We woke up with sore legs, but still marvelling at the amazing experience of yesterday. We were also terribly thirsty and pretty much out of water, so no coffee! We ate some peanuts and raisins - we were also running a bit low on food. The sun was shining as we packed down the tent and got our bikes back on the road. We knew there was a water fountain part way up the climb to the Pordoi Pass so off we went. The morning was quiet and we reminisced as we climbed. The water fountain wasn't far up and it meant we could also wash up properly from last night's dinner - remnants of risotto stick after a night in a pan :/. After drinking our weight in water we set off again to complete the climb.

The view was of course beautiful at the top. We found plenty of cars and buses at the top, not the thousands of cyclists the day before. Here we stopped to make coffee and soak in our last views of the Val Di Fassa for a long time.

Our way to Cortina took us back to Arabba on the long descent. A bus was slowing things down a bit at times. We also passed a motorcyclist who had dropped his bike on one of the tight hairpins. We stopped to help but his friend was already there getting the bike up.

Our next climb out of Arabba was long and slow with gentle gradients. It was slowed down even further by the amount of rubbish we managed to pick up along the way. Heather introduced some small sprints to mix things up and to attempt to increase our anaerobic workout! Barney can thank the Garmin watch he got her for suggesting she wasn't working her heart hard enough.

At Passo Falzarego we treated ourselves to an ice cream and Fanta. Forests lined the slopes until near the top when the rocky expanse of the pass allowed a clear view across the valleys. Our selfies at the sign were generally quite rubbish!

The descent down to Cortina was incredible! A completely new view opened up in front of us. We stopped to take some photos where the cars couldn't pull over - another win for cycling. At the bottom we looked for food. As it was Sunday we didn't have any hope of a shop but we thought maybe a take away pizza? By this point we hadn't eaten a great deal. Heather sat on the steps in front of Fendi while Barney went on a recce. The hopes of eating pizza in front of Fendi were dashed... No one was serving until 1800. Luckily a pasticceria was open so we grabbed a couple of slices of "pizza" and a pastry - and ate them in the bus stop, not quite the glamour we hoped for.

To Barney's slight dismay, though he hid it well, we began to climb once again, this time towards Passo Tre Croci. We didn't intend to reach the top, instead looking for a camping spot somewhere along the way. The top could wait for tomorrow! Once again we were running low on water but a restaurant refilled our bottles for us. We could at least cook our pasta for dinner, and maybe even stretch to a morning coffee...