Saturday, the 15th

OK, I wanted adventure, I got it. But the next time I think about going off-road on a top heavy bike with street tires, just stop me. I mean it. Slap me upside the head if you have to. I tried to do the Forcella di Lavardet that John Hermann mentioned in his book. He called it "interesting, occasionally rough," and said "parts are unpaved." Hah! There's only a tiny part that is paved, if you ask me. I should have listened to the timber trucker who told me in German it was very rough and not advisable. I should have listened to the wood cutter who told me in Italian that it was very rough and that I would probably fall. But, no, I forged ahead. But just before the exquisite set of 16 paved hairpin turns that John mentioned, I made a wrong turn. I didn't see the paving and went left up the mountain. Steeper and steeper, the road got worse and worse. soft dust with lots of loose gravel. I tried to change from the right track to the cleaner left track and midway through, the rear wheel skidded out. I was now pointed offf the road and toward a steep dropoff. I grabbed both levers, put my feet down, and the bike fell on its side. I picked it up fairly easile and moved on, but slowly. It occured to me that if something happened I could be in real trouble because by this time it was obvious the road was rarely used. I started thinking about how long my little cache of food would last. I reached another big patch of loose ruts and got stuck. This was a stretch of 100 yards of mire. And it started to rain. I was burning the clutch trying to get traction. I finally unloaded all my gear and the saddlebags and got the bike past the rough part. I rode up another few hundred yards and got stuck again. This time, it looked like I'd have to carry the bike every inch for 100'. A nightmare. I had a hunch I was near the top of the pass, so to see if it was worth continuing, I took a walk. Sure enough, the pass was only a couple of hundred yards ahead. But it was Paso di Gola, not Forcella di Lavardet. Heh. I think I bagged a pass the King of the Alps hadn't done, even if I had to complete it on foot. But the sign at the top said it con tiued on to Sappada, not Comeglians. Oops. That wasn't good. So, I turned around and on my way back I saw where I had madee the wrong turn. I went up the right road and quickly found the set of paved hairpins. Yes, they were nice, but it was only a few hundred yards later that the paving stopped. Pushing forward through more soft spots, I came to a ford. The river was at least a foot deep and flowing strong. There was no way a motorcycle could make it past all that water. So, that's when I gave up, went all the way back to the highway and called it an adventure.

http://www.mapmyride.com/route/it/toblach/782127417234586403

Where I dropped it.

Paso di Gola is just out of view.