Saturday, June 19, 2010

Pala Barzana - Collalto

Finally a pause in the rain this morning so I tried to ride this double climb. It starts with an ascent of 564 meters up to Pala Barzana (842 meters). It's easy and pleasant with beautifully forested mountain slopes. On the descent toward Barcis, I stopped by a little meadow where a flock of baby goats were playing. Very cute running up the rocky slope together, trying to butt heads like the big guys, then running back down to start the whole circle again. The descent ends below Lago di Barcis (400 meters), so you must ride through a 1 km tunnel to get there. Then you cross the dam, loop through a semi-circular tunnel, and cruise along the backside of the lake. After a couple of kilometers you reach the start of the climb to Piancavallo and Collalto.

It's a beautiful climb, along the rushing Torrente Caltea, in a thickly-forested gorge. The climb gains 950 meters in 16 km, up to Collalto at 1360 meters. Despite the effort, the nice cool weather made it very comfortable.

After the climb I donned my windjacket and descended on the gorgeous backroad to Castaldia. From there I joined the newly paved main road and flew down to Pedemonte (slowing more than usual for the tornanti because of wet pavement). Another 200 meters of climbing to home, for a total of 1776 meters.


Map of the climbs



Elevation Pala Barzana and Collalto


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