mtb or road in italy?

inaperfectworld

I've toured a number of times in France and am thinking about italy for a change. a bit of research sugests that italy doesn't have the huge number of minor and unclassified surfaced roads: the equivalent in italy are more likely to be tracks . And I get the impression that the italian roads are busier too. the book "italy by bike" hasn't got many pure road routes in it either. so it looks like an MTB is the better choice?
Can anyone with experience of italy help?

airwise

It will depend where you go in Italy. I hear reports of bad roads and traffic on the Adriatic and in the South but the lakes and Northern Italy offers some of the finest road cycling on the planet. It also offers some of the finest unsurfaced roads in Europe so it will depend on what you plan on doing. Are you simply going to tour from A to B?

andymiller

I don't know where you've been doing your research but your impression is pretty wide of the mark. Italy has loads and loads of quiet roads with reasonable surfaces - and you'll see plenty of cyclists on road bikes. That's not to say that there aren't also plenty of opportunities for mountain biking - there are lots of mountains and plenty of unsurfaced roads and tracks as well.

Italian roads are divided between autostrade, strade statali, strade regionali, strade provinciali and strade communale. On the most minor roads there is a greater risk of coming across unsurfaced road and you may occasionally come across stretches of strada provinciale that are unsurfaced, but this is very unusual. If you aim to stick to the SPs and quieter SRs and SSs you shouldn't go to far wrong.

Bear in mind though that a lot of the more scenic roads are in the mountains and take a lot of punishment from the weather - and as you'd expect roads that hardly anyone uses generally tend to be fairly low on the priorities for maintenance. So you definitely come across rough bits. Personally I'd fit a nice wide tyre to cope with rough bits - but there are plenty of italians out on road bikes who seem to do fine with narrow tyres.

As general advice I'd stick to the quieter roads and avoid the major strade statali that are shown on maps in red - there are lots of strade statali in mountain areas that are very quiet. If you can, get hold of the 1:200,00 touring club Italiano maps for the areas that interest you, these show scenic routes with green highlighting (as do the Michelin maps although personally I prefer the TCI maps). Also look for places where the government has built a new fast road - leaving the old roads as a blissfully quiet alternative.

As far as as areas to go - it's easier to say which to avoid - I'd definitely avoid the SS16 which runs along the Adriatic coast and is very well-surfaced but very dull. There's lots of good riding and good roads in the south - I could definitely recommend the national parks of the Abruzzo, northern Puglia around Alberobello, the Gargano peninsula, the Salento coast.

inaperfectworld

Thanks for that brilliant and helpful post andy
I'm looking for circular ride as I travel with my bike in a suitcase or bag so have to leave it at my starting point. getting a train back to starting point can be a bit of a nuisance.

andymiller

Italy's regional trains are pretty bike friendly - so I wouldn't necessarily rule them out as an option for short to medium-lenth journeys.

Have you got any thoughts on what sort of tour you are interested in - eg strenuous or relaxed, wild places or places with more infrastructure? I'm assuming that you are flying (although going by train is definitely an option) is there a particular airport or airports you would be looking to fly into and out of?

inaperfectworld

Hi Andy
thanks a lot for more help: I'm looking primarily for quiet routes, but not too isolated or wild as i will be alone; I prefer a hillier area and wouldn't mind some italian alps too. I have an airnimal chameleon which is really a road bike only but i have been looking at some Schwalbe marathon cross tyers to put on my tourer, if the route is a bit rough rather than an mtb. I only go by train ( i hate the plane and they don't trat your luggage well) which is fine with the airnimal in a suitcase and I have also got a wheeled soft bag to take a full sized bike. the chameleon is ok as a col climber but if I've got some wider tyres with a tread I think hauling up cols will be a bit frustrating.
I've got the "Italy by bike" book and most of the routes have mixed surfaces
I am well used to cycling in /france on my own but have never been to italy. I like the look of Liguria which looks hilly but not too strenuous and , without any logic, I feel a bit more comfortable being nearer france where I happy with the language and have an idea of the way things are done
Cheers mate

