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Fango Dancing

Stunning mountain trails, bike festivals, food and culture, Italy has plenty on offer for the intrepid mountain biker

as Huw Kingston discovers.

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The Dolomites—rugged, unique and beautiful. Photo: Karl Paratscha

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“Molto fango. Molto fango!” Marco shouted down the hill as he watched me skate backwards down the track. Fango,

the Italian word for mud, was something I was getting used to in the first weeks of a two month trip to Italy. The two of us were doing an Easter reconnaissance of a route we planned to follow with a group of Australians and Kiwis a month later. We’d enjoyed and endured sleet, snow, sun and sweat in what were unseasonably cool conditions for April in Umbria.

But I hadn’t especially come for the fango. Ancient culture, an ever shifting political landscape, Latin temperament, fine food and wine, gorgeous countryside, big mountains… Why wouldn’t you want to mix it all up with some fun and chal-lenging mountain biking?

SouTh Tyrol & BiKe hoTelSAfter we’d finished the recce trip, Mar-

co dropped me with friends in Bolzano in South Tyrol. Hard up against the Austrian border, this German speaking region of northern Italy looks as much to its northern neighbours as it does to its Mediterranean masters to the south. Possessing Germanic efficiency, South Tyrol is one of Italy’s most dynamic and economically successful regions. It’s also blessed with big mountain scenery; home to the soaring rock walls of the Dolo-mites. Thousands of kilometres of paths and tracks wend spectacular and often devious routes—it’s a magnet for walkers and mountain bikers alike.

Cycle tourism in all forms is a big con-tributor to the summer economy and the local government has invested in a huge network of bike paths and waymarking. The smiling face of Sonia greeted me at Hotel Steineggerhof and we were soon joined by her husband Kurt, head chef and head MTB guide. They’ve run this hotel, high above Bolzano, for the past 17 years and the hotel is one of 30 or so making up the network of South Tyrol Bike Hotels. Whilst not catering solely for cyclists, the bike hotels offer a warm welcome and excellent bike facilities. The Steineggerhof has a well-stocked work-shop, indoor bike storage, a bike wash area as well as a fleet of high end MTBs available for hire. But it is the atmos-phere that marks the Steineggerhof out. Kurt loves his riding, taking whatever op-portunity he can to get out of the kitchen. Guided trips are run daily, and if you

want to go it alone, there are maps and/or GPS routes available for download.

The next morning four of us were met at the hotel by Dieter. Whilst Kurt combines cooking with cycling, Dieter marries massage with mountain biking. In our group were Alex, Peter and Eva, all from Germany.

With bikes loaded, Kurt drove us up to 1,400m on a sparkling spring day. With previous week’s snowfall glistening on the Rosengarten peaks, Dieter was still keen to get us up as high as pos-sible. Riding anywhere in the Dolomites means enjoying big ups as well as big downs. Whilst the former can sometimes be mitigated by taking a gondola or two, the hills ultimately can’t be avoided. We climbed through pine forest, ice crunching under wheels, to eventually pop out near a ski resort. Some serious snowbiking tested skills and froze feet as we traversed beneath the incredible rock spires of Rosengarten and across to Carezza Pass where Dieter led us straight to a restaurant for lunch—Kasknocken washed down with a Weizenbier (spinach and cheese dumplings and a beer!). After lunch we ripped into some fast descend-ing singletrack to Carezza Lake with Latemar peaks reflected in the turquoise water. The singletrack continued on paths that contoured around a steep wooded hillside; all going well until Peter, following Germanic culinary tradition, pretzeled his wheel. Fortunately Dieter’s friend Krauti lived in a village 1km

Distance is hard won in the Dolomites, but the spectacular scenery, fine trails and the bike hotels all go

toward making it a must ride destination...

below us. Peter was soon fixed up with a replacement wheel and up, up we went before a fun, fast 600 metre descent back to the hotel.

The following day we were joined by Angelo and Eugenio, two hard smoking Italian brothers living in Germany. Kurt also escaped the heat of the kitchen to join us. We soon split into two groups. Dieter was keen to scare me as much as possible so he led Peter and I down some exposed, tree rooted, slippery tight switchbacks that he handled with aplomb and I didn’t handle at all. Once that was out of the way we were in a beautiful valley riding up toward the Niger Pass. The peaks were clouded in for much of the day with just occasional glimpses of rockfaces in the mist. A steep climb took us up to some grassy alps before some superb singletrack on a well benched trail. The trail headed straight towards huge drops at times but handrails (bike catchers?) had been thoughtfully placed in the most exposed spots. The trail was but a taste of things to come, but first it led straight into the waiting arms of a mountain restaurant.

