Today’s ride covered 66 miles and featured just about every kind of terrain you could imagine. It began with a long and scenic downhill, following a mountain river as it descended through dense forests. When the river leveled out it was in the northern part of Italy, an industrial and agricultural area. Our route followed mostly smaller roads that were basically level. They went past some industries, some smaller towns, and through rural areas with their fields of corn. Next the route approached the Dolomites, the massive mountain range at the top of the country. Our first attempt to enter that range was thwarted by a closed road, but a brief detour routed us around the closure, which we learned was most likely caused not by a temporary closure of an existing road but by a section of the road that was just being constructed.
The Dolomites are impressive and many of the villages in them have historically been only reachable by trails or tortuous roads. The road we went on was relatively new and relatively easy cycling because of a series of tunnels that must be replacements for the old ways. One tunnel went for nearly five kilometers, certainly opening up areas of the Dolomites that were unreachable previously. Now much of the area has been made into a National Park, and is excellent for outdoor activities. I assume that in the summer months it is a busy area, but this time of year it is quite silent. Our albergo in Camolais is the only one open.
One of the signs of the time in this part of Italy is the number of derelict or for sale buildings. In this relatively large town there are numerous boarded up homes and numerous buildings that are for sale, and traveling here each hamlet was the same. One wonders what supports the people who live here, which is a question I ask in most rural areas I have traveled past, in nearly any country. Aside from farming, which must be difficult and very seasonal here in the Dolomites, and tourism, which is also very seasonal here, I wonder what people do for work. Walking around there were signs of cleaning up after a celebration, and we learned that yesterday was the annual festival for this city. Entertainers were brought in and performed in every available corner and venue. It must have been a lively place for one day, and local shops must have prospered, but what about the rest of the time? I wonder…
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