Keen London cyclists - you know, the kind who wander around in lycra and silly caps - spend an awful lot of time going round in circles. Laps - of Regent’s Park or Richmond Park, more often than not - are a mind-numbingly dull yet inescapable part of the capital’s two-wheeled culture. One Wednesday last summer, however, while my cycling buddies were dodging traffic on Regent’s Park’s Outer Circle, I was discovering the most beautiful lap in the world.
It’s around 30 miles in length, so just one or two turns should keep you happy. But it offers the chance to circumnavigate a colossal massif of jagged limestone peaks and impossibly green pastures, cross four mountain passes (three of which are higher than 2,000 metres), and tackle almost 100 adrenaline-pumping hairpins – all before lunch.
As you’ve no doubt guessed, this gem is not found in south-east England, nor even Britain, but Italy’s Dolomites. It is the Sellaronda, a lap of such spectacular beauty that it’s hard to believe so few of my fellow cyclists have even heard of it, let alone sampled its joys.
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