The Coop in town has the worlds smallest shopping trolleys. They're about knee height and honestly smaller than the hand baskets. At first I thought they were kiddies trolleys but they're definitely the full monty. Grown adults push them around completely oblivious to how ridiculous they look.
All of the 'fresh' bread in the coop has a best before date of 2 months away. Thankfully there's a lovely little bakery across the road.
Moved tent while kettle was brewing and then was away for the big mountains and twisties by lunchtime. Very excited about the Dolomites. They're definitely some of the best roads I've ever ridden and I can't think of many other places where I'd rather wake up on a Sunday morning.
Noticed the roads to the east of Drei Zinnen look particularly tasty on the map so thought I'd give them a shot. Reckoned on a big loop around the far side of Cortina. Headed out over the Sella pass but as I approached the Gardena pass the sky turned black. Cars coming towards me had wipers and lights on.
Pressed on regardless but there was thunder and lightning over towards Cortina. Figured that a black Alfa coming towards me beeping, flashing and frantically telling me to turn back was probably as good a sign as any so I dropped south after the Valparola pass towards Andraz. I could then take a short fast road back to base or press on to Marmolada if it cleared.
Stopped for a quick coffee and all looked fine towards Canazei so I headed down to Marmolada and the Fedaia pass. That's when the rain caught up with me. Nothing disastrous but enough to take the shine off the ride. These aren't the kind of roads you wanna ride in the wet. There was even one hairpin so tight that satnav didn't think it was possible in one swing. It told me to go straight on down a dirt track, do a U-turn then come back onto the corner!
Back at base all was clear. They'd had rain but it had definitely cleared. The remaining mist was rising quickly. Small consolation but the Dolomites look spectacular with the mist rising off them. Figured that I'd done enough for today so kettle on and quick snack then shower and into town to watch the footy.
World cup final. Assumed there'd be loads of bars showing it. I was wrong. One makeshift outdoor bar had a small tv in the corner. You could hardly see the picture and you sure as hell couldn't hear the sound. It was drowned out by the battle of the bands. Big bands that is. There were two battling for supremacy. For my money, the Larry Franco Swingtet had it in the bag. Their rendition of Mac the Knife in Italian had the entire crowd up on their prosthetic knees.
The night carried on getting stranger. I walked past an outdoor display of stuffed animals. A bit like the one they used to have in the visitor centre at Dalby Forest. Except there were no flashy lights on this one. And each animal was either eating, or being eaten by, another of the animals. The doves were having a particularly hard time. One was been carried off by a stoat and another was getting shredded by an evil looking owl. Probably some strange peace statement but it completely eluded me. Other notable highlights included a fox eating a squirrel, a lame deer and a particularly angry looking marmot.
At the top of the street was a selection of miniature animals. Live ones this time. Goats, horses, donkeys etc etc. The town planners obviously hadn't thought it through properly. There were a load of live farm animals penned up at the top of a busy pedestrian street. A steady stream of animal effluent was running down the street. Most of it under the food stalls.
Miniature horse and donkey rides were available. My Italian is obviously not as good as I thought because for the life of me I couldn't get them to let me have a go.
Sam, you definitely left one day too soon!
61 miles
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