Carezza
Carezza
The Rosadira Bike Dolomiti Festival in the Val d’Ega
Four days of workshops on cycling technique, lots of testing opportunities and guided tours: that’s the Rosadira Bike Festival!
Among friends – the Rosadira Bike Festival
This year, we’re not only impressed by the mountain backdrop, but also by the brilliant weather. Simon Schrott, our guide for today’s trail tour, still remembers the not quite perfect weather conditions of last year’s festival… but today appropriate sun protection is definitely a must!
Our group of 10 men and women is on schedule for the planned start at 10 o’clock. Simon takes a scrutinizing look at the happy crowd, recognizing a few faces. It clearly pleases him that some of us have been to the festival also in the past years. The atmosphere is relaxed, as always among mountain bikers, and we set out for the Passo di Costalunga, riding our bikes through the varied terrain underneath the impressive rock walls of the Catinaccio massive.
Simon is a man of few words, he’s rather known for his jokes and funny comments. He provides the essential infos regarding today’s tour and then off we go – chatting in little groups, pedaling with pure muscle power. Simon happily points out that quite a few old-school mountain bikers have found their way to the Dolomites, besides the many e-bikers here at the Rosadira Bike Festival.
Trails & Highlights
Our MTB caravan is quickly moving over gentle ups and downs across the meadows and woods towards the mountain pass and Simon has already a few downhill goodies up his sleeve for us. Nothing too rough or fast, but mainly some technical sections of the trail. “That’s how I like it best”, our bike guide explains, and we all admire his cycling technique. A nasty puncture in one of Simon’s tyres allows us to enjoy a quick and unplanned break which we spend drinking some water and taking pictures of the beautiful landscape. “Next time it’ll be Maxxis again”, I hear Simon mutter while he’s inflating the tyre, and then he calls: “Let’s get going again!”
From the Passo di Costalunga we’re now heading towards Nova Levante and Simon leads us to a spectacular waypoint on our route: “The Mittersee is only there for a few weeks every year, when the snow melts and fills it with water”, the tanned guide from Nova Levante explains. The water of the little mountain lake is freezing cold and perfect for cooling down your legs, provided you limit the footbath to a short minute – otherwise be prepared for pins and needles! ;) It’s showtime, as Simon grabs a girl of our group and crosses the lake with her and the bikes on the raft tied up on the shore. The rest of the merry circle takes some more pictures of the two cyclists on the high seas, before pedalling round this meltwater beauty and continuing downhill towards the Carezza Lake, where we encounter lots of people from all over the world, gathering up to admire this natural monument, which has an almost exotic touch now. And we certainly have as well – with our bikes, helmets and protectors we probably look like some kind of alien visitors to the others!
At the Carezza Lake, Simon splits the group. He’s not compromising on this, as the trails down to Nova Levante are quite challenging. Those who don’t feel fit for this adventurous ride continue the tour with Andrea, our second guide, towards the valley station. Three cyclists and myself are however highly motivated
More than just taking a look – Rosadira is all about biking fun
Simon, too, is very happy: apart from the little tyre breakdown, everything went really well. And he’s utterly thrilled at the sight of the colourful crowd of cyclists romping about the event area. “The festivals in Riva and Bressanone may well be bigger and better known, and they probably also attract more firms – but here at the foot of the Catinaccio the focus lies on biking and this strategy seems to work well”, the co-founder of the Rosadira festival explains to me. Ride on – because that’s what really counts, in the end.
The four-day Rosadira Bike Festival in the Val d’Ega offers everything a MTB afficionado may dream of: workshops on cycling technique, guided tours and chats among experts of the scene in a unique mountain setting. The homely atmosphere, hospitality and culinary delights are further hallmarks of the Rosadira festival and the founders are firmly convinced that it will stay that way. Curious to learn more about the festival? Click here for more information!
By the way: Rosadira is the Rhaeto-Romanic term for the sunset – and the sunset at the Catinaccio is probably one of the most beautiful ones far and wide