Monte Pelmo is the mountain that looks like a throne. Its huge limestone mass, rising to 3,168 metres, has two summits linked by a great curved basin, and the people of the Cadore call it the Caregon del Padreterno, the armchair of God. It stands alone between the valleys of the Boite and the Fiorentina, and in 1857 it became the first major Dolomite peak to be climbed, by the Irish naturalist John Ball. Across the valley, the jagged towers of the Croda da Lago rise above the little Lago Federa, and the two together form one of the components of the Dolomites World Heritage site.
The area is wonderful for walking, but for riders it is pure joy. The Passo Giau, at 2,236 metres, links Selva di Cadore with the road near Cortina d'Ampezzo, and it is one of the finest passes in the Dolomites: a long sequence of hairpins climbing through larch forest to open meadows, with the Cinque Torri, the Nuvolau and the Tofane all around the summit. The Passo Staulanza, lower and gentler, runs past the foot of the Pelmo from Selva towards Zoldo, with the north face of the mountain looming over the road. Both are busy on fine summer weekends, with cyclists, cars and plenty of other bikes, so the early morning is the time to ride them. Snow can linger near the tops into June and come back in October.
Selva di Cadore is a small village with old wooden barns, and on a boulder below the Pelmetto, the smaller neighbour of the Pelmo, footprints of dinosaurs from more than two hundred million years ago were found in 1985; a cast is displayed in the village museum along with a much older story, the remains of a Mesolithic hunter found at Mondeval, not far away.
For fuel, Cortina d'Ampezzo is the obvious choice, as are Caprile and Alleghe to the south-west; the high villages may have little or nothing. Rifugi on the passes serve proper mountain food: canederli, polenta with mushrooms or cheese, and strudel. Be prepared for weather: afternoon thunderstorms are common in summer, and temperatures at the passes can be fifteen degrees lower than in the valleys, so pack a warm layer even on a hot day.