Ticino Lakes and Passes · part 2

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. 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 is where the day begins. Next is Milan / Northern Italy return.

2. 2. 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 about 112 km into the recorded legs. Next is Food stop near Senna Lodigiana.

3. 3. 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.

4. 4. 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

   Back to Ticino Lakes closes the day.