Fanes-Senes MTB round tour

(Normal) starting point of this round tour is the Pederü mountain inn at 1,548 m a.s.l., reachable by car from San Vigilio di Marebbe. We decide to start from the village of San Vigilio and cycle through the beautiful Valle di Tamores (4 degrees Celsius on this July morning). We reach Pederü, and after an exhausting ascent on a well maintained gravel road with many sharp turns we can relax for some time on a less steep section before the track leads steadily upwards to the Fanes mountain hut (2,060 m). We continue our tour on the very steep section up to Passo Limo (2,170 m). This is the first, but not the last time we have to push our bikes!

However, the wonderful panorama of the Fanes-Senes-Braies Nature Park is really worth the effort. After a short rest at the Passo Limo we start our exciting descent through the Fanes valley, passing the emerald green Lake Limo. This descent on a wide track with gravel and stones is 10 km long with an altitude difference of 800 m and exhibits some quite steep and slippery sections. Attention: this descent requires some cycling experience and a good cycling technique! A must is the stop at the dizzying Ponte Alto bridge (1,380 m).

After the third bridge (or 28 km from San Vigilio) we turn left and prepare ourselves for the second ascent on a gravel path. After some 100 m we reach a parking space and continue our tour on an asphalted road limited to traffic towards the Ra Stüa mountain hut (1,668 m).

After a short rest at the hut we begin the last but hardest ascent of our tour with an altitude difference of 450 m up to the Senes mountain hut (2,126 m). Very steep and stony sections force us to push our bike for quite some time until we finally reach the mountain hut. After a very tasty lunch we continue our tour back to Pederü, passing the Fodara Vedla huts and finally cycling downhill on a military street built in WWI. Attention: this descent reaches gradients up to 21%! Finally we reach Pederü and then San Vigilio di Marebbe.

Please note: this cycle tour leads through the wonderful landscape of the Fanes-Senes-Braies Nature Park and the Ampezzo Dolomites Nature Park and exhibits breathtaking views, impressive rock walls, beautiful meadows and streams. However, it is a very difficult tour requiring a very good physical condition and cycling technique!

Author: BS