We were the only ones there until a group of 40 elderly ladies turned up for a lunchtime dancing session. This was an opportunity too good to be missed and gallant mountain bikers took to the floor and into the arms of the ladies. Classic dancing led to classic mountain biking as we retraced our wheel tracks along the benched trail before taking a flowing,

switchbacked trail to the valley bottom far, far below—it put a smile on every-one’s face. The smiles disappeared on the long, steep, 500 metre climb back up toward Steinegg but reappeared out on the terrace of the hotel with beer in hand.

Distance is hard won in the Dolomites, but the spectacular scenery, fine trails and the bike hotels all go toward making it a must ride destination in Italy.

A GermAn BiKe FeSTivAl (in iTAly)

Whilst Riva del Garda is only a couple of hours south of Bolzano, I approached it via a week in the USA. Flying back into Milan airport I was pleased to be amongst fine food after a week of super-sized plastic. Riva sits at the head of Lake Garda, surrounded by the mountains running up to the Brenta Dolomites. It is truly an adventurer’s paradise. Rock climbers scale the cliffs, windsurfers fly across the lake in the reliable afternoon winds and in the past 10 years or so, mountain bikers have made their mark. Bike shops abound and bikes of all types are available for hire with tours that cover everything from shuttled descents to cross-country.

Twice a year, mountain biking takes over the town. In July the famous Transalp stage race finishes at Riva. And in late April I was there for the Sympa-tex Bike Festival, a huge gathering of

riders, bike industry and events over four days. While Marco and Elena took to their campervan, the festival organisers put me up in a hotel right on the water-front—very comfortable and convenient although the hotel décor and lighting did lean more toward bordello than biking!

Italy’s largest bike festival is run by Germans and the majority of participants are also from Germany. Over the four days you could browse hundreds of stalls, demo the bike of your dreams, set off on guided trail rides and race in any-thing from 4X to downhill or marathon. No one was left out with over 250 kids smiling and crying their way through the ‘Scott Junior Trophy powered by Milka’ (the Europeans love the ‘Powered by’ tag). In whatever downtime was left, there were people to catch up with, gelato to consume and local wines of the Garda Trentino region to taste.

A group of us set off to spin the legs with a ride up an ancient cliff-top track that took us high above the lake. At times cut into the sheer cliff, the trail was busy with bikes and walkers. Most went as far as an isolated village. We climbed a little further until I wimped out with the excuse of not overdoing it before tomor-row’s marathon race. The descent was interesting; a corner missed would have meant a landing on a windsurfer on the

lake far below!A combination of jetlag and over-

relaxation had me less than fired up for the Rocky Mountain Bike Marathon powered by Vaude, but Marco and Elena soon had me powered by caffeine and we joined the 2,000 other riders taking on the Ronda Facile (27km), Ronda Pic-cola (53km), Ronda Grande (87km) or Ronda Extrema (105km). Whilst we were planning on the latter, the race had an interesting approach to timing. Instead of preselecting your course, you could make your choice en route. Feeling a little un-der the weather? Peel off onto the Ronda Piccola. Starting to hurt badly? Miss the big last climb of the Ronda Extrema by heading home on the Grande. Whilst I’m sure some appreciated the choice, for me it took away the commitment, took away the ‘I’ve started so I’ll finish’ that is a part of all marathon riding.

Under grey skies, the 15km long, 1,000 metre climb at the start sorted the wheat from the chaff. I was certainly chaffing along. The others waited for me at the first feed station before we headed down some fine singletrack and trails for an equally long descent to the Arco Valley. We were treating the ride very socially, enjoying the fare at the feed stations and stopping for photos. Indeed so much so that at the

hard to keep up with the scenery and trail at the same time with the imposing 3,002 metre high massif of the rosengarten looming behind.Photo: Kurt resch

A trip to italy is as much about the food as the riding.

The Tyrol in spring with the Dolomites looming behind.

Photo: Kurt resch

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70km mark the decision as to which course to take was made for us; we’d missed the cut off and were directed onto the Grande course and back to Riva!

