Airolo is a small town with a big job. It sits at 1,175 metres at the southern end of the Gotthard, where the Leventina valley begins, and for centuries anyone coming south from the pass has funnelled through it. Today much of that traffic disappears underground: the railway tunnel, opened in 1882, and the road tunnel, opened in 1980, both come out near here, and the village is the place where the north-south corridor changes from German to Italian speech, from larch to chestnut.
For a rider it is an honest, practical stop. There is fuel, as you would expect in a place that sees so many vehicles, and there are fountains where you can fill a bottle with cold mountain water. The cafes and bakeries serve good espresso and the kind of simple Ticinese food that comes without fuss: polenta, cured meats, cheese from the high pastures. The language is Italian, the pace is a little slower, and the afternoon light has a warmer tone than north of the pass.
Airolo's surroundings are rich in history. The Gotthard was a fortress area in the twentieth century, and mountains around the town hide old military installations, some of which are now open as museums. Avalanches are a fact of life on these slopes, which is why the mountainsides above the village are dotted with protective barriers. The village was also a staging post for the stagecoaches that carried mail and passengers over the old pass before the railway made them redundant.
The riding starts right at the village: the Tremola climbs steeply to the north, while the main road swings through the Val Bedretto toward the Nufenen. Both are stunning, and it is worth thinking through what you want before you leave town. In the other direction, the road drops down the Leventina in a long, easy descent past gorges and waterfalls. Summer mornings are cool and clear, and afternoons can bring thunderstorms that roll quickly across the high ground, so keep an eye on the sky when you are filling up.