I
t was time to move on today, after a weekend of curling and partying. For seven years now we’ve come to Cortina in June for their curling tournament and when we discovered we could make it this year on our bikes we weren’t about to miss our chance to get back on the ice and catch up with friends we haven’t seen for months. Maybe the numerous beers and late nights didn’t help our cycling – it was hard work getting back on the bikes – but we had a great time and did pretty well in the tournament. Our team placed fifth and we all got new iPods… amazingly a prize we wanted and could carry with us! With the tournament over, we hit the road again, setting a course this time for Slovenia. A few more mountain passes lie between us and the border and the first one was just outside Cortina; Passo Tre Croci at 1,809 meters. We took it really slowly since Friedel picked up a sinus cold , which makes climbing at any speed almost impossible. It was early afternoon before we coasted over the top and then downhill for quite some distance, through a large stretch of woodland and pastures, always with the mountains looming over us. After gliding down for a good 25km we turned east and soon found a camping spot for the night, just beside a river. We’re hoping a good night’s rest will see off the cold germs so we can carry on a bit further tomorrow.