In damp conditions out at Torbole I watched the young and the flexible throw themselves off drops (and on occasions into trees) in the Specialized Enduro (which was powered by something I for-get) and sadly, torrential rain that night ensured the race through the Riva streets was cancelled. But for a celebration of all things good about mountain biking, it is hard to ride past the Sympatex Bike Festival (3-5 May in 2013).

on Tour—BiKinG AlonG The SPine

After heading south to Rome, we assembled our bikes at Bonus Pas-tor—sounding more like an Italian fast food joint than a hotel on the edge of the Vatican. A photo opportunity in St Peters Square turned into a bike tour of the Roman sights culminating in a spot of singletrack in front of the Coliseum.

GettinG thereMilan (for northern Italy) and Rome (for

Umbria/Tuscany) are the main interna-tional gateway airports but you can also approach via Bologna, Milan or Florence. There’s also a selection of smaller airports serviced by the budget airlines that will get you close to the riding destinations. For those travelling to the Dolomites, you might want to think about flying into Mu-nich and driving or catching a train down to Bolzano or Rovereto (near Riva). Trains can be good throughout Italy once you’ve mastered the Treni Italia booking system!

When to GoNow is the time to visit Europe given the

strength of the dollar and the weakness of the euro—you’ll certainly feel you’re get-ting value for money!

Riding in South Tyrol is really only pos-sible from around mid-April to the end of October. Early or late snow seasons

can shorten the time a little more. High mountain routes may not be open until June or July.

For rides in the mountains of Umbria, Tuscany and Romagna, April to October is the time. July-August can be very hot and busy with holidaying Italians.

Where to StaySouth Tyrol – For all the details on the Bike

Hotels of South Tyrol check out www.bikeho-tels.it. The website for the Steineggerhof is www.bikehotel-steineggerhof.com

Riva del Garda – Our favourite is Hotel Villa Stella www.villastella.it in Torbole, a village next to Riva. Run by keen rid-ers Merko and Alessandra, it is spacious, comfortable and also acts as a BMC bikes demo centre.

When in Riva make sure you eat at Bischofshof. Matteo Bemimi runs the place his family has held for 43 years with smooth efficiency. The staff are equally

warm, the food excellent and all within a very charming old building.

inFormATion reSourceAnyone interested in events and races in

and around Europe should check out www.bikeandmore.it, an excellent resource.

evenTSSympatex Bike Festival - May 2013www.bike-magazin.de/festival/riva/

MtB tourSKurt, Dieter and the guys from the Hotel

Steineggerhof can show you the best of their local trails in the spectacular South Tyrol www.bikehotel-steineggerhof.com

Huw Kingston will be taking a group to Italy again in May 2013 which will include the Dolomites as well as the route through Umbria and Tuscany. For tour details check out www.wildhorizons.com.au

General Information

Jenny, Les, Judy, Phil and Tim had joined us from Australia with Michelle and Richard over from New Zealand. The fi-nal leg of my Italian adventure was a 10-day trek from just outside Rome heading northeast through increasingly rugged country from Umbria into Tuscany before finishing in the region of Romagna—500km in total. It was a route up the spine of Italy, the Apennine Mountains.

After a couple of days in Rome we headed east to Rieti, our start point. Heavy rain ensured fango was on hand early on although the sun was out by afternoon. Beyond Rieti we rode some great trails to finally descend to Arrone and our first night out of the city. For some in the group, it was their first expe-rience of Europe and the mix of ancient trails, hilltop villages and of course fine food and wine blew them away. From Ar-rone we headed in full sunshine up a riv-erside trail for coffee in Ferentillo where we also saw an amazing crypt, full of naturally mummified bodies of all ages.

After lunching on crisp pizzas we took to the railway. An old, disused track climbed around and through the hills; eight tunnels up to 1.5km in length meant lights were a necessity. A long, very fast descent brought us down to Spoletto for the end of the day.

The historical town of Assisi was our next destination, an easy enough ride allowing plenty of time to explore Assisi, the home of St Franscesco, one of the bet-ter known saints of Catholicism. We had our own saint Franscesco on the tour; a crazy Italian policeman who Marco knew well and drove our support vehicle. With a mad laugh and the ability to tell bad jokes in his limited English, Fran-scesco was a fine addition to the group and had the perfect timing to organise lunch where and when required or pop up along the route, offering sanctuary to riders too tired to continue.

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Decending to riva with lake

Garda below.

