West of Milan, between Bareggio, Cusago and Settimo Milanese, the plain is laced with fontanili, spring-fed ditches where groundwater rises to the surface and keeps the water flowing at a steady temperature year-round. These springs made the land rich, and for centuries the area was a patchwork of meadows, rice fields and farmsteads. Today the city is closing in, but the Parco Agricolo Sud Milano protects much of the countryside.
Cusago has a castle built by the Visconti as a hunting lodge, where the dukes of Milan came to hunt in the woods that then covered this part of the plain. South-west of here, the Cistercian abbey of Morimondo, founded in the twelfth century, is a quiet, beautiful place with a brick church and cloister, surrounded by fields and woods.
On a bike this is connective tissue rather than a destination: roads trace canals and field edges at right angles. Traffic around Milan can be heavy, especially at rush hour, and the tangenziale ring road is often congested. Once you get away from the city, the roads become quieter, with long views across the fields.
The Ticino river, to the west, is lined with woods and is protected as a regional park. The riverside paths are popular with walkers and cyclists, and the river itself, fast and clear, is a pleasant place to sit on a hot day.
After a day of lakes and passes, there is something soothing about ending among ditches and herons. Bareggio's pumps and bars are a minute away, and the trattorias in the surrounding villages still cook for farmers rather than tourists.