Tour Italy’s Lake Garda: Day 1
Desenzano del Garda – Tignale
72.5km / 1 759m / Riding Time 4:36.29
Having introduced ourselves to each other and overnighted at the start point, we rolled out late the next day, at 9.30am. Packing the bike bags proved to be the biggest challenge – I had to be schooled in the art of making the seat bag fat and wide rather than long, to ensure it didn’t swing back and forth as we rode. I ended up with just a spare bib, a change of clothes, some basic toiletries and a South African-flagged pair of swimming briefs hanging off the back.
Packing is a critical part of bike touring. While it’s important to have as many options as possible available for both heat and cold, the overriding guideline is that space is at a premium; added weight simply means more watts, and a harder time packing again each day.
The first stop was the local café, where our Lads carefully scoured the labels of various drink options to ensure we were maximising our carb intake. Wayde warned us it would be a long day: bottles of apple juice and packets of biscuits were decanted and stowed in various pockets in anticipation.
I was nervous. Both the climbs and the technical nature of the terrain were unknown to me; and while I’d done some decent rides in preparation, the profile of our route was intimidating, with a 7km climb to round off the first day.
From early on, the temperature was in the mid-30s. As we wound our way through vineyards and along some rocky singletrack, we all knew that keeping our fluid levels up would be key. But our route took us up the western side of Lake Garda; as we ascended even the first few climbs, the beauty of the lake became more and more evident.
The lake itself covers 370km2. It’s 50km from top to bottom, encompassing three regions: Veneto, Lombardy and Trentino-Alto Adige. But no distance measurements or description or cell phone picture can convey how truly breathtaking this area can be.
Surrounded by towering mountains, the water is calm and glassy, and every shore is dotted with stunning Italian architecture. Once up the first significant climb of the day – the 3.6km Serniga – we could see the lake stretching into the distance, and knew that our route would eventually take us to the opposite shore.
Farmhouses, vineyards and orchards speckled the mountainside, while the distinctive buzzing of cicadas was the background music to our heavy breathing. We rested often, ensuring that any stragglers were able to catch up. This was to be a journey, not a race – nobody was checking average speed and expected arrival time.
At one stage, the route directed us down what turned out to be a very tricky descent, for which our gravel bikes were completely unsuited. We discovered that it was described on Komoot as a ‘black’ mountain-bike trail; most of us had to walk down the steep, rocky hill.
The final climb to our overnight stop, at the Bellavista mountain hotel in Tignale, tested both our legs and our heads; but our reward was a round of cold Radler beers at the hotel pool, pizza at the only pizza restaurant in town, and a visit to the local gelato shop before the Z’s kicked in.
Download the GPX file below