Sondrio | Gravel 41km | Life lessons in Val Cervia

The road up from Cedrasco is steep, so perhaps get all your conversations out of the way before embarking on the suggested first hour of this ride. It levels off after a while and there's beautiful, wide open scenery with meadows and high, high, high mountains on the horizon. If you bring a bike lock (not that you'll need it), you can do a ciclo-Alp adventure and keep running once the two wheels have taken you as far as you can go on the gravel. 

Val Cervia is often over-looked but that's what is so special as you'll barely see a soul. Just marmots and deer. Exactly how it should be, 

For the descent I'd nip off to the right when you see a bumpy track. It'll add some more excitement to your ride. 

Summer only.

Teglio | Road 87km | By b-roads

This is 87 km with a lot of bang for your buck. Exciting, tiny roads that wiggle across the valley sides. It might be easy to brush this route off but it's a great starting point for bigger rides. The climb from Bianzone up to Teglio is included in the Gran Fondo Stelvio Santini but gets so crowded with inept climbers during the gran fondo that it's much better to do in your own time, on your own ride, away from the masses. 

There's a section on the Statale that's almost unavoidable, but you could take the Sentiero Valtellina if you really hate the main road. 
The route back to Sondrio teases with the 'Via Panoramica', which is delightfully short of traffic and swoops and swerves its way back along the south-facing slopes. It's an exciting route that provides amazing views. There's always the option to stick to the Via Panoramica if you prefer to bypass the super scenic, slightly arduous route that is outlined here.

Year-round.