Soaking up the alpine scenery with the latemar (2,799m) on the horizon. Photo: Dieter Auer

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“Tomorrow is a little bit strong,” said Marco. His understatement meant it was time to get the climbing legs in order. Leaving Assisi, we took an undulating route of dirt trails and singletrack to a welcome lunch at a ruined castle. Single-track in these parts is rarely purpose built for mountain bikes; however the centu-ries-old trails are well benched and often perfect for riding. Our halt that night was Gubbio where we feasted well at the Hotel San Marco before a late night wander around town licking the gelato dripping down our fingers. Early nights are not an option for tired bodies with dinner often not starting until 9pm.

After a long day across to the stun-ningly situated hilltop village of Monte Santa Maria Tiberina, we took a rest day. Il Monte Agriturismo was a farm offer-ing comfortable accommodation and the warmest of welcomes from Jean Paulo, Adriana and their family. It was the perfect spot to fix bikes, rest bodies and celebrate Tim’s 50th birthday enjoying the produce from the farm—the olive oil, the wine, the vin santo. It was also time for yet another encounter with Ital-ian mountain biking hairdressers. Wild haired Lucio turned up for dinner that night. I’d had the pleasure of riding with this hairdresser a month or so earlier. He’d turned up immaculately dressed in lycra emblazoned ‘Kemon – Italian Hair Fashion’. Now, before dessert was served, he grabbed a spare chair and set it down in the middle of the restaurant. ‘Huw, your barber has arrived.’ Then out came the cape, comb and scissors and, follow-ing suggestions called out by a committee of riders, he gave me the first haircut I’ve had over dinner!

We took off from Il Monte for a day

passed. We climbed first before a descent on twisting trails through beech forest to Rimbocchi for coffee and pastries. The day would take us over Poggio Scali, at 1,520 metres, the high point of the tour. A long and undulating trail took us to the summit, covered in leaves from the previous day’s wild hailstorm. Sadly the last 50 metres were in mist so no views were to be had. But the descent was su-perlative. For kilometre after kilometre it twisted and turned down 500 metres ver-tical with the final descent to the hotel at Campigna nothing short of mindblowing. The shouts on the descent and the grins on faces when we arrived at Campigna told the story.

The final two days into the region of Romagna to Brisighella were tough but hugely rewarding days on the bike. En route to Marradi we followed an exhila-rating, exposed cliff top trail that dropped us into a waiting café to calm the nerves. Long ridges offered enough rideable singletrack to make the pushes up steep pinches more than worthwhile. Views to the flatlands of the Po Valley indicated the end of the Apennine range that we’d weaved a route through for the past 10 days. One final descent into the steps and streets of Brisighella and Franscesco waiting at La Rocca Hotel with cold beers poured.

Photography by huw Kingston

made slow not by rider lethargy but the enjoyment of local hospitality. We’d hard-ly been gone an hour when singletrack spat us out into the hamlet of Fonaco. Here we were beckoned into a house by Adriano. His wife Mirella had just pulled freshly baked crostata from the oven. It is not easy to refuse such culinary good-ness and stitches were the order of the day on the climb up to Citerna village. Here, Lucio’s girlfriend’s parents had prepared a feast of cheeses, bread, cakes and wines. It was not yet 11am but it was rude not to…

The positive effect of my new aerody-namic haircut was now cancelled by the weight in my stomach. Beyond Anghiari we rolled onto an amazing ancient nar-row trail that contoured for some 6km, showing grade reversals that would make IMBA trail builders squeal with delight. The trail led to a road that descended to Caprese Michelangelo, the birthplace of Michelangelo. As we approached, the skies darkened and a storm hit. Our destination that day was Chiusi della Verna village, the same place the Pope was flying into that evening. Despite the wet and the cold, our bikes got us to La Verna whilst Il Papa’s helicopter aborted the landing and the Mass he planned to say was abandoned.

The next few days would take us into the rugged high country of Tuscany and over into Romagna. Leaving La Verna, temperatures had dropped from high twenties to low teens but the rain had

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Snow keeps many high mountain routes out of reach until June or July before getting dumped on again in october.

The Sympatex Bike Festival has every-thing from expos to events and encom-passes all aspects of mountain biking—from enduro and downhill to marathons.

riding below the ancient town of Assisi. Freshly baked trail-side crostata for morning tea.

marco assists mountain biking hair dresser lucio in styling huw’s hair!