Itanhandu is a small, tidy town of about eleven thousand people on the southern flank of the Serra da Mantiqueira, at eight hundred and eighty metres. Behind it the mountains climb to some of the highest summits in the south-east of Brazil, including the Serra Fina, a long ridge whose high point, Pedra da Mina, reaches about two thousand eight hundred metres. On a clear morning the silhouette stands over the town, and you can see why walkers come from São Paulo and Rio to attempt the crossing.
The riding here is a pleasure in its own right. The roads climb out of town into cooler, greener country and wind along valleys of small farms, with dairy cattle, coffee, pockets of Atlantic forest and the odd waterfall tumbling off the slope. The surface is generally decent but not always consistent, so keep a margin on blind corners; there are potholes after the rains, loose gravel at the farm entrances, and the usual Brazilian speed bumps at the edges of every village. Most of the traffic is local, and the roads become busier on weekends with visitors from the big cities, who come for the cold nights and good food.
It is also a fine place to eat. The Mantiqueira is known for its country cooking, with sausages, cheese, fresh trout, pastries and strong filtered coffee, and Itanhandu has a few straightforward places that serve it in generous amounts. A few kilometres away is Passa Quatro, which was once an important point on the railway that linked this region with the coast, and it carries some of that old character. São Lourenço, twenty-odd kilometres away, is a spa town built around its mineral springs, and it is the bigger place for fuel and supplies, though a town of this size will normally have its own station.
The sweet spot for a visit is the dry season, from May to September. The days are clear, the air is cold at night and sharp at dawn, and the view of the Serra Fina is at its best. In the wet months, from December to March, the mountains disappear into cloud by the afternoon, so plan to ride in the morning and be off the high roads by lunchtime.