monte grappa
In July 2017 my wife and I decided to attack the famous Monte Grappa near Bassano del Grappa which is located around an one hour drive northwest from Venice.
On one hand it is famous for a sad reason because thousands of people lost their lives around the region in World War One and so after the war they built a huge monument on top of the mountain. On the other hand the road up to Monte Grappa has been part of the Giro d'Italia route plenty of times already and is one of the most legendary climbs. Besides all the history the place has to it, it is simply stunning because it is part of the very first ridge of mountains going north. That means from Monte Grappa south it is completely flat until Venice and the sea. We started our loop in a small town called Sopracastello where we stayed at a really cool AirBnB called "Villa Albrizzi Marini" some 5km away from Semonzo where the classic climb begins. You can of course choose other ways up to the top, there is like four or more roads up to the mountain but the one from Semonzo is the most recommended as "the real thing". From the bottom it is around 20km of constant climbing. The average gradient is about 8% and there is no real flat part to rest a bit. The first half is a bit easier I would say because you have a lot of switchbacks and with those you can figure out a rhythm and work your way up curve after curve. Also it was extremly hot and on the first part the trees hide you a bit from the direct sun. Monte Grappa is also a paradise for paragliding, so we saw plenty of folks sailing through the skies on our way up. The second part of the climb is a bit harder as I mentioned because it gets more ramp-like what means it gets a bit more difficult mentall to set small goals and you also have 10km of climbing in your legs at that point. You are riding on an open mountain plateau just above the clouds and you can see parts of the big monument on top already, but it is still a long way to go. Once we've managed to reach the top we got ourselfs some coffee and cake at a small refugio there and checked out the monument. From the top we then took the road down west and then at the crossroad left (south). It is about 25km basicly constant downhill and the last part you can even look over and see the first part of the climb you did on the other side. So if you ever have the chance I totally recommand riding up the Monte Grappa. If you are interest here is the roadmap. And one last recommandation. In Semonzo at the bottom of the climb there is a real good restaurant called "L'Antica Abbazia".