Riding out of Sondrio on the Sentiero Rusca isn't the most inspiration start to a mountain bike ride so some might argue that you don't really need a mtb for this route. However, there are trail diversions galore once you've got those vertical metres in your legs in Valmalenco.
Summer and early autumn only.
Essentially uphill for 20 km towards Carnale and onwards, followed by 10 km of fast, flowing descent. We've done the legwork so you can have fun finding your way.
Spring and summer only.
Get in touch with the guys who run 360 Valtellina bike and arrange an uplift day. Not only will they be stoked to share Basso Valtellina's sickest and most gnarly descents, they're also a great laugh.
Here'a an jaw-shaking, adrenaline-inducing major descent off the Passo San Marco. Best to have a guide if you're not sure about the terrain. Steep and slippery.
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.
This ride starts and finishes in Postalesio, but you could easily start from anywhere – you'd just end up climbing even further.
From Triangia the road is tarmacked beautifully up to at least 1,100 metres where you'll find a cluster of houses called Ligari. You can fill up your bottle and nip into the 'village' for some cake and a chat at the restaurant. It's open all-year round.
The road then worsens a little, but doesn't turn to gravel until around 1,700 metres of altitude. Then expect steep, concrete corners and rutted out gravel. Once you reach the cross at 1,900 metres, the track 'flattens' out for 6-7km before dropping down ever so slightly to Alpe Colina. The whole of this stretch is pretty beaten-up gravel so mountain bike tires are definitely recommended.
From Alpe Colina, you can take the road straight down to Postalesio. The first 1.5 km is still gravel, but unfortunately in 2017 they made the decision to tarmac a lot more of the road. It's in a great condition now if you're into going fast. There are a lot of options for proper descending on trails, just look for deviations on either side of the road.
At 1,000 metres you'll reach Pra Lone, an opening with a few houses, and here's where the real trails start, dropping down to Ca' Moroni then Postalesio. These are not gravel bike-friendly, just sayin'.
Route reserved for summer and early autumn.
