Cycling in the Dolomites in Autumn

[Johnsqual]

I am vaguely contemplating going to do some cycling in the Italian
Dolomites. I've got some time off work in the Autumn, and I was wondering whether it's possible to still go cycling in that region at that time of year.

Or is the weather already too bad, and are most of the real mountain
passes closed?

If anyone's got any experience of the region, what would you say is the best time to go?

Cheers,

Johnny

 

[wassertreter]

Depends on lots of things. September should be no problem, possibly you'll have the best time, as temperatures aren't quite as high any more. Chances of a rainy week are always there, obviously, as well as flurries on the higher passes on a bad day. Snow will not stay, though, as the ground is still too warm. October you're looking at cooler temperatures, and greater chance for bad weather.

 

[Johnsqual]

Re:

Thanks for that. I am currently trying to work out if it's feasible to do a bit
of riding in the North of Italy before heading down to the Eroica, so it would be early October. Seems I might be able to get away with it from what you say.

Another quick question: do you know if there are many gravel roads that would be ridable on a road/cross bike in the Dolomites? Seems like
most of the mountain passes are all tarmac.

I found some stuff about Alta Via 1 but it's not clear how much (if any) of that is suitable for cycling.

Cheers for any help,

Johnny

 

[wassertreter]

You could probably get some riding done on a CX bike, if you use low gearing and the biggest tyres you can, and go by MTB guidebooks. Lots of the terrain in question is going to be closed for general traffic, and thus not in shape for regular 2 wheel drive vehicles. Using a road bike might take the pleasure out a bit.

 

[Johnsqual]

Re:

Thanks again, I'll see if I can find some MTB maps at some point.

I was really hoping that there might be a few mountain roads left that would be similar to what would have been ridden in the classic Giri of the 1950s-60s, but looking at Google street view around the area suggests there's not much hope of finding anything like that anymore.

Cheers,

Johnny