Monte Zoncolan, Monte Crostis double.

Zoncolan and Crostis done. At the top of Moonte Crostis (the road anyway) just under 2,000m up

What a day! Two big climbs done in a mixture of rain, mist, wind and sun. Monte Zoncolan lived up to its hype and was a constant 12%+ gradient, but Monte Crostis was a little wolf in sheep's clothes. Still, they were both worth the ride, even with the not so perfect weather.



I awoke this morning and checked the weather, as I always do, and also as the night before thunderstorms were predicted. Looking out the window it was drizzly but nothing bad really, however, there was a Thunderstorm Warning Yellow out....what is a Thunderstorm Warning Yellow? Sounds like what the military use for incoming air raids. So instead of finding I went on what I saw out the window, which looked fine, and I decided to crack on.

Getting on the bike and underway, into rain, was no problem. I don't mind cycling in the rain, just as long as there is no wind - I despise rain blown into my eyes! The legs took a bit to get going though, understandable after a day not peddling. All was well though and they were warmed up by the time I had ridden the 10kms into Ovaro.

The ride up to Zoncolan was all well signposted and easy to follow, but I was waiting to pass through the town of Liariis which is apparently where the ride proper starts. Well as I turned out of Ovaro heading to Liariis I could swear the climb was already well underway as it was already 10% gradient. Wow, if this part didn't count I was beginning to get worried!

As soon as you leave Liariis though, you understand what they are talking about. The road is like a wall in front of you.

The wall of road

The gradient just rises immediately, and does not really relent the whole way up. There are a couple of 8% sections where you can get your breath back if you are quick, but otherwise it is just 12-14% most of the way. What I did find out today is that anything over 16% and I really have to make sure my pedal stroke is smooth, otherwise the front wheel comes up off the ground with every stroke. It is incredible.

The road up is well maintained, and very quiet (on the day I did it at least). Once you are on the climb there are signs to say how far you have gone (in distance, no altitude which I prefer), and they also have a picture and the life story of famous cyclists on them too; Merkxx was there, Coppi as well, Pantini of course, no Lance though. Their names were all painted on the road as well (from the 2014 Giro I guess, even though none were in it, bit like "bring back buck" I guess) so when you are cycling up you can get a bit of that feeling of the event itself and cheer yourself on.

Most of the climb you are in the trees of a forest so you can't actually see much except for the road out in front of you. Once you leave the trees though with around 2km to go the gradient decreases slightly, you go through three tunnels, the gradient picks up again, you finally see the top, and you have made it! I am sure the view from the top is amazing, but all I saw was cloud and a little shed where you could buy a t-shirt or jacket. Wonder how busy they get?

The ride down was great due to the great road and the rain having stopped. Descents are always too short though. Once down back in Ovaro I smashed a sandwich and an orange juice (it was before 12pm so no hot food until then), then continued on my way.

Monte Crostis was such a different ride. The mountain itself seems to be the poorer cousin; the roads are poor in most places, no names written on the road, not the same kudos as Zoncolan, and not even a sign at the top to say what the name of the mountain was. It did have great signs all the way up though saying how much further to go and what the gradient was at the time. These can be good or bad depending on how well you are doing I find - sometimes you just don't want to know there is another six kilometers to the top!

This mountain is a wolf in sheep's clothing though. All the way up it is a relatively manageable 8-10% gradient. It is similar to Zoncolan in that for most of it you are in the trees as well, so you get into a rhythm and punch the climb out. You then exit the trees and begin a series of cliff hanging hairpins at about 4kms to go, the gradient eases really nicely and your mind starts to wonder about what you will do at the top. Then between 3km and 500m the wolf jumps out of the sheep's clothing and tries to eat you with steepness. Man was that portion hard! And I think someone miscalculated the last three signs as they count down from 1.5kms...either that or I did an extra 500m extra somewhere.

The last stretch is fantastic though for the views. You are above the tree line again and there is that alpine look and feel which I love (although the continuous cow bells would suggest more farmland than anything). You also have great views to valley below down sheer cliffs which is a reminder of just how high you are. It is such a lovely place to be at the top of Monte Crostis.

So after standing next to a monument that celebrated the Giro, I continued along the road down towards Ravascletto as I was wanting to do a loop. Before long, just as I was getting into the swing of going downhill, a gravel road appeared and the paved one ended. The gravel road was just too rough and I did not know how long it would go on for so decided not to go that way and instead go back the way I came up. Thankfully it was not too far (height wise) before the gravel road started as otherwise it would have been an even further climb to get back to the top and go back the way I came up.

Monte Crostis

Anyway, off I rode back down the mountain very gingerly as I was not confident in the road, even though the rain had stopped again (the road really is quite rough in places actually), and back to Villa Santina for the night.

All in all a great day, and super happy to have done both mountains in the one day.

Highlight: The top of Costis, I just love that alpine environment.
Lowlight: The descent from Crostis. 14km of braking.
Lesson Learned: Smooooooooooth pedaling above 16% gradient (well I suppose smoooooooth pedaling all the time, at least I know I need to work on it).