Big nature. That’s today’s theme. Wow. We rode through forests, in tunnels, along rivers, over hills (a lot), and screamed down a 40 km valley to Lienz.
The cycle path was almost ever present, diverting occasionally through a village. The Italian part was super nice, well-marked and a breeze to ride. The Austrian part, to our surprise, was even better.
The day started with ~500 m of climbing, which was very hard. Steep short climbs, followed by steeper, shorter descents. It was like running full speed into the ocean every few minutes. You’re free and fast, then — WHAM.
Lucky for us, we came up to a pro mountains bike race, the Dolomites Superbike 3 Peaks event. It was cool to see the racers finish and the people cheering, and I’m sure it was live-streamed somewhere, as there were a bunch of broadcast trucks and that kind of stuff.
We stopped for a break in Innichen, a bustling little village. I had the world’s best ham and cheese toast and a beer, both couldn’t have come at a better time on the ride, at 38 km.
I highly recommend this route going East. Going West will be a slaying uphill ride for hours. Bring lots of water, the last 40 km have almost no services and are in a nature preserve area.








