37 km, 1,949m, 5:37, 208 shifts, max speed 74.8 kph

I slept well but for some reason wasn’t psyched for riding in the morning. Maybe it was the rain outside. I perked up a little when our 8:30 departure was rescheduled for 9, and then I got to talk to Katie. In the end, the rain basically stopped as we left but we got plenty wet blasting down the valley at full speed on the very wet road.

Breakfast today featured a new addition: an automatic orange juice machine – in use constantly!

We turned up a somewhat less busy road to Passo di Campo Carlo Magna and started our first climb, 950m in 14.5 km. The grade wasn’t too bad and the temperature was good, and I was feeling a little stronger for once. The rain did start up when I was half way up, so I did the second half with a jacket. It felt great to finish that climb. The sun peaked out for a minute, right after Serge said, “The sun should come out now.” Then it went away and I asked him to do it again. He sang some Beatles songs with the lyrics all changed to asking for sun, but it didn’t work a second time.

Down we went, fast and a bit wet, soon stuck behind the proverbial truck for many km; luckily he went reasonably fast. It dried out a bit more, then we stopped for food and clothes reduction just below our second big climb. It was a beautiful little spot with a fountain and tables. The second climb was on a tiny paved path, 6 km, averaging 10%. I just stuck it in my lowest gear and churned it out. Lunch was on top, and it turned out the road we were on was impassable for cars so there was no traffic at all. Refueling was great thanks to our awesome lunch crew.

Nice place for snacks, water and reducing clothes

After lunch, the next big descent started, fast switchbacks, very high speed though some little villages, so fun. The sun was out now and it was warming up nicely. There was about 40 km more to do but it was mostly downhill or level, the only difficulty was a headwind that was constant. Soon we were on a series of bike paths that went all the way to the lake, fun and varied. I rode the whole way with Nick and we stopped a few times for photos and had a great time.

The group is split in two hotels, and by luck soup was at ours in the beautiful back garden. Only Bike Dreams is staying here so it’s pretty nice. After a round of delicious soup and snacks, I washed a lot of dirt off myself and did laundry. It’s warm and breezy so laundry dries very fast on our balcony. We cleaned our bikes from so much rainy riding.

We were on our own for dinner tonight so Mike and I found a place by the lake and had a lovely meal. Keith joined once I texted him a picture of the menu featuring his favorite drink: IPA. And Lex joined for a beer too. Upon asking for il conto we were presented with glasses of limoncello. Amo l’Italia.

After dinner a gelateria was just across the street so we had to. Tonight’s flavors: yogurt con maracujá e limone. Then we walked down to the lake shore and WOW, what a place! People were swimming so I waded in to my knees and it felt great. I would love to come back to this part of Lake Garda and spend more time someday.

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 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.

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.