The Road to Mont Blanc from Conegliano, Italy, to Chamonix, France

From MAVIC:
The Road to Mont-Blanc
"The high mountains are a mysterious and unpredictable place offering a moment of escapism to experience life amidst a journey of new and unknown limits. On August 4th 2014 Mavic road ambassador Mike Cotty faced his toughest challenge yet, a 1,000 kilometer non-stop journey across the Dolomites, Eastern Alps and Swiss Alps including 21 mountains and over 21,000 meters of climbing, or the equivalent of ascending Mount Everest nearly 2.5 times in a single ride. Battling adverse weather conditions in the Dolomites and a punishing headwind for the final 500 kilometres meant that Mike had go above and beyond the realms of normality to overcome sleep deprivation from over 50 hours of continuous cycling whilst battling the elements on The Road to Mont Blanc from Conegliano, Italy, to Chamonix, France.........."

Read the rest of the story here.

A few photos from story:

Passo San Baldo

Passo Duran

Passo Giau

Passo dello Stelvio

The full length video:



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2011 Maratona dles Dolomites, Passo Giau

Nearly 28,000 cyclists submitted applications for the 2011 Maratona dles Dolomites which will be celebrating its 25th anniversary. Those that have been selected in the 8,000+ random draw have been notified that they must confirm their entry between December 1st and April 14th.

For those that have not been selected in the draw and still wish to participate there are 170 slots available at an increased price. The difference in the increased price over the standard registration fee (80 euro) will be donated to a charity. Last year the charity registrations were used to support the drilling of water wells in the region of Karamoja, Uganda. This year these registrations will be used toi support 25 micro-projects. These entries can be purchased by credit card exclusively online on www.maratona.it on November 24th 2010 starting at 6 p.m. (GMT+1). Don't be late!

The gran fondo course, 138 km in length with 4,190 meters of climbing, features the Passo Giau. Here is a video featuring the Passo Giau, just one of the seven ascents on the gran fondo course:
Click here to see in full size.

ICJ Reader contribution contest will run 1 January to 15 February, 2011. Details here.

Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal about rides, granfondos, having a good time cycling in Italy, Italian cycling history, etc. are very welcome. Contact me at veronaman@gmail.com. There are more than 1,600 stories in this blog. The search feature to the right works best for finding subjects in the blog. There is also an Italian weather widget along the right side and a translate button at the bottom so you can translate each page. What I'm riding.

Preparations for the 2007 Maratona dles Dolomites

On July 2, 2006, I participated in the "Maratona dles Dolomites" which is considered the most beautiful, challenging, and well organized granfondo in Europe. The beauty of the Alta Badia region of the Sud Tirol is spectacular. No wonder approximately 18,000+ individuals from all over the world enter the drawing for 8,000 slots.

That's me in the day glow yellow jacket, red sleeves, and sunglasses at the start. It was 32 degrees on July 2nd at 0615 when the race started. The other photos are also of the 2006 event.

In November, 2006, my name was drawn again ! So just today I was busy making hotel reservations and planning our trip for July, 2007. And thinking how much climbing I'll have to do during the Spring to get ready.

Last year I did the medium distance which included climbing over 6 passes, 65.8 miles with 10,100 feet of climbing (ouch). This year I'm going to try to do the long distance which has 13,750 feet of climbing in 85.8 miles. Last year the weather was great and I actually made the cutoff time for the long distance by 20 minutes but I didn't think I had it in me to make it over the Passo Giau. Train more, train more, train more.......

Every year the Maratona has a theme. This year it is Gotes de Vita, “drops of life”. The organizers wrote:

DEW D R O P S...I can imagine that today, at this moment in time, you are not very interested if I say that the element we want to talk to you about is a combination of two parts of hydrogen to one of oxygen. And you will be even less interested in the fact that heavy water is where the hydrogen has been completely or partially replaced by deuterium and that it is used to produce nuclear power.Perhaps it might be more interesting to say that even the ancient philosophers considered it one of the four elements making up the universe together with earth, air and fire.Many of you, visiting our site, will have seen a drop of water like a very pure topaz, or will have associated the drop with a ripe fig, imagining the sweetness of its juice.For some it will be a sort of virtual rock of Sisyphus or the drop that makes a bath overflow. A river is born drop after drop… you will be disappointed and saddened, but fate is a sort of hinge on which much else depends.Come now, we do not want to see teary eyes and don’t frown that way either: none of you have ever been without a drop of blood, there has never been any Pentecostal rain of tongues of fire. There are far more serious problems in the world. Or opportunities. The opportunity we have to help children in Africa. They are thirsty. Think of the happiness that we will be able to give these children. Think about those huge eyes that shine with joy as they see water gushing out of the bowels of the earth. It is truly Holy Water for them, Gotes de Vita, “drops of life”. We clearly feel their incalculable happiness that is reflected in a large mirror and like drops of life directly enters us. And opens up our hearts. Cycling friends, let’s all smile together: the children will sense it and will laugh together with us.