Arabba is a small village in the Livinallongo valley, at about sixteen hundred metres, and for a motorcyclist it is one of the best places in the Dolomites to sleep. It lies at the foot of the Pordoi, Campolongo and Falzarego passes, close enough to the Marmolada, the highest peak in the range at about 3,340 metres, to see the glacier on a clear day. Cable cars climb from the village in winter and summer, the slopes behind are green with meadows and grazing cows, and when the day-trippers leave the passes in the evening, the place settles into quiet.
The culture here is Ladin, a Romance language descended from the Latin spoken in the Alps, and you will see bilingual signs and hear it in the shops. Livinallongo, or Fodóm in Ladin, was part of Tyrol until 1918, and the mountains around were the front line in the First World War, when Austrian and Italian troops fought across the peaks and tunnelled into the rock. The Col di Lana, nearby, was mined and blown up in 1916. Many of the trenches and tunnels can still be walked, and the old forts and shelters are scattered across the passes.
The roads out of Arabba make this a great base. Pordoi climbs in a long chain of hairpins toward the Sella massif, with the pass at about 2,240 metres. Campolongo brings you down toward Corvara, and Falzarego climbs toward Cortina. The surface is good, the bends are plentiful and well engineered, and the views of the pale, jagged rock are the main distraction. Go early, because by ten the roads are busy with cars, buses and cyclists. In summer, there are car-free days on parts of the Sella Ronda, so check the calendar. Passes close in winter, usually from late October to May, so plan your season, and carry warm layers because the weather changes quickly.
Practical matters are simple enough. Arabba has hotels, guesthouses and restaurants, serving polenta, venison, cheese dumplings and good local wine. Cortina d'Ampezzo, about twenty kilometres away, is the largest nearby, with several stations.
Park the bike, walk to the edge of the village, and watch the light go pink on the rock.