Maratone dles Dolomites: a bike race of ups and downs (and little else)

The famous event in Italy’s beautiful South Tyrol is 86 stunning miles long – but with 4,000 metres of climbing. Could Peter Walker take it in the 30C-plus heat?

At about six miles, the Passo Giau isn’t the longest climb I’ve ever cycled up, or the steepest, with an average gradient of just under 10%. But it is possibly the most relentless, especially during a freakish hot spell, bringing 30C-plus temperatures even at the 2,200-metre peak.

I’m about three-quarters of the way through the 86 miles of the Maratone dles Dolomites, an annual race across Italy’s almost absurdly beautiful South Tyrol region, and I’m really feeling the heat. Three times I have to stop my bike on a hairpin bend – there’s 29 in all, helpfully numbered with signs – to douse myself in water. All around me other riders are doing the same. We glance wordlessly at each other, all thinking the same thing: can we go on?

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from Health & wellbeing | The Guardian http://ift.tt/1fmMxP2
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