Sotto la Grignetta da Lecco

Notes

Itinerary that passes under the east side of the Grignetta starting from Lecco. The first stretch of asphalt is insignificant, from Resinelli it is always a pleasure to admire the Grignetta, the descent is not extreme even if it has some technical passages at least until Balisio, from there on instead it is much faster and easier. On the way up, it is possible to cut several sections of provincial road, but the fire-cut starting from Malavedo and via Valpozza (also known as Vallo) starting from Ponte della Gallina add little to the itinerary, except for a little extra effort and 15 to 20 minutes of additional time.

Description

From the S.Giovanni district of Lecco you take the old provincial road to Ballabio, a bit busy but still off-peak hours not so bad to ride. Once in Ballabio take the road to Resinelli, which is reached after about 14km uphill from Lecco. The track veers to the left arriving as far as the little Resinelli church where there is a fountain (beware water is not always available), back on our steps we take via Carlo Mauri always uphill until we pass the Soldanella refuge where the asphalt ends.

We continue on the wide carriage road where uphill stretches alternate with flat stretches until the Pian delle Fontane farm at Alpe Muscera, past the farm you find yourself in a large clearing (often used as a parking lot for agricultural vehicles) from which, on the right, a fairly steep downhill road starts, shortly after the road becomes a path (or rather the vegetation has covered what was once a road), the descent should be traveled with some caution, the bottom is quite rough and large stones are scattered a bit 'everywhere.

After several hairpin bends, near a widening, the road, or what remains of it, ends, here you turn left taking the path, it happens that the path is not always evident, it may be useful to walk a few meters to locate the track by making your way through the bushes. As you enter the woods the vegetation becomes sparser and the trail remains evident, after an initial flat section you are near the Muscera stream, then turn right following the trail that initially runs alongside the stream and then away from it. The trail alternates between fairly easy and more challenging stretches but overall remains quite cyclable. (On 2/8/24 I found the path particularly dirty with many branches and stones obstructing the passage, probably the rainy spring has done damage and being infrequently used it has not been fixed and perhaps never will be, despite this I had no particular problems, even in optimal situations some obstacle is always found so avoid bombing down).

After passing the aqueduct house the path becomes a bit more winding because in some sections the pipes protected by concrete emerge from the ground, after a couple of narrow hairpin bends you get onto the Grassi Lunghi road (be careful not to get too strong the road is quite busy with cars and pedestrians). Rapidly downhill you reach the Colle di Balisio, then taking advantage of the underpass you enter the bike path that ends at the gates of Ballabio, now on asphalt first slightly uphill then downhill you cross the village. At the first hairpin bend you leave the main road to take the Strada della Mandria (direction osteria Montalbano), after a few ups and downs you come to a widening with a fork in the road, keep right always downhill until you cross via F.Valsecchi and from here downhill to the starting point.