Val Verva Loop

Today another world opened up in these enchanting valleys, we climbed from a very hard dirt road to the Cancano lakes, then from the Decauville path just below the first asphalted bends for Le Torri di Farle we dominated the valley from the top of a beautiful white road, then at Arnoga we took the Val Verva, wild, solitary, only mountains, cows, and marmots, a river and our stony road, from there passed the Verva pass between enchanting transparent mountain lakes we descended to Grosio and from the Valtellina path a pleasant return to Bormio

From Bormio a ring with epic views over fairytale valleys. We immediately descend along the Valtellina cycle path to Grosio where the long and tough climb up to Passo Verva begins. The last 5 km are dirt roads where we push for the most part. Going up the hill, Val Verva opens up as far as the eye can see. Once in Val Viola we follow the cycle path up to Arnoga and then take the Decouville which takes us to the Torri di Fraele and the Cancano lakes, where we sleep at the Monte Scale refuge. The following morning we skirt the lakes to the valley floor, where we take the path to Val Mora with short "technical" sections where we prefer to proceed with caution. Val Mora is breathtaking, a paradise for every biker. Unfortunately the Umbrail Pass is closed due to the risk of landslide after the recent torrential rains. We are therefore forced to go down to Prato (with the beautiful Val Venosta cycle path) and climb the Stelvio with the last remaining energy. Now at dusk we descend with apprehension, given that Ale has completely finished the front pads and the rear ones are at their limit. But all's well that ends well.

The tour takes place at 50% on unpaved roads and with a good surface even if made friable by the persistent drought. The ascent to Passo di Verva in the last 5km of dirt roads exceeds a 20% gradient for a long stretch (max 25%) and can force you to set foot on the ground (generous tires and perhaps some tessellation are recommended); the subsequent descent is instead gentler and with a better bottom, it also allows you to let go of the brakes a bit. The stretch from Val Viola to Lake Cancano is simply perfect, mostly flat and with a magnificent background. The descent from Lake Cancano is on a beautiful ground but also here made slippery by drought, to be done with caution, the slopes are not extreme cmq (about 15%). Alternatively, you can go back to the Fraele towers and do the asphalt If you want, you could also do the opposite, probably resulting in less tiring since you would avoid the steeper sections to do uphill, even if finding them downhill could still be difficult.