Lighthouse Cycles

Spent 2 weeks in Gaioli in Tuscany. Bring the road bike with 700 x 28s. Lots of unpaved excellent roads with perfect surfaces.
Tim
www.lighthousecycles.com

andymiller

inaperfectworld wrote:

Hi Andy
thanks a lot for more help: I'm looking primarily for quiet routes, but not too isolated or wild as i will be alone; I prefer a hillier area and wouldn't mind some italian alps too. I have an airnimal chameleon which is really a road bike only but i have been looking at some Schwalbe marathon cross tyers to put on my tourer, if the route is a bit rough rather than an mtb. I only go by train ( i hate the plane and they don't trat your luggage well) which is fine with the airnimal in a suitcase and I have also got a wheeled soft bag to take a full sized bike. the chameleon is ok as a col climber but if I've got some wider tyres with a tread I think hauling up cols will be a bit frustrating.
I've got the "Italy by bike" book and most of the routes have mixed surfaces
I am well used to cycling in /france on my own but have never been to italy. I like the look of Liguria which looks hilly but not too strenuous and , without any logic, I feel a bit more comfortable being nearer france where I happy with the language and have an idea of the way things are done

Liguria is definitely an option (but I'm doubtful that once you get past Aosta that you'll many people speaking French - English is most Italians second language).

Travelling time is probably going to influence your choices - unless you are prepared to travel for a couple of days either way.

There are three main train routes into Italy:

- Paris to Milan via Modane and Turin. A good jumping off-point for the north-western Alps etc;

- Paris via Zurich to Lugano (OK strictly in the italian-speaking part of Switzerland) - a good option for the lake district;

- Paris to Bolzano via Munich, Innnsbruck, and the Brennero pass. This would be a good option for the eastern Dolomites and the Veneto or the western Dolomites.

The bahn.co.uk website is the most useful single website for planning international train tips. The DeutscheBahn services from Paris and on into Italy are well worth considering (and some carry bikes). Be aware that officially bikes aren't allowed on the Artemisia sleeper services from Paris into Italy - and it's a pretty crap service anyway so I'd avoid it if you can.

A big bike bag could be problematic on the French and German high-speed trains which don't have a lot of baggage space.



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culverwood

There is some lovely cycling in the Apennines, perhaps the area between Lucca and Fornovo. Tuscany South of Sienna also has some quiet routes with plenty of hills.

ilsassocycling

Can't really add anything to what Andy has said, but I do know Italy pretty well and have ridden in many areas and have not had a problem at all. The roads are mostly well surfaced, even the mountain roads where I live are of good quality, the trains work well and people do go out of the way to help you out, many times i had help from passing motorists !

Enjoy your trip whatever you decide to do. Take phrase book and try a little of the language, it goes very far regardless of how good or bad you may be! :-)

Kléber

Just to echo the idea that there are loads of good roads, the network is excellent. The mapping sometimes is not so you can trace a route and it turns out to have some offroad but that's are.

As well as the Alps Italy has a big spine of hills and mountains running from north to south and you'll find nice and quite roads near this. Just avoid the big cities and the areas around them.

rhnb

inaperfectworld wrote:

I've toured a number of times in France and am thinking about italy for a change. a bit of research sugests that italy doesn't have the huge number of minor and unclassified surfaced roads: the equivalent in italy are more likely to be tracks . And I get the impression that the italian roads are busier too. the book "italy by bike" hasn't got many pure road routes in it either. so it looks like an MTB is the better choice?
Can anyone with experience of italy help?

If it's any help, I've toured in Italy a few times (Tuscany/Umbria/Marche/Dolomites/Abruzzo) and written some of them up here...
http://www.bikeit.eclipse.co.uk/

Can't recommend road cycling in Italy highly enough.