On the way to cycle the 2014 Maratona dles Dolomites, we stopped for a night in the beautiful vineyard-surrounded village of Caldaro – near Bolzano.
Caldaro has a lovely car-free square full of restaurants. It is a perfect stop-over village.
It was late on a hot afternoon, and I had no plans to cycle. But I had seen Passo della Mendola signs and so I asked at the hotel reception where the pass was.
The friendly lady at the check-in desk pointed straight above the hotel. Ten minutes later I was on my bike!
What a great way to eliminate the stress after hours in a car. 🙂
This is a pleasant, well engineered, 14 kilometre climb. With a very steady 7% grade. As I rode, it was mainly in the early evening shade, and I struggled to take any good photos, but the views are great and plenty of signed hairpins – and a nice cliff stretch.
There were lots of cyclists heading up, but also quite a bit of traffic. But it’s a wide road, so no worries.
I don’t know much (ok, I don’t know anything) about this area. Between Stelvio/Gavia/Mortirolo and the Sella Ronda. But the ride was an unexpected surprise. And there was just no way I could sleep with an unridden passo directly above my hotel
I gave this a low score. It deserves a little better. It is a good "through" pass for cyclo-tourists.
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Views
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Difficulty
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Quiet / No Traffic
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Fun Factor
