Trip of Garda Lake in Mountain Bike

Period: summer 2003; km legs: ashamed for too many and too few to boast; stoti mountain bike: Always ingrassata chain; equipment: tents with bags; experiences of revolutions "in stages" in complete self, a, the only known experience past: magnificent; motivation in recurrence: high; time available: very little indeed, just one week.<br />With these assumptions we decide to remain in the Bel Paese, going to ride around Lake Garda. We have already been years ago, in the classical as tourists, but never with the mountain bike. From the morphological point of view, only our information and our memories were just sufficient to plan the stages are not too expensive (about 50km a day), leaving ample space to support what many in the particular city located on the coast of the lake. The physical form and especially the nebulous knowledge of the streets, led us to establish immediately a day dedicated to the dolce far niente. E 'una giornata "buffer" which is also good when traveling shorter serves to relax or recover the ground lost the day before, and is, in practice, a way to provide for contingencies (if I pass the time).

 

Peschiera - Moniga

We start from <strong>Peschiera del Gardastrong>, whose high walls and bastions and surrounded by deep ditches, giving it an imposing and austere appearance. Parking the car near a port, get the bike over and we load the luggage. These, with their 10kg (tent, sleeping bag, clothes, water, bike repair tools ...) contribute to a 23 kg mass to move. On paper, most definitely, but as we said before leaving &quot;after having taken the cruise speed, keep it child's play&quot; ... is, in plain and in theory ... basta un po 'rise and begin to feel the discomfort of sweat that fronted gutter.
Now we head towards our first stop: <strong>Monigastrong>. Before we get the chance to stop in Sirmione and Desenzano del Garda and Padenghe. The peninsula of Sirmione stretches for about 4 km from the south in the waters of the lake and is very busy for the spa and the wonderful landscape. Between a luxuriant vegetation of olive trees, cypresses, laurels and magnolias rose three hills: Cortine, Mavino and Grotte di Catullo. The latter houses the archaeological area of an ancient Roman palace.
After a few kilometers of road is not too demanding, the small town of Sirmione offers us a typical port and a tranquil lake.
Plant our tents in the camp &quot;Piantelle&quot; very well supplied, on the coast of the lake.

Moniga - Gargnano

After a few kilometers from the start we are already immersed in a beautiful landscape full of olive trees,
of morainic hills and vineyards. Fortunately, the spirit with which we dealt with this trip, exquisitely tourism allows us to observe the landscape around us, where the island of Garda is worth a few minutes of admiration. The area has the appearance of being very relaxed (certainly in a different context from this trip) with broad bays, great beaches and picturesque headlands.
We are coming to Sal&242;, lying at the foot of Mount St. Bartholomew. Right time to admire the lake start to <strong>Gargnanostrong>. The long stop in Sal&242; us to a delay compared to our roadmap, we have established with the aim of intensifying the cycling in the early hours of the morning. Reached up to Gardone, the road begins to take on the most serious point: that of the climb, a slow but steady climb, which should lead us to the next campsite, place us not too well known. After the call to the operator of hotels, our doubts are clarified by a precise and detailed description of the way forward ... we leave the coast of the lake and go back one hundred meters. &quot;Four or five turns and you're there&quot; there, &quot;said the manager, gentilissimo who probably had not realized that we were cycling and with a ballast of a dozen kilos. View photos of this route are not sufficient or a few lines to describe the hardness of this part or to illustrate the magnificent landscape that surrounds and overlooks the lake, undisputed protagonist of our trip.
The goal for tomorrow is clearly visible from the restaurant where dinner: <strong>Malcesinestrong>, located on the eastern shore of the lake in front of us.

Gargnano - Malcesine

Certainly the longest stage, since already &quot;critical&quot; because of the brakes that we use with care in the descent the day before that made us suffer. Cut back on the road that surrounds the lake, with its gentle but inexorable climb, which will accompany us up to Riva del Garda. These are the most beautiful km from a natural, but the most dangerous, due to a road too narrow and too busy, at times made for some dark tunnel that hides the view of motorists. But perhaps these are the characteristics that make it so unique Gardesana the West (is the name of the road we are traveling).
The village of Limone is described as about books and travel guides: distinctive and picturesque, behind high walls of rock.
Passed Riva del Garda with its fortress of the XII century, it helped catapult the road that we become a favorable (ie downhill) to Torbole. The village lies at the foot of the hill of Castel Pende and, thanks to its mild climate, there are palm trees, oleanders and olive trees. A brief stop is a must, when the lake is tinged fluorescent color of the sails of windsurfers and sky-surfing. It 'a unique, facilitated by an increasingly strong wind and constant. Here we meet some cyclists that illustrate some of the route area, full of trails for outdoor enthusiasts of fat wheels. One of the most frequented by bikers in the area is the Mte Baldo, to which we head, with an eye on respect and admiration towards the lake on our left. The road signs show us that we arrived at <strong>Malcesinestrong>. Turn left and enter the camp that we will host for the next two nights. Do not book in advance would have cost us dearly: The camp is literally full. From how we were greeted by the owners, very friendly and helpful, we were probably the only two Italians among many Germans.
Advantage of the strong advance that we have the roadmap to go at once to admire the lake from a fantastic place: the top of Mt Baldo. We need to do some five kilometers to reach the cable car station. The rise is very fast. Behind us the Scaliger castle of the XIII century is getting smaller. Again at the back, wrapped in the colors of the sunset. A performance that deserves to be immortalized in a photograph.
On top of Mt Baldo, from which several paths you can do in mountain biking, the landscape is unique: on one hand, Lake Garda, the other in the Adige Valley, both enriched with hang gliders and paragliders.

Relax in Malcesine

Day dedicated to pure relaxation, the beach from 7.30 to 17.00. Visit the town of <strong>Malcesinestrong>, dinner and good night.

Malcesine - Peschiera

After a day of relaxation, with the vivid memory of the beautiful landscape admired by Mte Baldo, dismantle the tents and start towards the point of departure: Peschiera where, hopefully, we expected our car. Let the coolness of early morning just to make good progress on the ride that brings us immediately to its destination. Our only stop worthy of note took place in Torri del Benaco, beautiful and charming town connected with a ferry service for people and cars (no bike?) To Maderno, on the other side of the lake. To admire the ancient walls and the castle, rebuilt by the Scala in 1383.
We are pedaling fast, perhaps too much to dwell on the beautiful landscape that the site offers. Garda is a town dominated by a fortress, situated in a large bay that ends in the north of the point S. Vigilio. This fortress is located on top of the mountain that dominates the country.
Around noon we enter in Peschiera, where our trip concludes.