Maratona ride report by Carl C

At the start of the month seven NEV members (accompanied by a couple of handy domestiques and friends of the club) headed to the Dolomites to tackle the infamous Gran Fondo, the Maratona dles Dolomites. The long route of 140km with a shade under 14,000ft of elevation featured seven categorised climbs including the mighty Passo Giau (10km at 10%). For the middle course of 106km this featured six categorised climbs with 10,000ft of climbing. The club had a mixture of members tackling both courses and having arrived on the Friday before the Sunday event, everyone was well acclimatised to both the climbing and evening alcohol intake. Rolling down to the start line from our chalet at 6:15am with the tacatacatacatacataca of the camera helicopters above (the event is televised in Italy and on completely closed roads), it was pretty clear that the day was going to be hot - not ideal for long mountain climbs. Everyone found their own pace and completed either route in outstanding times. Club kit was donned by all with many-a-compliment along the way, as well as the usual “no hills in Essex” jibes (I dare them to ride out to Southminster into a 35mph headwind). Sadly we were too disorganised to have before and after photos, but safe to say the experience of the Dolomites and the Maratona is like no other event out there. It is simply spectacular in every sense. We saw the week out with some more stunning rides, no photo will ever do the vista justice, it’s like looking at life in HD for a week. No doubt we will be returning, some have already booked up for next year - it is that good. Happy to share any more thoughts on the day or logistics of planning an event like this, just give me a shout.

See you on the road soon, Carl.