Croce d’Aune
Mountain pass in the Dolomites between Aune and Pedavena, province of Belluno. See Dolomites.
At a glance
| Source | Author | Role | In one line |
|---|---|---|---|
| It’s All About the Bike | Robert Penn | subject | Where Tullio Campagnolo’s frozen fingers led, in the legend, to the quick-release skewer. |
It’s All About the Bike — Robert Penn (2010)
Source: It’s All About the Bike · Readwise highlight
When Tullio reached the top of the Croce d’Aune pass in the Dolomites north of Vicenza, he was leading the race.
- Role: subject
- In the book: In chapter 3, Penn tells the Campagnolo origin story. Leading the Gran Premio della Vittoria in freezing weather in November 1927 (Penn notes that the dates differ between accounts), Tullio Campagnolo has to flip his rear wheel at the top of the pass and is overtaken while his frozen fingers fumble the wing nuts. He supposedly vows to change the rear, and the quick-release skewer, patented in 1930, follows.
- Why it matters: It is the founding anecdote of the company whose groupset Penn buys in Vicenza, told second-hand; Penn never goes to the pass. The bitter mountain weather is the whole point of the story.