Here's a simple question for you. Where is the best mountain biking in Europe? Well, 'best' depends on what floats your boat; sun, singletrack, downhills with chair lifts? However, when I lived in Germany, I posed this question to several biker friends, and always received the same answer - "Lake Garda". I searched through magazines for the answer and it was once again "Lake Garda". I was starting to see a pattern emerging.
Well, my mate Dickie was on a student exchange to Trento, which is close to Lake Garda, in northern Italy. Therefore, I decided to take a few days off work and head on over the Brenner to see what all the fuss was about. The visit also coincided with "BIKE fest" a weekend festival where thousands of German mountain bikers get drunk in a field beside the Lake, then try to ride 80 miles the next day.
On the first day in Italy we made a quick car recce down to Riva, to see the Lake itself, and the bike festival. The first view down into the Arco valley revealed a deep, wide, flat valley, with a 1500m vertical rock face rising straight out of it! Gulp! Little did I know that I would be cycling along that very cliff edge the next day. Riva is also surrounded my more stunning vertical rock, and I wondered how cycling and vertical could possibly go together. We popped into the bike festival, where we saw a few familiar faces; Greg Herbold, Gary Fisher, along with about 5000 other people (most of whom were at the free beer tent).
At the end of the day Dickie decided we should 'ride' up the small hill at the back of his flat. The small hill was a 600m cliff, but he assured me that there was a track "or sorts" leading up there. This is when I discovered, how biking is possible here, and why it is so good. This area was the front line during the First World War, between the Italian and Austrian mountain corps. The hills and cliffs are riddled with military tracks, tunnels and bunkers. The tracks vary from cart width to person width, and all seem to have vertical drops. After half an hour or so of pushing and carrying we arrived at a remarkable wooded plateau bordering the cliff. We both sat on the edge, peering down at the Adige valley in the setting sun. The descent was a taste of what was to come; if you think about the exposure you'll never ride any of it. The potential for killing yourself is disturbingly high.
The next day's ride was decided to be a 'biggy'. I had the 'Moser' guide book of Garda, which is in German only, and provides route cards, guaranteeing that you will not need a map. I always find guide book routes too easy, so I selected a 'very hard' grade: Monte Casale. Big mistake.
We set off with just the route cards, into a nondescript Italian forest, with no idea where we were headed, except that it was 'very hard'. The forest tracks climbed incessantly, until we branched off onto some pleasant singletrack. Suddenly as Dickie rode through the forest ahead of me, he unexpected threw his bike to the ground and let out an uncontrollable string of expletives! I rushed up to him, wondering if he'd been bitten by a snake. The trees fell away in a 1000m pure vertical plunge to the valley far below, we were at the edge of the cliff we had seen yesterday, and Dickie had almost ridden over it! The singletrack then proceeded to wind its way precariously along the edge for a couple of kilometres, before climbing up to the summit of Monte Casale at 1632m.
The summit is as lush as a bowling green, and a refuge is situated nearby. The only food I could ask for in Italian was pasta, which was good, as that seemed to be the only dish on the menu.
There then follows a 1000m zigzag descent and a long traverse back to the car. After about 8 hours of riding Dickie and I simply lay down in an alpine meadow and decided that we may as well die here, as we simply couldn't make it back to the car. The car was actually about 100m around the corner, so we did eventually make it. Remember that 'very hard' sometimes means 'very hard'.
During the rest of the trip we rode a 'moderate' route which dropped 600m straight down to the finish in the last 2km, and an 'easy' which had a mountain bike 'proof' fence along the exposed cliff edges!
The highlight of the whole trip was a visit to the infamous 'Strada della Galleria' on Pasubio mountain. This is reputed to be the best mountain bike ride in Europe, but before I go any further I must stress that it is no longer open to bikes. A series of fatalities led to it being closed (with a big iron gate), and on summer weekends a policeman collects the £80 fine at the bottom.
The route is a 7km mule track, along a cliff edge. It loses 1000m in height and passes through 52 tunnels on route; the tunnels are unlit, and rough-hewn from rock. At one point the track balances along a 1m wide ledge on a 1500m high cliff. At another point the track enters a pinnacle, performs seven spirals within the pinnacle and emerges at the base.
Although the route is now closed, a visit on foot is a must. By cycling to the Rifugio Papa, you can visit the dramatic upper stages of the Strada Galleria on foot, before riding back via the safer (saner?) track on the other side of the ridge.
In summary, I have no doubt that this area offers the best trails in Europe. Unfortunately none of the routes are way marked, and no English language guide exists for the area, meaning that you must rely on good map reading as a means to explore the area. See you there!
Last Updated 05-09-2000
You can contact me at James@OffroadAdventures-Online.co.uk
To return Home click here: www.OffroadAdventures-Online.co.uk
All pages and content Copyright © 1999 - 2001 James Murnaghan or their respective authors. All rights reserved.
No content of this web-site may be used in whole or in part, without the express permission of The Editor.