Why this ride
720 km from Motta Visconti to Biassono, about 13 h 13 of riding. The climbs: in Cilavegna, Scenic stretch near Cantù and near Valmadrera-Caserta. It tops out at about 1,050 m.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Ticino Lakes and Passes + Lake Como and Ghisallo
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 720 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 13 h 13
- Journey
- One way; return travel is separate
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
Lake Como Scenic Circuit
Slow enough to look. The surface follows the shoreline, so the corners arrive where the water decided, not where an engineer did. Water arrives beside the road and stays for 21 km. The line follows the shore because there is nowhere else for it to go.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 21 km
- Named road
- Lake Como Scenic Circuit
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Fuel stop near Motta Visconti
Motta Visconti stands on the edge of the Ticino valley, south-west of Milan, where the land drops from the Lombard plain into the broad, wooded corridor of the river. The Ticino here is wild and braided, flowing in multiple channels between gravel banks and islands, and the valley is protected as the Parco del Ticino, one of the oldest regional parks in Italy and a UNESCO biosphere reserve.
Read the complete Fuel stop near Motta Visconti write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Ticino Lakes and Passes is where the day begins. Next is High point in Cilavegna.
2. High point in Cilavegna
Call Cilavegna a high point and anyone from the Lomellina will laugh: this corner of Lombardy, between the Ticino and the Sesia, is about as flat as land gets, a vast chequerboard of rice paddies, irrigation canals and poplar rows. But stand on the bank of a canal in spring, when the paddies are flooded and the whole plain becomes a mirror for the sky, with the snow-covered Alps floating above the horizon, and you will understand why people love it. Locals call it the mare a quadretti, the chequered sea.
Read the complete High point in Cilavegna write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
You top out here; the road stops climbing. Next is Ticino Lakes and Passes checkpoint 8.
3. Near Bareggio
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.
Read the complete Near Bareggio write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 659 km. Next is Scenic stretch near Cantù.
4. Scenic stretch near Cantù
Cantù is a town in the Brianza, the hilly area between Milan and Lake Como, and it has two claims to fame that may surprise you: furniture and lace. For centuries, the craftsmen of Cantù have made fine furniture, and the town is still full of workshops and showrooms. The lace-making tradition, the pizzo di Cantù, is equally old, and the town hosts exhibitions and a lace school. And in Italy, Cantù is also known for its basketball team, which has won European titles.
Read the complete Scenic stretch near Cantù write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The high point of this section. Next is Photo stop near Valmadrera-Caserta.
5. Photo stop near Valmadrera-Caserta
Lecco, at the foot of the jagged Grigne, is the town where Alessandro Manzoni set the opening of The Betrothed, the great Italian novel, and its famous first lines describe the branch of Lake Como that stretches south towards it. Valmadrera lies just across the water from Lecco, at the meeting point of the lake, the small lakes of Annone and the hills of Brianza, beneath the slopes of Monte Barro and the twin peaks of the Corni di Canzo.
Read the complete Photo stop near Valmadrera-Caserta write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Photo stop near Valmadrera-Caserta tops the climb. Next is Milan / Northern Italy return.
6. Soresina, on the way back
Soresina is a town of the flat Lombard plain, between Cremona and Crema, and it lives and breathes dairy. The local cooperative, Latteria Soresina, is one of the largest cheese producers in Italy, making Grana Padano, provolone and butter from the milk of the surrounding farms. The landscape around is perfectly flat, criss-crossed by irrigation canals and lines of poplars, with large farmsteads, cascine, standing like fortresses in the fields.
Read the complete Soresina, on the way back write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Milan / Northern Italy return comes up 220 km in. Next is Food stop near Senna Lodigiana.
7. Food stop near Senna Lodigiana
Senna Lodigiana is a farming village on the north bank of the Po, opposite Piacenza, in the flat, fertile Lodigiano. Here the great river is wide and slow, flanked by poplar plantations, sandbanks and high flood embankments, the argini, which protect the farmland from the floods that have shaped this landscape for centuries.
Read the complete Food stop near Senna Lodigiana write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
A break here. Next is Back to Ticino Lakes.
8. Back to Ticino Lakes
Morimondo is the quietest place on this map, with only a few hundred residents, but its abbey is among the finest in Lombardy. The abbey, a Cistercian foundation of the twelfth century, was established by monks from Morimond in Burgundy, and its brick church, with a plain, severe interior, is still in use.
Read the complete Ticino Lakes write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Finish at Back to Ticino Lakes. That is the ride. Next is Lake Como and Ghisallo.
9. Fuel stop in Biassono
Planning note
Next is Scenic stretch in Cambiago.
10. Scenic stretch in Cambiago
Planning note
Scenic stretch in Cambiago comes up 395 km in. Next is High point near Pandino.
11. High point near Pandino
Planning note
439 km in you reach High point near Pandino. Next is Photo stop near Belgioioso.
12. Photo stop near Belgioioso
Planning note
Photo stop near Belgioioso, late in the day. Next is Lake Como and Ghisallo checkpoint 8.
13. Pieve Emanuele
Planning note
Lake Como and Ghisallo checkpoint 8 closes the day. Next is Food stop near Cilavegna.
14. Food stop near Cilavegna
Call Cilavegna a high point and anyone from the Lomellina will laugh: this corner of Lombardy, between the Ticino and the Sesia, is about as flat as land gets, a vast chequerboard of rice paddies, irrigation canals and poplar rows. But stand on the bank of a canal in spring, when the paddies are flooded and the whole plain becomes a mirror for the sky, with the snow-covered Alps floating above the horizon, and you will understand why people love it. Locals call it the mare a quadretti, the chequered sea.
Read the complete High point in Cilavegna write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Food stop near Cilavegna is where this day stops to eat.
15. Besnate, on the way back
Planning note
615 km in you reach Milan / Northern Italy return. Next is Back to Lake.
16. Back to Lake
That park, laid out in the early nineteenth century around the Villa Reale, the royal residence of the Austrian and later Italian rulers, is the largest walled park in Europe, with meadows, woods and the Lambro river running through it. In the middle of it, the Monza racetrack, built in 1922, is known as the Temple of Speed, and the Italian Grand Prix has been held here for most of the history of Formula One.
Read the complete Lake write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back to Lake closes the day.
Leg by leg
Fuel stop near Motta Visconti to High point in Cilavegna
Fuel stop near Motta Visconti → High point in Cilavegna is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
High point in Cilavegna to Near Bareggio
High point in Cilavegna → Near Bareggio is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Scenic stretch near Cantù to Photo stop near Valmadrera-Caserta
Scenic stretch near Cantù → Photo stop near Valmadrera-Caserta is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Photo stop near Valmadrera-Caserta to Soresina, on the way back
Photo stop near Valmadrera-Caserta → Soresina, on the way back is 96 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Food stop near Senna Lodigiana to Back to Ticino Lakes
Food stop near Senna Lodigiana → Back to Ticino Lakes is 73 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Back to Ticino Lakes to Fuel stop in Biassono
Back to Ticino Lakes → Fuel stop in Biassono is 55 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fuel stop in Biassono to Scenic stretch in Cambiago
Fuel stop in Biassono → Scenic stretch in Cambiago is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Scenic stretch in Cambiago to High point near Pandino
Scenic stretch in Cambiago → High point near Pandino is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
High point near Pandino to Photo stop near Belgioioso
High point near Pandino → Photo stop near Belgioioso is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Photo stop near Belgioioso to Pieve Emanuele
Photo stop near Belgioioso → Pieve Emanuele is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Food stop near Cilavegna to Besnate, on the way back
Food stop near Cilavegna → Besnate, on the way back is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
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