Malegno Iron

Any Old Iron

Words: Dave Mitchell
Photos: Dave Mitchell & Ditte van der Meulen

We rumbled our way up the cobbled streets into the old town of Malegno, our lodgings slap bang next to a massive bell tower with three, yes three, giant bronze bells hanging motionless in anticipation. Malegno and Val Canonica have a rich history tied to ironworking and probably bell casting. The valley’s Lanico waterway fuelled iron forging activities for centuries, making it the crucible of Italian steel making. Abundant hydro electric power further advanced this in the twentieth century and the mass production of stainless steel.

The place is surrounded by bush-clad mountains of mainly broadleaf and pine dotted with small vineyards and orchards behind dry stone retaining walls. Houses and villages are perched on impossible slopes where a network of roads, tracks and trails join up the dots. Sheer rock walls hang resolute from the highest peaks mingling with the clouds. We lumbered up a steep alleyway with all our kit to our amazing digs. It was a family home in the old part of town and we had the top two stories fully restored in rustic modern, with views of the town, across the valley and up to the bell tower.

From home we headed down the river trail into the fort town of Breno and straight to the tourist information centre, where a nice policeman pointed us in the right direction. With very little Italian on our part and no English on theirs, we managed to ascertain two things. One, where to buy topo maps of the general area and two, this valley is not on a major tourist destination, unless you are super interested in steel making and hydro electric infrastructure. There is nothing like a pipeline plummeting down a mountain side or a nice dam especially if your dad worked on three.

UNO

Our first ride was local and we climbed gradually through the hamlets and villages that roam the lower slopes of the mountain range that climbs to over 2500m north west of Breno. We were joining up the way points from our Italian guide book and cruising beside clearings, vineyards and old stone walls, ramshackle farm houses and cow sheds and across mountain streams below a canopy of green.

The town of Cerveno provided water from one of the ubiquitous village fountains that doubles as a laundry tub and bath, on occasion. We climbed from there into the hills on forestry roads and leaf littered tracks before a sketch ST descent, then back to Malegno on the Ogli River trail. We just got back in the nick of time before an afternoon thunder storm rolled in. The gods were hurling lighting bolts and drowning out the church bells that rung every hour and on the half as well.

Fort Breno

With another afternoon thunder storm and rain predicted for our second day we opted for a short ride to Breno to check out the big old fortress planted prominently on the hill above the town centre. We roamed around this historic sight at our leisure, not a knight in sight. It origins date back about a thousand years but over the centuries additions and alterations massively expanded it’s footprint just like DIY house renovation projects the world over.

A tiki tour around some of the surrounding villages proved hard work on steep original cobbled carriageways. They were built just wide enough for a pack donkey or two. It was a Paris Roubaix workout, thats for sure. We peddled the old riverbank suburb of Malegno on our way back and discovered a maze of narrow roads with beautifully restored buildings.

This led us to a vast Roman Amphitheatre enclosing twenty thousand square meters with a seating capacity of 5500 spectators. The seats were stone steps so it was a bring your own cushion affair. It dates back to the first century AD and looking around the interpretive panels blood and guts were the main attractions. Again we just got back home in just the nick of time before the rain came.

A Map of Australia

From Borno, on a day when the clouds never completely cleared, we headed into the hills due north up a steep narrow farm road to Lac di Lova. The lake is shaped very much like a map of Australia and sits at 1300 meters. It’s actually a man made dam and was looking like it needed a top up. We continued up on some damp forestry roads breaking out of the pine trees into open farm land where bell ringing cows, sheep and goats roamed. We came across some shepards on their noisy smelly two stroke Italian trials bikes with their big wooly sheep dogs in tow.

At Rif G Laeng, which was closed for repair the ride went ST winding its way around the 1800 meter contour. Views of the majestic peaks of Pizzo Camino, Cima Moren and Corna di San Fermo were fleeting and even the ridge line we eventually rode down from Passo del Costone suffered envelopment and in the swirling mist a party of Italian scouts marching uphill magically materialised. Wearing Scout ties and stout packs and led by a queen scout no doubt they chatted and sung and seemed to dismiss our existence as an apparition. We could hear the rattle of sardine cans in their packs.

We lunched in a sheltered spot below the ridge top before bombing the open DH before us. This led onto a steep farm road which passed a few remote farm houses and into the forest proper. This was where Trail Forks came in handy gifting us a neat section of ST to Dosso and Passo Giovetto then a steep forestry road to Paganini and a final river trail back to Borno. It had been a big day out and we did wonder what the scout troop was up to among the clouds maybe wrestling with their army surplus tents or trying to light a fire without using a suitable accelerant. Nah they were probable in a refugio living it up.

Roman Rode

We did another short ride due to an afternoon thunder storm then we drove east and into Parco Regionale dell Adamello and up to Ref Bazena at 1800m. A spanking new parking lot greeted us loaded with cars. We set off towards Passo Croce Domini and beyond to Valle di Cadino. This is where the fun started. A loose gravel road climbed loosely to Corna Bianca at 2000m where much to our collective amazement a giant slab rock Roman road appeared.

This roamed into some pretty dodgy scree and rock hurling mountains but stayed true in an MTB grovel gradient all the way to Lac di Vacca and Rif Tita Secchi at 2353m. A small hydro dam on the lake may explain the rock slabbed route. The rifugio was pretty busy so we lunched out of the cool breeze with views across the deep blue lake and Weetbix mountains, that could not help but fill our vision.

An alternate DH presented itself running pure ST below Mt Frerone to Passo Fredda. This proved technical in places with an unwelcome dodgy uphill in our DH. All was forgiven on the long ST descent back to the van and a sedate drive home interrupted by a large gelato amongst the heat of the valley floor.

