A Postcard on Two Wheels

This photo is mine! The stunning Pralongia plateau

Today was cycling day.

Cycling has never been my activity of choice, largely on account of a coccyx injury sustained as a child, which means every bike ride becomes an extended negotiation between me and my backside. And yet here I am, apparently honouring an annual tradition of reluctantly climbing onto a bicycle while on holiday.

Andrei, our guide, met us at the hotel and led us the gruelling twenty metres to the bike rental shop, where we collected our e-bikes and were given an instruction session considerably longer than I'd anticipated. Power modes, how to adjust the seat mid-ride (something I'd genuinely never encountered before), tips for climbing and descending on gravel, how and when to use the front and back brakes, and how to shift my weight appropriately...My brain was desperately trying to retain all of it while quietly wondering if it was too late to swap today's activity for a café.

Thankfully, the scenery distracted me almost immediately.

Our route took us through the beautiful villages of Colfosco, Corvara, La Villa and San Cassiano before climbing steadily towards the Pralongià Plateau at around 2,100 metres. "Steadily" is doing a lot of heavy lifting in that sentence. Even with an e-bike, a continuous uphill climb is still... uphill. But every pedal stroke was rewarded. Jagged limestone peaks, green meadows, wooden huts, church steeples. Richard pointed out that it genuinely felt like someone had taken the Windows screensaver from the early 2000s and made it three-dimensional. And he was right. 

We refuelled at Rifugio Bioch with another hearty mountain lunch, sitting out the first round of afternoon rain before starting the descent.

If the climb tested my legs, the descent tested everything else. Steep gravel, switchbacks, and the occasional reminder that gravity remains undefeated. It was physically demanding, mentally exhausting, and at times just plain scary. The now-familiar daily thunderstorm was closing in by the final stretch, which turned the last kilometres into a genuine sprint back to the bike shop.

We made it. My quads are cooked, and my backside feels like it's been in a pub brawl, but we made it.

Sadly, I have not yet mastered the art of taking photos while riding a bike without falling off, so many of today's photos are courtesy of the boys.

Tomorrow, the boots come out, and we start our three-day hut-to-hut hike.

Still smiling practising at the parking lot

Crossing or cycling along the river in the Valley

Group photo!

Thank you to Richard for this photo

Um no to cycling on this

Just finished the ascent of the forest bit

Very happy to make it to the plateau!

No photo can do justice to what the eye can see 360 degrees

Many paths for cyclists and hikers

Local antipasti. So delish!

Chairs with the best view

Rifugio Bioch

Fancy dinner back at our hotel

Pepper steak