Italy (all)

Dieter flies back to Munich from South America, and jumps without waiting on his bike to conquer the Alps. It is not going to be easy...

This website is a diary of a first attempt at cycle touring in Italy (spring 2000) which included visits to 5 top Serie A football games on route between Rome and Milan. Very much inspired by reading other peoples bike tours [...] I had soon purchased my bike and panniers and had my maps out planning my first cycle tour which would combine my two main interests of football and cycling.

My trip began watching the Rome derby and then ended in Milan to see Inter Milan play Juventus in the derby of Italy. Cycling nearly 800km inbetween these two cities I managed to take in the hills of Tuscany, Pisa, the Ligure coastline, Lake Garda and Lake Como while also visiting 3 other top football games watching the teams of Juventus, Palma, AC Milan and Fiorentina.

Coraggioso, intoned the bar-keep as he pressed two steins of beer to a couple of very hot American cyclists escaping the gaudy sun over the Lombardy plain. It was a word (courageous) we heard often on our three-week bicycle jaunt from the French- Italian border on the Riviera to Venice on the Adriatic.

Lucia comes from Brazil to have a taste of cycling, both on-road and off-road, in Italy. She first visits Lake Garda, one of the great areas for mountain biking in Trentino, very popular with German bikers, and rides among others one of the Tremalzo trails. She then moves to Tuscany, and visits places like San Gimignano, Siena, and Volterra. After an intense cycling day, she treats herself quite rightly to the delights of Tuscan cuisine... In August 1997 Lucia added sections on the Amalfitan Coast and Sardinia.

26 July 1996 from 09:00 to 15:30 - Km 90.

Our tour started at the Venezia airport. Naturally the first destination was Venice downtown. It is somewhat hard to find the two-kilometer bridge that connects old Venice with Mestre, we had to use some very congested freeway-like bridges and roads. In Venice, no bicycles or cars are allowed (or practical), the road ends at Piazzale Roma. To park the bicycles, make a U-turn when reaching the piazza and ride down a steep driveway just before the first of the two small bridges, right across from the parking garage building. Then walk back to the piazza and take the vaporetto (shuttle boat) #82 north (south is much more scenic but requires switching boats at San Marco) until the Zitelle station, which is one block south of a very pleasant youth hostel.

Dieter flies back to Munich from South America, and jumps without waiting on his bike to conquer the Alps. It is not going to be easy...

Dieter flies back to Munich from South America, and jumps without waiting on his bike to conquer the Alps. It is not going to be easy...

This 1996 trip through Italy was our second 1,000 mile bicycle tour. Our first 1,000 mile cycling trip was in Ireland the summer before. Italy proved to be a delightful challenge. We accomplished one goal, which was to crack the myth that Southern Italy was not a good place to travel, especially by bicycle, something we repeatedly heard in California. Our second goal was more nebulous. We knew we would ride 1,000 miles, but we weren't positive which route we would take. As you will see, the route evolved as we went along. Our experiences were all positive, and the people we met were extremely helpful and hospitable. One important feature of our trip was that I took the time to learn some basic Italian (including grammar) beyond phrasebook dialogue. It made all the difference in the world, because people knew we were trying to speak their language and they appreciated and respected that very much.

Von Bozen nach La Spezia auf der Straße.

A report of a 50/100/200km event (pick your own) in the Italian Dolomites, by Sheila Simpson. Sheila is Editor of Arrivee, the magazine of Audax UK, the Long Distance Cyclists' Association in the UK.

Milosz describes six itineraries in this prime cycling territory. The text is accompanied (off-line, with inline thumbnails) by some gorgeous pictures.

A ride from Chioggia to Venice and beyond, along the tiny strip of land that separates the sea from the Laguna. A bicycle ride is one of the best ways to exprience this magical terrain...

Mt. Marmolada is in the central Alps. Before I first went there I had this mental image of snow-capped peaks and vertical cliffs that could not possibly allow any reasonable bicycle riding. I found this is wrong, it's in fact fairly easy - if exhausting - to ride in the Alps because all the roads and trails avoid the really steep mountains and remain in the valleys and lower and less steep mountains. Riding in the Alps means rarely riding on either level or really steep roads, 4 or 5% is typical but it can reach 10% or more in places. Roads usually wind their way up or down in serpentines. I live in Berlin, which has only very minor hills, and I am a poor climber, but I found that I can manage a pass or two a day in the Alps without too many problems. The reward of the trouble is awesome scenery.

Wayne rides through France, and has a look at the Tour on the way.

From Arrivèe On-Line, Audax UK's quarterly magazine.

A certain Frenchman, Georges Rossini of Thonon on Lake Geneva, has set up four testing Alpine routes, or 'Raids':

• Randonnee Alpine - Thonon to Antibes, 740km and 43 cols through the French Alps.
• Randonnee Alpine - Thonon to Trieste, 1180km and 41 cols through the Swiss and Italian Alps and Dolomites.
• Randonnee Prealpine - Thonon to Antibes, 894km and 47 cols through the French Alps.
• Randonnee Prealpine - Thonon to Venice, 1209km and 69 cols through the Italian Alps and Lakes.

Wayne rides through France, and has a look at the Tour on the way.

A gorgeous trip through the Alps, over several passes: Simplon, Furka, Oberalp, Wolfgang, Fluela, Ofen, Stelvio, Mortirolo, Tonale, Mendola, Sella, Fedaia, Gardena, Campolongo and Pordoi. Don't miss this great story!

