By bicycle to the Passo della Mendola

A road with glamorous history: in 1885 the road from Caldaro and Appiano to the Mendola Pass was finished. Already before 1900 bike and car trips took place on this panoramic route. Until the end of the Eighties, 40 motor racings happened, which conduced to the legendary reputation of this road. Nowadays, however, every year the Mendola Pass Cycle Day is organised.

We start in Caldaro, where we cycle along the Via Europa road, passing the component localities of Sant'Antonio and San Nicolò. At the Kalterer Höhe tavern (can be well used for the first rest) we reach the actual Mendola State Road, which leads from Bolzano via Appiano to the top of the mountain pass. And already here the u-turns start, we are now near Castel Masaccio and drive through a mixed forest. A nearly straight section in southerly direction follows, we cross the 1,000 metres-bench mark and pass the so-called Tumortal valley. Here, at the steep cliff walls, the road becomes closer and we have a great view from Lake Caldaro to the Dolomites.

Finally a set of close u-turns follows before we reach the top of the pass at 1,350 m a.s.l. This pass height represents a watershed, the administrative border between South Tyrol and Trentino and language border all in one. In the west we see the Val di Non valley, in the east the Valle dell'Adige valley. Souvenir shops, restaurants and a few clothes stores - this is the village on the Passo della Mendola, where also the mountain station of the historic Mendola Funicular is situated. After a relaxing rest with panoramic view we start the downhill ride without any efforts back to Caldaro.

Tips:

• Avoid this tour at temperatures of 30 degrees C and more, as the asphalt and the rocks are increasing the heat on this road, which is very sunny already in the morning!
• Especially on weekends and bank holidays you have a lot of traffic of cars and motorcycles. During the week normally it is much calmer!
• Without being in good physical condition, the uphill tour is hard to manage. Don't overestimate yourself - there are a lot of fantastic bike tours also in the valley, or you take the possibility to go by Mendola Funicular to the mountain top and to do an easy-going MTB tour on the pass!

Author: AT