Ken Roberts writes:
I put some photos of my September trip with Sharon to northeastern
Italy in Veneto and Sudtirol up on the web. Then I saw photos from
California and Colorado, and that got me thinking:
Are there some paved roads in the United States with mountain views
as spectacular (or more?) as the Dolomites in Italy?
I suppose that depends on the viewer and what is exciting. The
vertical to horizontal scale in the Alps as a whole is several times
that of most mountainous regions of the USA with individual exceptions
such as the grand canyon. Even that has a greater horizontal scale
than huge canyons in the alps. In the rockies one points to the
nearby mountain tops raising one's are 10 to 15 feet above the
horizontal, in the Alps seeing the nearby mountain top requires
stepping out from under the eves of the house.
It would be nice to know, in case the US dollar drops further against
the Euro, or aviation fuel prices make going to Italy or France too
expensive.
So like what's a paved mountain loop in the U.S. that's in the same
league with say this ride over the Giau, Fedaia, Sella, Gardena, and
Valparola passes:
http://roberts-1.com/t/b05/it/k/c
I'd be happy to see someone substitute a more spectacular Dolomites
route or better set of Dolomites cycling photos than those. In
addition to the obvious fact that I'm not an expert photographer,
and I've only been riding there once so far, most people would say
September is not the best time for the Dolomites. I'd guess that
June is more spectacular, with more snow on more of the mountains.
But that route is what impressed me the most.
I think the entire route from Nice to Slovenia offers roads and
landscapes that are not found elsewhere.
Your picture show some of the highlights in more than oriental
splendor. Some tales of the past:
http://www.trentobike.org/Countries/...r_of_the_Alps/
You can follow the weather on the Stelvio day and night in the winter
on this site:
http://webcam.popso.it/stelvio.php?PASSOEST
and the beauties of the central alps:
http://www.topin.ch/scripts/big_img.php?bild=ZER.JPG
Ride bike!
Jobst Brandt