Weekend of the return to winter time, from 25th to 27th October, from Friday to Sunday, the weather forecast is excellent so we decide for a bike ride. For a long time we have promised ourselves to do, one time or another, the cycle path that accompanies us for long stretches when we drive along the Brenner motorway, that strip of asphalt where we always see so many runners and cyclists running alongside us , first on the banks of the Adige river and then, after Bolzano, on the Isarco river, the first Italian section of the Eurovelo 7 cycle route, also known as the Ciclopista del Sole.
The initial idea was to arrive by car as far as Borghetto all'Adige, where the cycle path begins in the Trentino region, then park and take a regional train (with a change in Bolzano) to the Brenner and then return to Borghetto cycling, a little more two hundred kilometers with two nights sleeping in hotel. With our new car, the Peugeot Partner, we can now afford to organize bike rides more effectively: by removing part of the back seat, we can load both bikes comfortably without taking apart anything.
From the parking lot we easily reach the path continuing along the road that passes under the state road n.12 towards the river; will be at most three hundred meters. Reached the embankment we take to the right for Bolzano and, for the first two kilometers, we cycle on the embankment of the Adige, then the cycle path deviates on the bank of one of its small affluent, the Rio Lusina, and then returns to the main embankment after another two kilometers. Apart from some stretches where we need to pay particular attention and caution as there is no protective barrier on the sides, pedaling on the embankment is all in all quite safe and pleasant, our pace is settled on the twenty Kmh. The landscape is the typical fluvial one of the area, cultivated with orchards and vineyards up to the bank on our right and spontaneous vegetation of deciduous trees and shrubs on the left bank.
Being Friday, a working day, the cycle path is not extremely frequented, we meet other cyclists who go through it in the opposite direction to ours, but no excessive overcrowding as it may perhaps be on Sunday. We therefore manage to keep a good average that allows us to arrive in Bolzano before noon. Here the cycle path moves from the bank of the Adige to that of the Isarco. Crossing the city of Bolzano by bike proves to be quite simple, the city cycle paths run alongside the main roads even if you need to pay attention to not make mistakes in the roundabouts and always follow the indications for the Brenner. Nevertheless, near the train station, inevitable work in progress force us to an unpleasant detour, which we manage to manage brilliantly, and we are able to take the cycle path a little further on.
We continue for a few more kilometers on the bank of the river until we reach Cardano, the first inhabited center outside Bolzano, where we stop in a minimarket to buy something to put under our teeth, a Schüttelbrot, or a dry crush typical of the Isarco valley made with rye flour, fennel seeds and wild cumin. After Cardano, we continue the cycle path that starts to climb with a bit more consistency. The high passages above the state highway 12 and next to or below the A22 motorway are amazing. We also pass through some tunnels, remnants of the old railway line now transformed into the cycle path we are running.
The day continues wonderfully, the weather is splendid, the temperature is pleasantly warm. You wouldn't even think of an autumn day if it weren't for the colors of the leaves on the trees and the smell of those falls that form here and there soft carpets that run along the side of the cycle path. We continue our ride towards Bressanone enjoying the beauty of the landscape, sometimes we travel parallel to the river, sometimes we skirt the highway, in some places we pass under the high and imposing pylons of the highway, we pass by the population centers of Prato Isarco, Campodazzo, Ponte Gardena, before literally entering with the cycle path in the medieval village of Chiusa.
It is now 14:00, the food of before it has exhausted its driving effect, hunger has returned to be overpowering and given that we entered in such a sudden way directly inside a square where some bars, given the summer, still allow themselves to keeping the expanse of tables outdoors means that it is the right time to stop for a quick lunch, before returning to the saddle and covering the last kilometers that separate us from Bressanone, which we reach shortly after 15:00. Here we take accommodation for a night at the family-run 3-star Pension Mayrhofer which will prove to be an excellent choice, both for the courtesy of the owner and for the value for money.
Immediately outside the built-up area, the cycle path begins to climb leaving the river to its course and we begin to follow the state road. In fact it would be a fairly demanding climb, but thanks to the help provided by the batteries of our pedal-assisted bikes we have no particular problems. At one point, near Varna, we are diverted to ordinary roads and we have to go through a couple of hairpin bends before finding again the brown sign for the cycle path that shows us the direction to take for the Varna lake and the Brenner. We're riding now on a dirt road in the woods, mostly downhill. Only after a few kilometers we find the asphalt, at the A22 motorway barrier, which we start to run side by side. In this way, after a few kilometers, we reach Fortezza, near the Hapsburg fort, where the cycle path of the Val Pusteria begins.
From the fort, in a comfortable descent, where the cycle path runs to the sides of the provincial road, apart from a short section where we are diverted to the ordinary roads, we reach Aica and then Sciaves, where we stop for a coffee at the Sonneck hotel restaurant that we find on the junction driveway that leads, further down, on state highway 49, a road that runs along the valley to San Candido and the state border. Now, for a short distance, the bike path deviates from the main road and climbs following a scenic route between meadows and woods and then descends again and crosses Rio di Pusteria-Mhulbach. At this point, after leaving the town, the situation of the route has finally returned to clearly delineate and we cycle on the definitive cycle path, in a separate location, which will take us to Brunico, our destination today.
Pedaling quietly, but at a constant speed, in a fairytale landscape that develops between the river, the valley bottom road and the San Candido - Fortezza regional railway line, touching nearby of Vandoies, San Sigismondo, Chienes, Casteldarne, San Lorenzo di Sebato, we finally arrive at the gates of Brunico where we find ourselves suddenly in the middle of a large fair-market (in Stegona) which, we will discover later, be an annual anniversary that attracts thousands of visitors from the surroundings and even from Austria. It is past midday, so we don't let ourselves be tempted by the sirens of the fair and we continue towards the center. We want to find accommodation as soon as possible because one of our goals is to then spend the rest of the afternoon at the legendary Cron4, one of the most renowned wellness centers with saunas in South Tyrol, above all for the setting and the spectacular nature of the castings of vapor. The Cron4 is located in Riscone, a hamlet of Brunico, directly at the foot of Plan de Corones, the skiing and hiking mountain in the area. After having unsuccessfully asked in some of the few (given the low season) hotels still open, we finally find the availability of a spacious room in B & B at the Hotel Reipertingerhof, a good 3-star hotel with an internal wellness center. We have thus covered another 50 kilometers.
We have an abundant breakfast, typically Alto Adige with sweet, salty, yogurth, cereals, eggs and fruit, then at 8:30 we leave and we put ourselves on the way back. The descent from Riscone is a bit difficult given the poor visibility and the damp cold that is felt even inside the bones. However, we go down without problems, slowly and carefully, to the station where the timetable shows the first train useful for us at 9:31. We buy the ticket only for the bikes (at the hotel they gave us the Trentino Card which gives us the right to travel for free on all the regional routes) paying 14 euros and traveling from Brunico to the terminus Fortezza, where we have the coincidence that will take us to Bolzano , where we arrive around 11:30. Meanwhile, a beautiful sun came out and the temperature was mild. Indeed in Bolzano there is really hot.
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