“Look now at out mountain as thousands of Venice tourists behold it for one fleeting moment, when shortly below Pontebba the Dogna valley opens to their left. After Dogna station, the train roars out of the tunnel on to the famous viaduct. the northern valley wall draws suddenly back, and at one glance you survey the whole seven thousand feet of the western side; its narrow side, but with what an overwhelming store of beauty! […] Everyone rushes to the carriage windows, What can it be? But already the valley wall closes in to the south, the train thunders through tunnels and galleries, and the giant of Dogna is gone for ever.” (Julius Kugy, “Alpine Pilgrimage“).

Nowadays, there is no train passing through past valley walls on that viaduct and through the tunnels, but the Montasio, the king of the Julian Alps, is still there and there are still travellers on that railroad, but passing us on bicycles along the “most beautiful cycles in the world”, as I like to define the  Alpe Adria Cycle Trail. When you arrive at Dogna, if you get off Pontebba, stop for a moment on the viaduct just past the tunnel and look to your left: you will love that vision so much that you cannot help turn off the cycle trail and pedal along up the Val Dogna.

It is a long (18 km) uphill pedal but pleasant; do it a couple of hours before sunset and you will enjoy a wonderfully warm light that illuminates the Montasio. The road passes through villages with names that seem to come out of fairy tales: Chiuot di Puppe, Chiout Zucuin, Mincigos. You will find yourself unable to lower your eyes, because you will be constantly attracted to the vision of the titan of Dogna that is slowly coming closer.

Along the way you will find several remains from the Great War: evident mule tracks that criss-cross the asphalt every so often, tunnels, barracks, all well explained by the many noticeboards bearing photographs of the time.

Beyond the halfway point there is a long stretch on the flat—about 4km—which will allow you to gather your energy to face the last 5 km, which are the toughest (slopes of 10-11%). A series of very panoramic bends will give you a quick height gain and thus you reach Sella Sompdogna, the arrival point at 1392 m. It is vital to have lights as you have to cycle through four poorly illuminated tunnels.

There are plenty of places to stop off for refreshments and you can also sleep in the valley’s malghe shelters, or you can easily reach the Grego mountain (run by the Italian Alpine Club) along a smooth forest trail through the woods. It is five minutes from Sella Sompdogna, and offers a splendid panoramic view over the Val Saisera, as well as food, drinks and a place to sleep.