[...] I saw three bikes being loaded onto the conveyor...two of them were in boxes that looked different than the ones I had so carefully reinforced and packaged back home. Sure enough, my bike and Eric's had suffered terminal damage to our front wheels, and Eric's front pannier racks had been damaged badly. How were they able even to start this tour? Read on!

This is an older version without pictures; the main one is no longer available on the net.

From Arrivèe On-Line, Audax UK's quarterly magazine.

A certain Frenchman, Georges Rossini of Thonon on Lake Geneva, has set up four testing Alpine routes, or 'Raids':

• Randonnee Alpine - Thonon to Antibes, 740km and 43 cols through the French Alps.
• Randonnee Alpine - Thonon to Trieste, 1180km and 41 cols through the Swiss and Italian Alps and Dolomites.
• Randonnee Prealpine - Thonon to Antibes, 894km and 47 cols through the French Alps.
• Randonnee Prealpine - Thonon to Venice, 1209km and 69 cols through the Italian Alps and Lakes.

Most of the places we stayed were walled medieval towns, each with histories dating back centuries, and each with its own identity and flavor. One such city was Volterra. Perched on a high plateau, Volterra has been occupied since prehistoric times because of its strategic location. [...] The fields of colorful spring wildflowers, flowed up to the vineyards, which were just starting to spread their new spring growth across the hills, while roves of olive trees added their own unique presence to the landscape. Tall, stately spires of Italian cypress appeared to march across every distant ridge, usually leading to a small farm or a large villa. As we finally entered the ancient gates of the city, we collapsed in the shadows on a cool stone bench.

There are two major roads out of Riva, towards Monte Brione to the east, and south towards Monte Tremalzo and others. Monte Brione is good for short but difficult tours; this hill is roughly elliptic, with the west side nearly on level with the lake and the east end sloping up and then dropping sharply. It looks like a large cylinder buried at an angle. There is a Worldcup trail along the steep east edge and plenty of single trails. A road leads up and ends at a large bunker near the top. Monte Brione was crowded with mountainbikers when we were there, it has terrain for everybody.

One day: 6 September 1994 from 6:30 to 20:00. Chiasso-Airolo by train then: Airolo - Nufenenpass - Ulrichen - Briga - Simplonpass - Domodossola Domodossola-Vergiate by train then: Vergiate - Azzate - Vedano Olona Olgiate Comasco - Drezzo - Pedrinate - Chiasso Km 180 (only cycling). Find more of Marco Buffa's tour reports here.

1367 km in 13 days with a vertical height gain of 11,165 m with two ``rest'' days in the middle on a cycling trip from Elba to Glashuetten.

One day: Tour 21 July 1994 from 8:00 to 20:20. Pontresina - Zernez - Ofenpass - S. Maria - Umbrailpass - Bormio - Passo Foscagno - Passo Eira - Livigno - Forcola - Bernina - Pontresina, Km 180. Find more of Marco Buffa's tour reports here.

In mid-September 1993, a group of five Digital employees set out to ride from Geneva to Venice The planned route was 800km, and had > 10,000 metres of climbing, with pre-arranged hotel bookings at strategic points.

An excellent report, also from a technical point of view.

An excellent report, also from a technical point of view. Die ``Gardasee-Tour'' war meine erste größere 'Radwanderung', die ich mit Peter Steinlehner unternommen habe. Damals gingen wir in die 11. Klasse vom Gymnasium Vaterstetten und starteten uzu dieser Transalp-Tour, auf die wir uns schon lange gefreut hatten. [Diese] euphorische Tourenbeschreibung ist in den Tagen nach dieser Tour entstanden

Tour 30 July 1991 from 7:30 to 21:00. Breno - Edolo - Passo Tonale - Dimaro - Campo Carlo Magno - Lodrone - Riccomassimmo - Bagolino - Passo Croce Domini - Breno, Km 213.

Yes, we do have the Alps in Italy. But the Appennino has its own fascination, and nothing better than this report can bring it out.

After my first ride through the Alps the previous year, I had the opportunity to go with a friend, Jobst Brandt, who had been riding in Europe since 1959. We would brave fallout from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant meltdown in Russia. A plume of radioactive dust blew over the Alps while we were there, so here's my glowing report.

The Alps have long been a summer and winter playground for vacationers around the world. They ski, they hike, they ride bikes. What better venue for the Tour de France than the Alps? After many years of reading, seeing, and dreaming, I had an opportunity to see Europe by bike. As a free-lance writer working part-time at Palo Alto Bicycles, I had no commitments. It was 1985. Greg LeMond had nearly won the Tour de France and was competing in the World Championships in Italy. I decided to go see him race. A friend who was familiar with riding in Europe gave valuable advice.

From June 27 through July 19 [2000] AEDP (Project of Development Education of SOROS Albania) will provide 60-70 people selected from Albania, the Balkans, and the rest of the world with an intense learning experience in Italy and Albania. The tour will promote friendship and understanding between people from a wide variety of backgrounds and demonstrate that ALBANIA is Opening Up to the World.
Participants will bicycle from Rome to Venice in Italy, through Southern Albania and Northern Greece. They will receive guided tours at various stops along the away. A film crew will accompany the trip to produce a video which each participant is required to present in 5 schools upon their return after the end of the trip.

Ogni descrizione, parola, aggettivo sulla bellezza dell' itinerario sarebbe superflua, essendo questi paesaggi alpini i più fotografati al mondo; mi limiterò solamente a consigliarlo ad un cicloturista allenato!

Welcome to the first "wired" human-powered (bicycle), land-bound circumnavigation of the Mediterranean Sea. The team have concluded their journey, but they are continuing to add reports to this site.