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Riding over the Sella Loop is a religeous pilgremage of
sorts for some cyclists. This loop is made up of four
passes, this one, Groedner Joch (pso Gardena), pso
Campalongo and Pordoi Joch. And pilgrimages are not solitary
experiences but are done in large groups. On my ride I
encountred support vans for cycle tourists from Holland,
lots of racers and other single mtb tourers like myself. But
the number of cyclists still pales in comparisson to the
masses of tour busses and swarms of motorcycles that make
this loop.
When comparing the four passes of this loop, the name sake
is also the highest of the four, but only by several meters
depending on the source, putting it at roughly equal height
with Pordoi Joch. The
scenery around the Sella Joch is the most surrealistic and
rocky of the four.
Approaches
From South. Immediately after leaving the
immaculately illustrated houses of Canazei behind, 13 forested
switchbacks climb to the junction with Pordoi Joch. Staying left
here, the road heads for a straight wall in the Sella group. The
pass can be seen from a long distance down the approach. When it
comes into view, and appears like a precarious slot between
limestone teeth, three incisors to the left, the highest being
the middle Sasso di Levante (3114m). To the right is the massive
block that makes up the Sella Group. The top of the pass
is a small, crowded spot, where a hotel, a souvenir shop,
usually a parked bus, motorcycles and cars mill about. You could
say, in summer it's as busy as a subway station up here. From North. (described downwards). The road descends,
largely in big radius curves between mountains that resemble
large discs made of limestone, stuck in the ground. The bottom
slopes are cut with ski lifts and runs, wherever there's the
slightest room for one, giving the landscape a sort of dissected
look at the bottom.
pic 3 above taken in Canazei, pics 2 and 4: southern aproach,
pic 3: just north of summit
Dayride with this point as highest summit: Sella Joch , Groedner
Joch , Pso di Pordoi , Pso
di Campalongo : A first loop ride over the Sella Group
passes Fontanac > Canazei > Sella Joch > Groedner
Joch > pso di Campalongo > pso di Pordoi > back to
Fontanac: 45 miles with 6900ft of climbing in 5:0 hours (VDO
MC1.0 m4:9.6.4). The last day with different start and end points of this Extended
Tour is on page: Karer Pass
back to Cycling
Passes in Europe 
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