They are gone. Gone! A moment ago, the Ledro Valley was still teeming with mountain bikers. It was as if some kind of funfair race was taking place there. But as soon as we pass the Tremalzo junction behind Lago dell'Ampola, there are no more bikers. The road once again belongs to cars and motorcyclists alone. Only a few lycra-wearers with clean-shaven legs crank along the shady state road through the Palvico Gorge Giro d'Italia. You start to doubt your own tour planning a little. Of course, Lake Garda has the classic bonus, but the fact that mountain bike tourism seems to have been cut off with scissors just twenty kilometres to the west is surprising.
One of the Seven Summits for mountain bikers in the Alps
The tours around Lake Idro and through the valleys to the north of it, the Judicaria, can't be the reason. After all, the "136-Kehren-Trail" was discovered on Monte Stino years ago. Touring author Carsten Schymik even named the Stino summit one of the "7 Bike Summits of the Alps" in his latest book. Whether the mountain with its 1467 metres is really one of the "highest bikeable mountains in the Alps" is perhaps debatable. But if a Schymik can make such a claim, there must be something to it? Nevertheless, we can't spot a single bike at the campsite on the northern shore of Lake Idro. The late summer sky above our heads is clear as a whistle, with only the haze of the last foothills of the Alps slowly drifting over the southern shore. To the right and left, Monte Stino and Monte Breda are reflected in the crystal-clear surface of the lake. Not the slightest wave ripples across the water. I turn round again to be on the safe side: Really, not a single mountain biker in this magnificent setting? Well, that's fine with us. Then we'll just enjoy the trails here on our own.
The GPS data for the BIKE tours on Lake Idro:
The GPS data
of the first two tours
can be found below as a free download. We link you to the GPS data for tours 3 to 5 on the author's website.
- Tour 1: 136-Tornanti-Trail / 28.7 km / 1590 m elevation gain / 4:15 h
- Tour 2: Forte Cima Ora / 28.4 km / 1160 m elevation gain / 3:45 h
- Tour 3:
Monte Brealone / 40.5 km / 1690 m elevation gain / 5:30 hours
- Tour 4:
Nozzolo Piccolo / 38.1 km / 1790 m elevation gain / 5:30 hours
- Tour 5:
Dosso dei Morti / 25.7 km / 1300 m elevation gain / 3:45 hours
You can read the detailed travel article with roadbooks and GPS data from BIKE 9/2014 in the BIKE app (iTunes and Google Play) or download the issue from the DK shop reorder:
