# MTB rides close to Milan, Italy?



## Thiago Nicoluci (Aug 3, 2006)

I´m a brazilian going to live in Milan for the next 6 months and would like to keep as much as possible my training and riding schedule while there. 

Could someone point me a few mountain biking suggestions, such as trails, how to get there and what are the best time for riding them?

I know north part of Italy is a great place for mountain bike, but good tips and advices are always welcome.:thumbsup: 

Also, if someone can help me telling what are the clothes I will need it would be great since I will face the winter and would like to not stop riding, if possible...


----------



## cxfahrer (Jun 20, 2008)

Lombardia

Piemonte

(Roadbooks in the sub-forum of http://www.mtb-forum.it/community/forum/ )

Milano is a big city in the completely flat valley of the river Po, you may have to take the car or the subway to get out into the suburbs (e.g. Monza), where you may start a ride into the mountains. The wide plains of the Po valley are famous for rain lasting for weeks in winter, and above 1000meters there will be snow in the mountains.

Around and between Lago Maggiore, Lago di Lugano and Lago di Como is a good place to start before you go farther into the Alps. But before April it may be a better place for skiing.

Get a roadbike and good rainprotection. Drive to the Lake Garda or Finale Ligure if the weather is fine and ride the trails.


----------



## Thiago Nicoluci (Aug 3, 2006)

Many thanks for your comments cxfahrer.
I will definetely bring my road bike - it seem I am going to use it more than my mtb.... 

I´m arriving next saturday....in general, how much time is left for me to enjoy mtb before the weather gets really cold and inappropriate for riding?
Lugano and Garda were two places I was gethering information from internet to visit for a weekend... mostly the next month.... Until when I can go there to ride mtb?

What do you in Milan area do during winter? Winter in Brazil is not hard, and we keep riding and trainning hard....

Do you know of riders groups I could join until I find my feet?

What about good bike shops in Mila area?

Agian, many thanks for your tips!!!!:thumbsup:


----------



## Brah (Jul 29, 2004)

*Not Milan, but Garda*

Rode in Riva del Garda last weekend. No too far from Milano. Very fun trails with some good technical singletrack.

Check out Carlo at gardaonbike.com


----------



## cxfahrer (Jun 20, 2008)

I´m not from Italy - but I spent my holidays there over the last years.

Finale Ligure is about 4 hrs drive on the highway on the Riviera and ridable all year. 
http://www.finalefreeride.com/english/presentazione.html

For groups and trails in the Milan area check out the links in the italian forum I posted above - you will probably learn to speak Italian anyway.

Weather should be ok to ride all the winter for _some_ time, but there also will be longer periods of rain (and snow in the mountains). 
Look on a weather website like www.gardameteo.com.


----------



## Thiago Nicoluci (Aug 3, 2006)

*Thanks*

Thanks cxfahrer and Brah!!

I really liked the gardaonbike.com - amazing site. I´ve already tryed to contact them. For sure it´s a destination I will go as soon as possible. Also Finale Ligure...

Is it possible to reach theses places by train? I´m not sure if I will be able to afford a car....

Thanks again.


----------



## cxfahrer (Jun 20, 2008)

Thiago Nicoluci said:


> Is it possible to reach theses places by train? I´m not sure if I will be able to afford a car....
> 
> Thanks again.


Milan - Finale : 3 hrs by train.
3 hrs also to Rovereto, which is the nearest train station to Riva. You have to pedal 1.5 hrs from there over a small hill or just start and end your tour there going straight up to the Mt. Altissimo and down on the trails leading down from there to Rovereto (picture by marco toniolo).

Trains are cheap in Italy.

Look on Marcos website for pictures of the trails .
e.g.: Lake Garda trails in end of October: 
http://www.marcotoniolo.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/4067


----------



## Huizinga (Oct 5, 2008)

Hi Thiago, a place to look at for mountain bike in Milan is the Pro-M store, www.pro-m.com
Is one of the most famous mountain bike store in Milan, the owner Mr Biffi is a very friendly person and he will be glad to talk about bikes and places where ride, and you can join his group for week-end rides. They go to Finale too and to Liguria in general, which has a warmer weather in the winter than Lombardia so probably you can expect they will go there a lot of times in those months 
In his site you can also find a lot of GPS tracks for trails around Milan, in particular some in the Parco Del Ticino (which is the closest national park to Milan), not challenging at all but enjoyable if you can't go too far away from the city, and some in the Oltrepo Pavese which is a good area for mountain biking closer to Milan Than Liguria or the Alps. For mountain biking in the Pavese area check also http://www.bikefree.it/ (that area is especially good for food too  ). 
In Milan there's also a very little bike park located in Monte Stella, it should be around the QT8 station of the subway, linea 1 (the red one). It's not a place that I suggest actually, but it's worth to mention because it's in the city and you can go there if you just want to ride in an afternoon, and you can meet people too.
Hope this all helps ^^


----------



## Thiago Nicoluci (Aug 3, 2006)

*Living in Lodi*

Thank you all for the very helpful posts.

I'm living in Lodi right now, 30 minutes alway from Milan by train. As you advised, this is a very big flat area, with no uphills.

Fortunately I could make some good friends in Lodi at the local bike shop (Dili' Cicli - very good bike shop, by the way) and managed to ride some single tracks around the river Adda area and a couple of weekends in San Colombano, which is very nice, with plenty of short up and down hills in the middle of the grape plantations, with nice single tracks.

The bikers here are very friendly.

I hope I can make more friends here to arrange other bike trips to places like Como, Garda and the other nice suggestions you have posted.

If some biker in Lodi area reads this post, please PM me or drop a note so that we can arrange a bike trip.

Many thanks:thumbsup:


----------



## Thiago Nicoluci (Aug 3, 2006)

*Living in Lodi*

Thank you all for the very helpful posts.

I'm living in Lodi right now, 30 minutes alway from Milan by train. As you advised, this is a very big flat area, with no uphills.

Fortunately I could make some good friends in Lodi at the local bike shop (Dilie' Cicli - very good bike shop, by the way) and managed to ride some single tracks around the river Adda area and a couple of weekends in San Colombano, which is very nice, with plenty of short up and down hills in the middle of the grape plantations, with nice single tracks.

The bikers here are very friendly.

I hope I can make more friends here to arrange other bike trips to places like Como, Garda and the other nice suggestions you have posted.

If some biker in Lodi area reads this post, please PM me or drop a note so that we can arrange a bike trip.

Many thanks:thumbsup:


----------



## kinopresident (Oct 26, 2007)

Hi Thiago, I'm working in Milan but I live in Parma (1h from Lodi).

If you want near here (parma) there are lot of trails and more and more bikers to do a mountainbike. This weekend in Calestano (1h from Lodi) will be a big event with a Bikers meeting with 2 trails (15km or 28km) if you want to join us write me [email protected]


:thumbsup:


----------



## Thiago Nicoluci (Aug 3, 2006)

*Bike event? Sure....*

Ciao kinopresident

Many thanks for your suggestion:thumbsup: . Of course it interests me a lot. A bike event is everything I'm looking for..... It sounds really nice.
Please let me know if your e-mail is .com or .it so that I can contact you.

Can I get to Calestano by train?

Hope to hear from you soon.
Thanks again.


----------



## kinopresident (Oct 26, 2007)

sorry....

[email protected] 
the event start at 9 am and I estimate 2/3 h for the long trails......is nice and if you want is possibile to do a lunch in a great plce for TARTUFO and Mashrums....

search in google maps (Calestano Parma) and you could find the right way!!!!

see you 
matteo


----------



## Jman0000 (Oct 7, 2011)

Brah said:


> Rode in Riva del Garda last weekend. No too far from Milano. Very fun trails with some good technical singletrack.
> 
> Check out Carlo at gardaonbike.com


Many thanks for this suggestion. I did it this past weekend. It was fantastic. I can't wait to go back again someday.


----------

