The Mythos Alpine Gravel lives up its mythical name, says Shimano Gravel Alliance rider Claudia Gerosa, who recently used the young event as an excuse to go sightseeing by bike in the Dolomites.

With an open start time between 8:30am and 9:30am from the picture postcard perfect village of San Martino di Castrozza, surrounded by a verdant green landscape in the middle of the Parco Naturale Paneveggio - Pale di San Martino, riders could choose between the 42.5 km Green route with 1,300 metres of elevation or the 75 km Black route with 2,400 metres of elevation, both set under the jaw-dropping peaks of the Dolomites.

At 8:40am, we were ready to start the black route, somewhat apprehensive about how much the terrain would test our limits.

It went uphill immediately towards the Passo Rolle with a handful of kilometres on smooth tarmac before jutting off to a trail that ran parallel to the road. It was a ribbon of gorgeous singletrack that snaked its way up, with tight turns and hardpacked gravel under your tyres. In a very short distance, we’d climbed a hell of an amount. 

Even this early on, there was no avoiding the fact that it was going to be a tough day - but one where you’d have to look up from your stem from time to time so that you could appreciate the stunning landscape. 

The first, supremely well-organised, feed station came at exactly the right moment, with lashings of good vibes, sandwiches, fruit, cakes and drinks, giving us the perfect opportunity to stop and chat before descending to Val Venegia where the day’s second proper climb was waiting.

Within what felt like a heartbeat, we were cruising down a super flowy descent and into the woods. From here, it turned picture-book with a little babbling mountain stream alongside us that guided us into the next valley. It was almost too pretty to be true - an oasis for gravel riders with beautiful trees, meadows and the Travignolo stream that was gushing down from the glacier above. As we got further up the valley, the sides opened up and the Pale di Martino was revealed in all its glory. Yep, it sounds over-romanticised but until you’ve been to the Dolomites, it can be hard to understand. 

So distracted by the scenery, it’s easy to forget how much we’re climbing. The gravel was beautifully well-maintained, cutting a noble line through meadows and past clusters of mountain huts as we followed the route of the river upstream. A few kilometres further on, the landscape turned more raw, rockier and much less green. Our trail tumbled through huge rocks that have fallen from the Pale di San Martino over the years.

In such wild nature, the sense of excitement in what you’re doing is heightened – or at least it was for us we climbed even more hairpins towards the Baita Segantini mountain hut at 2,300 metres above sea level, where our climb would end. This location is now a rifugio and something of an icon within the Dolomites, inviting photographers from all over the world to come and admire the scenery. We caught our breath, looked at the view and then started off down the zig-zag descent, keeping one eye on the mountains and the other on the lush meadows. There was almost too much to take in visually. We were so curious and eager to see everything that the Dolomites have to offer. There’s a lot. 

Halfway down the descent off the Passo Rolle, we turned onto an undulating dirt track that took us past the chair lifts and up to the small Malga Ces lake. There was another long and very fun descent on a natural trail through the woods as a reward that took us down to Fiera di Primiero.

The village of Fiera di Primiero goes back to the year 1400, when the Primiero valley was swept up into the Austrian Empire, prompting an economic boom and surge in the population, which was later boosted by the area’s many copper, silver and iron ore mines. It’s also known as the birthplace of the engineer Luigi Negrelli who designed the Suez Canal.

We cruised through the old town, nodding at the history, as we headed to the third and final feed station, where we refilled our bottles and ate some fruit before joining the bike path alongside the Cismon stream.

We were about to start the third and final climb, which on paper looks like the longest and hardest of the day - 13 kms with 880 metres of climbing. From the bike path we turned onto another immaculate gravel track that climbed inexorably up the eastern side of the Pale di San Martino. Unlike the day’s earlier climbs, this one skipped the hairpins in favour of the most direct line. The toughest section came about halfway up before we swung across the rope bridge over the Val delle Vecia river below. The bridge links the bike path with the Laste forest road that would escort us up the valley to the mouth of the Val di Roda. From there, we headed back into San Martino di Castrozza, amazed at how well the day had gone.

When it comes to evaluating how an event has gone, you have to consider the location, the organisation, the route choice, and all the rest. In the case of the Mythos Alpine Gravel, there’s nothing else to say but ‘wow’. The location was breath-taking, the route was one of the most beautiful I’ve ever ridden, and the organisation was impeccable. The blue skies and great company rounded it off perfectly.

See you there next year!

If you would like to try out the route for yourselves, you can find the green route here and the black route here.