Paul and I decided we wanted to enjoy a bit of sun, climbing hills on the bikes and in shuttles and biking down a variety of trails so we booked flights for Lake Garda and off we went. End of May seemed a great time to go with the weather warming up but not being scorching and yes we had made the right decision as we left England with the forecast for home looking miserable! We landed in Verona and made our way to Torbole at the north end of the Lake close to Riva del Garda. Last time I was here it was 40 degrees and I was miserable due to nursing an ankle injury with stitches after a rock fell on it in the Dolomites, therefore at the time I disliked the area; too hot, could not cool down in the water grrrrrrr. Luckily this time my opinion totally changed as a full week of mtb was encountered whilst meeting many friendly and amazing people, thanks Liteville, Syntace and Michael Cycle Shiel for making our holiday fantastic with great bikes and trails.
The pictures speak more than words for this area so I am not going to waffle on. Some days we biked up to the top of the mountains with hike a bikes such as Monte Stivo and Altissimo, other days we used our legs and shuttles (Bocca di Fobia) and then we were also lazy and just used the shuttles.
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| Day 1 taking the shuttle up to do Tremalzo classic |
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| Tremalzo Classic climbing the grassy slope whilst gasping for breath |
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| Enjoying the view to the lake whilst the sun was starting to shine |
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| Lake Garda |
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| Climbing up to Naranche 800 metres |
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| Enjoying a quick rest before climbing another 1300 metres! |
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| Mule trail begins and the steep road is left behind us. |
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Looking ahead, are we really going up there?
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| Nearly at Monte Stivo |
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| Carrying time. |
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| Looking back down to Torbole where we were a few hours before. |
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Enjoying the views at the top of Monte Stivo
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| Worth the effort. |
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| Downhill begins. |
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| After pushing on the 666 the trail becomes flowy and rideable. |
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Lower down weaving through the trees.
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| Day 3, the trails become steppy and rocky. Michael shows us his skill. |
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| Push, carry and scramble along this route. |
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| Amazing views as we traverse along with drops to the right eeek! |
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| Day 4 - We decided to bike up to Altissimo whilst Michael got the shuttle. Will we beat him there? |
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| 601 route becomes a carry it is going to be interesting descending this later. |
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| Altissimo ahead in the cloud. |
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| Unfortunately Michael beat us there. |
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| Preparing for the 601 |
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| Off we go. |
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| Fun times on the 601 |
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| Rocky section conquered without dabbing. |
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| Coast Trail |
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| Heading down the coast trail a little exposed in places! |
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| Day 5 - Climbed up to the skull, ready for a quick blast down before the Naranche Trail and then the Anaconda Trail. |
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| Surprisingly the 601 climbed well and handled the downhills fantastically. Never attempted so many technical sections before. |
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| First World War trenches |
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| Day 6 - Enjoying a group ride with a downpour for just a few hours. Long lunch in snack bar appreciated until the showers passed. |
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| Day 7 - Last blast before heading to the airport |
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| Views amazed us all week. |
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| Great fun had on the 301 All Mountain, 301 Enduro and 601 |
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| Bunny keeping an eye on the customers. "What would you like ribbit, ribbit?" |
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