Timeline
Vincenzo A. Ispra and Patrick L went gravel riding
May 18, 2026
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Vincenzo A. Ispra and Patrick L went gravel riding
May 16, 2026
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May 17, 2026
We set off from Melun with our friend Olivier, who has lived there. EuroVelo 3 follows rivers and canals, but our route often leaves it: it's too complicated to clean the bike in the city to then get it dirty on muddy dirt tracks just a few days after cleaning it! Les affolantes welcome us along the
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Vincenzo A. Ispra and Patrick L went gravel riding
May 13, 2026
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May 14, 2026
Rain is forecast for the coming days. Better to go out even if the sky is gray. To avoid traffic, we take the nearby Canal Saint Denis and follow the banks of the Seine. Industrial landscapes prevail over natural areas. Glimpses of blue and threatening clouds, and finally, heavy rain. In Nanterre, we
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Vincenzo A. Ispra and Patrick L went gravel riding
May 12, 2026
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May 13, 2026
Not a real tour, but a bike cleaning outing at Parc de la Villette. But, after washing, it's still early, and there's time to test the clean bikes. We follow the Canal Saint Denis: it's time to go home, and many do it by bike. We reach the basilica where the kings of France rest. The Stade de France
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Vincenzo A. Ispra and Patrick L went gravel riding
May 9, 2026
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May 10, 2026
We reach Charenton le Pont where the Marne flows into the Seine. From here we begin to go up its course. We pedal without straying too far from Paris, the meanders bring us almost back to the same place. Yet along the river we feel almost on holiday: shaded banks, stately villas, a few beaches. In the
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Vincenzo A. Ispra and Patrick L went gravel riding
May 8, 2026
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May 9, 2026
Draw a route that touches the Parisian racecourses. Give it a shape that resembles a horse, but realize it's more like a little pig. Ride it. It leads to places we would never have crossed if we had followed the most frequented routes: the calm bourgeois neighborhoods of Neuilly, the wooded areas of
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Vincenzo A. Ispra went gravel riding
May 4, 2026
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May 5, 2026
Giro del Lago or Giro d'Italia? A Giro to pedal or to watch? Paolo, come pick me up because we want to discuss it, while we slowly travel the internal roads of the Magra coast. Sangiano, Cittiglio, Besozzo, without missing the beautiful climb of Brebbia. We arrive at Sesto Calende where it is customary
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Vincenzo A. Ispra went gravel riding
May 2, 2026
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May 2, 2026
We meet at the port of Castelletto Ticino, @Shoin, @Davide D'Acunto and I. After years of knowing each other on komoot, it's the first time I meet Shoin, finally! It is he who studied the track, and it is for gravel. We enthusiastically tackle the first dirt roads, the first paths, some climbs, a sandy
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Vincenzo A. Ispra went gravel riding
May 1, 2026
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May 2, 2026
Just a little spin. To take advantage of the sun, the crisp air. To move a bit and loosen up the joints, without overdoing it. Varese is an almost obvious destination. The return is an indecisive zig zag between the cycle path and the road: the cycle path along Lake Varese, too crowded, the road, a continuous
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Vincenzo A. Ispra went gravel riding
April 26, 2026
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April 27, 2026
Paolo promised. He prepared the routes with passion and tested them. Sunday cyclists, this Sunday meet in Borgomanero, @Jenaxs🚴🏼♀️♉, @Giuse🚴♎, Paolo and I. Dirt roads and the coastal road to reach Lake Orta, then the known road that circles the lake, which we travel clockwise. Today Paolo is the
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Vincenzo A. Ispra went gravel riding
April 23, 2026
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April 24, 2026
I have it in mind: the arancino at the Sicilian pastry shop in Varese. It will be the memory of the taste of the arancini, so eagerly awaited, that I used to enjoy as a child on the ferry with a view of Messina. But today it is the destination of the outing, and only afterwards can we discuss a route
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Vincenzo A. Ispra went gravel riding
April 22, 2026
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April 23, 2026
The sun has come out and invites you to go out. I realize that I haven't been cycling alone for a while. I surrender to my thoughts as the landscape drifts by, and the pace slows, the mind prevails over the legs. I understand it when someone overtakes me, and it's clear that I need a hare to pick up
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Vincenzo A. Ispra and Patrick L went gravel riding
April 16, 2026
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April 16, 2026
To go out on Thursdays with the Sunday cyclists, we can be out of the house by eleven. We can venture onto dirt roads and single tracks, since @Giuse🚴♎ knows them. We can cross fords with our feet in the water while staying in the saddle, and pedal to Galliate knowing that in the end the kilometers
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Vincenzo A. Ispra and Patrick L went gravel riding
April 15, 2026
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April 16, 2026
An arancino in Varese, that was the plan. Then the Valmorea cycle path, with the idea of climbing to San Maffeo. But the signs pointing to Rodero led us off the cycle path and once there we got lost. Better to follow the more reassuring signs for Mendrisio. We arrive there via a pleasant dirt road we
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Vincenzo A. Ispra and Patrick L went gravel riding
April 11, 2026
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April 14, 2026
We arrive in Laveno earlier than usual. What do we do? Let's think about Brinzio; we haven't been to our mountains for a while. From Valcuvia to Campo dei fiori, we go a bit randomly, finding ourselves on gravel sections we don't know, among woods and meadows, with vegetation starting to flourish again
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May 20, 2026
Dourdan, our destination, is a town in Essonne with an important past, likely having been the birthplace of Hugh Capet, the founder of the dynasty from which all the kings of France descend. Dourdan is not far, but the sky is threatening. We are still in Paris when, at the place de la Catalogne, a downpour
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