Base Nato Potato

On our second visit to this same area we climbed again to Passo Croce Domini but veered south on a gravelled military road to check out some old great war trenches and hook onto a vague line of ST. The trenches were full of wild flowers but out track was elusive so we opted for the road to Lago di Lavena and a farm track that should join our lost trail. It did not, so we continued southward past the old military barracks and up a switch back incline to a saddle and a startling view. Before us stood two massive square dishes above a cluster of buildings on a hill top just a kilometre or two up the road.

This proved to be the abandoned cold war NATO base Dosso dei Galli that was built in the 60s and decommissioned in 1995. We rode up to its military parking lot, inspected the troops and infrastructure and lunched in front of the newly decorated officers quarters.

It looked like the local farmer was using the building a sheep hotel when the weather wasn't lamb chop friendly. This IDGZ station, AKA Base Ace High, used parabolic bill board antenna for tropospheric scatter for radio comms and early warning detection. They levelled the hillock by 70 meters for the foundation necessary.

After lunch we back tracked just a few klicks to DH to Valdaione, on the steepest cobbled farm road we have ever performed on. Remote quaint farm houses and barking dogs greeted out white knuckle descent and fry an egg brake rotors. We bottomed out in Val di Travagnolo where a steep climb took us out to the wee town of Camparlo and back onto the main road. This eventually led to our start point after more climbing and we finished all NATO-ed out back at the van.

Borno Pizza

A mix of farm tracks and getting lost took us in anticipation mode up to the beautiful mountain town of Borno for one of their famous pizzas. Crisp base and delicious flavours spoilt us for the rest of the days ride, which ended after endless climbing on a rooty techie DH monster plummeting to Piancogno where I managed to buy a replacement rear derailleur. Mine had hit too many rocks and spun around in circles for too many clicks to reliably stay in the selected gear. We cruised the river trail back to Malegno where urgent repairs took place, but whats for tea?

Eskimo Pie 31st

We headed north up the Oglio River Valley to Cedegolo before climbing to the mountain village of Cevo and parking up. Peddling out of town on a cycleway was a novelty. This eventually shrunk down to a narrow road that climbed gradually up a deep gorge its slopes a mass of stately pines. At the end of the road proper we encountered a rough and rocky two track where the cobbled sections reached a heady 27% gradient before finally ascended to Fabrezza.

The steepness didn't stop there where a cobbled mule track matching and then exceeding the road gradient in places up to Lago Dosazzo where a mighty curved concrete dam spanned the rocky faces of the apposing mountains. The main lake was perilously low and the back up lake behind it, just a large puddle.

The final climb was loose and rocky up to Refusio Prudenzini with its Italian flag flying in the cool breeze. We patted the dog and headed further up the valley as the clouds clagged in the 3000m tops with just the tip of the receding Adamello Glacier sandwiched like an Eskimo pie between the cloudage and the smooth steel grey rocks of these indomitable mountains.

We found the old 1881 alpine club hut slowly succumbing to the ravages of decades of weather and neglect before having lunch on the river terrace adjacent. A few spits of rain hastened our exit but not before we got a proper, but fleeting view of the glacier. On the way down a couple of stroppy donkeys took a liking to Ditte’s orange handlebar grip, if only they knew where that had been.

Well past the dam we soon hit the sun and fully warmed up loosing all that height gain in a fraction of the time it took us to climb, but thats how the cookie crumbles on the big jobs. Packing up in the warm sleepy town of Cevo made us sleepy so we headed for home.

Cats & Dogs

A couple more days of morning rain and thunder storms curtailed our ambitions with short afternoon forays into the local hills. We marvelled at the cobbled paths and stone houses, the churches centuries old with a mix of clocks and sundials and adjacent cemeteries full of family graves going back generations, marble headstones and pictures of those buried. Window box flowers and communal water fountains and squares. We found nice gelato and our steepest track gradient so far at over 30%. Alas the bike museum at Berzo Inferiore was closed but the gelato shop opposite was open.

Borno MTB Park

The ski area in Borno has adapted well to the unreliability of winter snow and has for a few years now opened during the summer holidays with MTB lifts. We parked below the lift station in the rapidly filling and massive carpark and for 21 euro we got 4 hrs of antigravity magic.I t was sunny, it was Sunday and every man, women and their dog was coming out to play. Yes they take dogs on the lifts. The park has about a dozen tracks from easy to seriously gnarly including long cross country old school trails.

The lift tops out on Mont Altissimo (1703m) and provided a 360 degree panoramic views of all the surrounding valleys and mountains and as far south as the great water body of Lago d’Iseo. We bombed all the flow trails towards middle station and discovered rooty ST joining up the loops. To get to the bottom station a super steep switchback trail led below the lift and provided some slippery and challenging moments in the black. We finished off on a long cross country loop track that wandered west to Rif Lorenzini then circumnavigated Monte te Tauggine before dropping down to Crace di Salven where a relaxing river trail delivered us back to our van.

So what did we learn? Don't go anywhere without your rain jacket and woollies in the mountains of Italy. Take cover when you hear thunder. A map and compass is your friend but you cant beat Trailforks. Anytime is the most important meal of the day and gelato and pizza are not fake food. We think the Catholic church bought a job lot of these bells and installed them in every church in the land, long before watches came into view. A dong for every hour, a ding added to the dongs for the half hour and with all three are going hell for leather they could sometimes play a tune of sorts. And they do that. Boy Scouts are everywhere no Girl Guides to be seen.