Details:
Italy and Europe offer many cyclepaths that can be used for travelling, and today I was very fortunate to ride on a mostly flat path along the Adige Valley, surrounded by mountains, rivers and nature. I was even more fortunate to cycle with Marina, and Italian who I met shortly after leaving Trento. As she was headed to Lago di Guarda, and on a road bike, I tried my best to keep up with her so we could ride together. And it was worth it. It was the second time I had company during the trip and the first time with an italian, which showed my the way around the bike paths (this meant I didn´t get lost this time).
The first part of the ride is very easy and simple (if you follow the bike path signs, as I didn´t): 65km of really nice bike path to Trento, which is a very interesting city. Downtown is very charming, and as it is situated in between two mountains, it seems that the suburbs are up in the mountains..which must be a great place to live....and ride.
The second part is on the continuation of the Adige Valley bike path, and the farther south I went, the closer and prettier were the mountains. From Mori, there are some not very well marked bike paths that take you to Lago di Guarda, and this is the toughest climb (but not really tough). There are several beaches around Lago di Guarda.
The last part is cycling along the Lago di Guarda, which seemed to have its best part towards the North, near Torbole. Closer to Peschiera del Guarda, for a moment I felt I was in the USA, as there is a town name "Gardaland" which has several theme parks, of American related.
Peschiera is a cute town, very small and offers nice places to eat and walk around. It was not my favorite area, but it seemed to be on the best places for an overnight stay.
Short and to the point:
- Cyclepath along the Adige Valley, which connects from Mori to Torbole (about 115km)
- Mostly slow paced two-way street along the Lago di Guarda coast, with some cyclepath made for MTB (about 63km)
- Well marked from Bolzano to Mori, but need to pay close attention to the signs and keep an eye on a map (ideally a gpx file).
- Very flat until Mori, with most of the climbing coming just before arriving at Lago di Guarda; some climbing around Lado di Guarda, but nothing steep.
- Lots of head wind from Mori > Lago de Guarda and along Lago di Guarda
- Lago di Guarda is a great place for water sports. Many places around offer: Kite surf, wind surf (never seen so many wind surf and sailboats before), SUP, waterski, kayak and other water related activities.
- Did I mention it is very windy? Very, very windy, reminded my of Chicago...
- I saw more cyclist around Lago di Guarda today than I had seed all 10 days combined.
Overview:
Total time riding: 8:37h
Total time travelling: 9:15h
Total Ascent: 468 meters
Total distance: 178.1km
Cities ridden through:
- Trento, Mori, Torbole + many cities along Lago di Guarda
Map:
- https://www.strava.com/activities/761886327
Photos:
