Monte Lema, Monte Mondini

An epic route with lots of trails in Malcantone, straddling Switzerland and Italy. The start is in Breganzona, but you can easily start in Bioggio, avoiding the final 150-meter climb. I did it with a Canyon Lux Trail with 120/110 mm of travel, as the elevation gain is considerable and the descents are fairly easy except for one.

The first climb is Ronchi, which takes us to Cademario. Initially unpaved, after a small bridge it becomes paved and climbs quite steeply through the vineyards with views of Lake Lugano and Agno airport.

We arrive in Cademario, continue to the top of the paved road, and take a left onto a forest path/road which, after a hundred meters of elevation gain, takes us to the first descent on the trail. Forest terrain, a few tight but manageable hairpin bends, a few sections with loose stones, and we are above Iseo, where we take the paved road and follow it to Aranno with a few ups and downs. We enter the charming village of Aranno on cobblestones, which is very pretty.

In the maze of alleys, we take a path, the most difficult of the tour, which will take us to the bottom of the valley that divides Aranno from Novaggio. There are a few hairpin bends with steps which, if wet, are not easy. The rest is feasible with good technique and good line choice. We arrive at the river and cross it on a small bridge. This is a great place to swim when it's hot.

We continue on the opposite side, but after a hundred meters we find ourselves pushing our bikes for 5 minutes up a steep, rocky path. After a bit of pushing and a bit of pedaling, we arrive below the village of Novaggio. Here begins a paved section that will take us to Astano, where we take a beautiful trail that will take us across the border with Italy. There are the remains of a border house. The final part of the trail is downhill on a Via Crucis with small steps that will make your bike and your back cry out for mercy. When we reach a paved road, we follow it to the right, but not before filling our water bottles at a fountain right in front of the trail and looking in disbelief at the MTB sign up the Via Crucis.

We follow the small road, which then turns into a path and takes us out onto another road that we follow to the right and immediately leave to begin the long climb to Monte Lema (1100 meters of elevation gain). Most of the climb is easy, on asphalt and without traffic, until we reach the Campiglio Refuge, where we can refresh ourselves on a spectacular terrace overlooking Lake Maggiore.

This is where the real hard work begins. First, a gentle dirt road takes us further up, then we find ourselves on a trail that is initially rideable but with broken and steep sections that will force us to push, and finally on the summit slope of Monte Lema, which requires 15-20 minutes of pushing and sweating.

This brings us to a flat path, completely rideable, which takes us to the Monte Lema restaurant and the cable car of the same name. The cable car transports bikes, so if you want to save yourself a lot of effort, take it. However, you will miss out on the many trails we have taken to get here.

We pass through the upper station of the cable car and follow the newly restored trail to try out the new Monte Lema trail, built specifically for bikes. Initially, it is a spectacular traverse, then we find ourselves on the ridge and a series of tight, unprotected bends force us to slow down drastically. You will stop anyway because the view is spectacular.

Further down, there is a section with parabolic curves where you can let your bike run, but unfortunately it doesn't last long.

When we reach a dirt road, we cross it and follow what is a bike trail full of crossings before the tight bends that invite you to cut across. I don't understand the point of this, but the fact is that even today (the trail is new) it was full of cuts. We arrive at a pass with a fountain and follow the signs for 66 to return to Astano. Unfortunately, the descent is on a sort of boring dirt road. In Astano, we retrace our steps on the asphalt, with a cut on a trail, and then head towards Monte Mondini, the last highlight of the day. Uphill, an almost entirely rideable trail takes us to the entrance of a trail built for MTBs.

In the middle of the descent, there is a climb that will require our last efforts before we can enjoy the descent towards the lake with its many banked curves. We arrive in Pura, cross it, and descend on a trail with a technical passage to reach Magliaso. From there, we follow the cycle path to Agno and climb back up to Breganzona.