We had lots of great days on this trip but the most exciting ride of the trip was today! Not the best, necessarily, but the most fun. Our morning started with our route review and a language lesson. First we learned that there are about four different words in Italian that mean good but they differ based on what you are describing, i.e., a feeling, a thing, etc. Then we learned about all the different types of coffee and which is proper to have at specific times during the day.

Our route for today was amid the Adamello and the Brenta Dolomites. We started by riding from the hotel and taking a road through the forest for a view of the mountains. This ride was mainly to pass some time so we would have less traffic on the upcoming downhill out of Madonna di Campiglio. But the forest road was very pleasant.

We took a few photos there and then turned around and rode back into Madonna di Campiglio.

Riding out of town we stopped to take a photo of the town sign.

And this view of the mountains which shows the familiar jagged edges of the Dolomites.

Then we began what was a six-mile descent into the Rendena Valley. And it was awesome. We had almost constant traffic though including tons of motorcycles some of which were going down as well as coming up and lots of hairpin turns although they were gentle. But you just couldn’t worry about the traffic; you needed to hold your own line and trust they went around you.

We only made one stop on the way down and it was in a parking lot. So no photos on the way down. Here, Jerry and Ross are riding into the stop.

You really did not want to stop and lose momentum, the feeling of being a kid again, and flying down the mountainside. This may be the closest we could come to feeling like being in the Tour de France. This is a photo from a bus trip down the next day.

And another.

And one more.

The views were tremendous – we just couldn’t look. We went through a couple of small towns on this downhill that we had to slow down for but I don’t remember much about them. One had a stoplight that was on green and I suspect it’s that way most of the time.

Eventually the road leveled out and we turned onto a bike path and crossed a small bridge over the Sarca River.

This was our view from the bridge.

Ross stopped at the end of the bridge to check out this sign.

From there we rode up a narrow road until we reached a farm for cheese tasting. So far we had covered 13 miles. Upon arrival at the Maso Pan Farm, Claudio provided us with a fresh fruit spread – these snacks were the best. We always had chocolate as an option but the sliced peaches, nectarines, bananas, apples, etc., hit the spot.

Our tour of the farm started with seeing some of the Rendena cows who provide the milk to make the cheese. These are an northeastern Italian breed of cattle and are good for transhumant management which means they are pastured on the alpine mountainside in the summer and brought down from the mountains and fed grain in the winter. Razza Rendena cheese can only be made from the milk of Rendena cows.

The second part of our tour was of various tools that had been used on this farm in the past.

We also saw an old pair of skis and a bicycle. We were surprised at the number of the same tools that were used and that they were all conserved.

These old milk stools and their carvings were also interesting.

Then we did the cheese tasting.

These were our cheese choices plus we had elderberry juice.

The remainder of the ride today – eight miles that I didn’t do – went into the Genova Valley through a canyon and along the Sarca River. The last five miles of this ride were mostly uphill along a very narrow road that arrived at the Nardis Waterfalls.

The waterfalls descend about 430 feet and are sourced by the Presanella Glacier. Since this was Saturday, there were lots of people hiking and visiting this area.

We went to the restaurant across the bridge and had a piece of apple cake which is a speciality of the area. The restaurant offers a great view of the falls.

The remainder of the ride was a short downhill into Carisolo where we met the shuttle.

When we got back to the hotel we changed clothes and walked about 100 feet to the Spinale Express Ski Elevator where we bought a ticket to travel to the top of Monte Spinale at 6,900 feet.

At the top, we saw the map showing the ski runs.

But we were more interested in the view. This looks toward the Dolomiti di Brenta and the tallest mountain in this group is the Cima Brenta at more than 10,000 feet. In this photo, it’s the peak in the middle with the largest white glacier near the top.

This photo looks toward the Passo Grosté at 8,200 feet and the hiking trail that goes there. On the left side of the pass can be seen the tiny dark Rifugio Stoppani. From where we were it would take about 2 hours to hike to Passo Grosté.

Looking down at the ski run back towards Madonna di Campiglio.

A wind blown photo of us with some clouds moving in. The Cima Brenta is toward the left and behind the cloud.

Looking in the other direction we saw rain clouds, Time to go.

So we went back down to the hotel. This was the comfortable lobby.

Dinner tonight was at the hotel again and included traditional dishes such as this meat, cheese, and salty strudel with mushrooms appetizer. The white stuff on the left was called “lard” and was basically slices of some type of fat.

We also had bowls of marinated vegetables which were yummy. Our second course was ravioli with truffle sauce and the main course was rabbit on polenta. We were not excited by the rabbit. We thought it was too gamey tasting even though it was a bit fatty and must have been domestically raised. Dessert was apple strudel.

We finished the day packing up and getting ready for our move tomorrow.