Pedalling in the Park

Italiano

Hikers going to Grigna Settentrionale find numerous signs with the name Pedalando nel Parco, or "Pedalando nel Parco". What do Pedalling in the Park signs refer to? They are the indications of cycling itineraries for mountain bikes that the Valsassina, Valvarrone, Val d'Esino and Riviera Mountain Community has traced on the Grignone, presumably in 2014, to discover ancient itineraries of naturalistic, environmental and historical-cultural interest in the Northern Grigna Regional Park.[^] The Pedalling in the Northern Grigna Regional Park itinerary are five, of various difficulties, in a ring from the Mountain Community headquarters, two of which are entirely on the Pasturo side of the mountain.

Five itineraries

The Pedalling in the Northern Grigna Park itineray are designed for mountain bikes by the Valsassina mountain community exploit the network of roads, trails and mule tracks already present in Grigna, with a route partly common to the traditional hikers'routes, whose widespread vertical signs create curiosity and some confusion or perplexity in the latter. The surface is variable: long stretches on asphalt and concrete roads, because that's how the mountain is now, straight and with hairpin bends, alternating with dirt roads, mule tracks made of broken cobblestones, dirt paths with grass, more insidious stretches, with roots, rocks and small rocks, steps. Since we are in the mountains, there are climbs and descents, even steep ones, for an overall difference in altitude between 500 and 1000 meters, the altitude varies from 600 to 1500 meters, the mileage is between 12 and 25 km.

A common characteristic of the five routes is that they start where the Valsassina cyclepedestrian path begins — in Pratobuscante di Barzio, near a large car park and the pedestrian bridge over the Pioverna stream which divides the municipalities of Pasturo and Barzio (590 m above sea level) — and they are a circular tour, i.e. they end in the same starting point, where it is imagined that the two-wheel tourist left the car. Thus the Valsassina Mountain Community gets some free publicity and knowledge, because the headquarters are in a building in this locality on the valley floor, next to a furnace, which has become a museum.

In Valsassina Outdoor, for each of the five mountain bike tours Pedalando nel Parco regionale della Grigna Settentrionale, there is a description of the environment in which it takes place, the difficulty, the technical skills required, the detailed altimetry and a name, of which there is no trace on the mountain signs. They are called Bike tours, two of which are Gran bike tours due to their length:[^]

• MB9 it1 Gran Bike tour della Grigna Settentrionale,[^] 22,150 Km and about 1000 meters of climb
• MB10 it2 Bike tour dei maggenghi,[^] bike tour of fallow ground, 16,900 Km and less than 600 meters of elevation gain
• MB11 it3 Bike tour della dorsale,[^] bike tour of the dorsal, 12,600 Km and 500 meters of altitude difference uphill
• MB12 it4 Gran Bike tour della Fasana,[^] Fasana is the name of a vertical mountain wall, 25,800 Km and 400 meters of altitude difference
• MB13 it5 Bike tour dei castagni,[^] Bike tour of the chestnut trees, 20,200 Km and 600 meters of altitude difference

Itinerary 2 Bike tour dei maggenghi and the 3 Bike tour della dorsale are totally on the Northern Grigna side above Pasturo. A stretch of itinerary 3, from the church of the Alpini in Cornisella, coincides with the Cornisella - Brunino path.

The vertical signs

The trails for two-wheeled Pedalling in the Grigna Park are indicated in one direction only. Vertical signage signs are present at every crossroads and locality, compliant with the CAI guidelines. The signs of this mountain community project are unmistakable because at the top of the galvanized pole there is a table with the drawing of a cyclist with a backpack on his shoulder going uphill (the bike is inclined) and a logo, Lombardy Region Park System, the table background is red. What is interesting is that there are locality tables with altitude, which is rare in Grigna. It is paradoxical that the signage for bikes is uniform, while the main paths of the Grigna are not managed by a body, with improvised signs, lacking in some forks. Each Pedalando nel Parco waymark table consists of:[^]

• three aluminum lines. The indication is in the middle line if it is unique, if there are more than one the top one is the furthest destination, the other or the other two are intermediate. The format is the name of the place to reach, a dash, and only for the top line the number of the route, from 1 to 5; on the right, a colored circle representing the difficulty of this part of the route, green = easy, light blue = medium
• to the left of the three lines, a red border with the logo of the Comunità Montana Valsassina, Valvarrone, Val d'Esino and Riviera
• on the red arrow, the Grigna Settentrionale Regional Park logo

The desire to know pushed me to look in Cornisella at the tables on the opposite side, to discover that the manufacturer is the Mec.Tir company of Tirano.[^]

Conclusion

The mountain is a beautiful natural place for walking. The lower part of Monte Coden (as the Grigna was called until 1800) is well suited to bicycles due to the presence of roads, mule tracks and wide paths. I love cycling, I have fun and support the sport and the champions in front of the television, but I don't ride a bike. A few years ago the Mountain Community of Valsassina, Valvarrone, Val d'Esino and Riviera launched a mountain bike project by designing five routes with the name Pedalando nel Parco. This signage on the mountain is dense, recognizable by a red sign with a cyclist, which disorientates hikers who are not aware of the routes. Cyclists on the Pedalling in the Northern Grigna Regional Park trails are rare. Two-wheel lovers, more every year due to the spread of e-bikes, have fun on the Grignone while remaining on the Pasturo-Alpe Cova agricultural-silvo-pastoral road, an uphill concrete road with a difference in altitude of around 700 metres, generally to reach the Pialeral, and return to the valley along the same route.

References

1. "Due ruote nel parco [Two wheels in the park]". (in Italian). Parco Grigna. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
2. "Mountain Bike". (in Italian). Valsassina Outdoor. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
3. "MB9 it1 Gran Bike tour della Grigna Settentrionale". (in Italian). Valsassina Outdoor. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
4. "MB10 it2 Bike tour dei maggenghi". (in Italian). Valsassina Outdoor. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
5. "MB11 it3 Bike tour della dorsale". (in Italian). Valsassina Outdoor. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
6. "MB12 it4 Gran Bike tour della Fasana". (in Italian). Valsassina Outdoor. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
7. "MB13 it5 Bike tour dei castagni". (in Italian). Valsassina Outdoor. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
8. Mauro Vezzoli (11 June 2015). "Recent vertical signs Pedaling in the Park in Cornisella, in front of the CAI signs and the church. Cornisella 1050 meters locality table, Risciöl - 2 signpost table, Brunino - 3 signpost table. Two logos in each table, one Valsassina, Valvarrone, Val d'Esino and Riviera Mountain Comunity, the other Northern Grigna Regional Park.". In Cornisella, Escursioni sul Grignone, Escursioni sulle Grigne, Escursionismo in montagna, Escursionismo in Valsassina, Estate, Itinerario Pedalando nel Parco 2 Bike tour dei maggenghi, Itinerario Pedalando nel Parco 3 Bike tour della dorsale, Segnaletica dei sentieri del Grignone, Sentiero Pasturo - Pialeral, Sentiero Pasturo - Pialeral (da Pasturo a Cornisella). [Google Photos photo]. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
9. "Mec.tir snc - Segnaletica EU". segnaletica.eu. Retrieved 8 September 2023.