Over the last few years I rode up and down lots of paved roads over high passes of northeast Italy, mostly riding single-day loop routes. I found lots of fun + pretty riding in the Dolomites (not a surprise) and other mountains, and I'd gladly do lots of it again. This year I finally connected it all into a continuous route, so I've ridden every kilometer west to east from the Bernina pass thru Bormio and Bolzano to Cortina d'Ampezzo + Misurina -- or from the Olympic ski resort of St Moritz to the Olympic ski resort of Cortina. And because I rode so much of it as loops, I've also covered a second route from east to west. I put together a set of reports + suggestions about the high passes
+ map . . .
The reports have lots of ideas about loop rides and up-and-back climbs that could be done while spending several days at a single base. Also ideas about multi-day "moving on" tours: not just one route, but different alternatives for many of the stages. I say which roads I liked best and why, and which parts I didn't like and would avoid.
I'd be glad to hear other suggestions (and corrections) for routes + riding.
If you can sense my jealousy, you should---Dolomites I am convinced are the greatest place to ride a bike in the world. I see on your very informative write-up you have a blank for the west side of the Stelvio, up from Bormio. When I did that side in 1995, I measured it right at 12.5 miles and 5000 ft of climbing---so at 1550M as you measured it, we are probably pretty close to tying out. Unfortunately we got snowed on to the point we were lucky to get down and didn't get to enjoy either of the other 2 approaches the same day.
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