Rock Blocks Video Blog 2012 - Freeride and MTB

Following videos includes montainbiking and freeride shots from our last year's adventures at Lake Garda. Each published videos has a link to the actual article to read details of the day.

We'll be back...


3.8.2012 Secret spot and a hidden trail - Punta dei Larici

6.8.2012 Anaconda freeride run

8.8.2012 King Tremalzo

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King Tremalzo

Our transportation arrived to Tremalzo.

If I would have to ride only one mountainbike trail at Lake Garda it would be Tremalzo trail down to Riva. Ride starts from top of the Tremalzo at 1800 meters and descends down to 80 meters. Length of the route varies slightly between different paths but it is around 30 kilometers long.

Bike shuttle started from Torbole at 10:00 and arrived to Tremalzo 50 minutes later. The trip wasn't boring because shuttle driver had prepared a karaoke session for passengers. Definitely a right attitude for the day. Karaoke song was Litfiba's Tex. I didn't understood too much of the lyrics, but the main message was clear, lonely cowboy riding alone in the desert. That fits pretty well for the day's theme. And of course our shuttle driver was the loudest singer, bravo Luca!

Preparation for the ride started with coffee at the Rifugio Garda at 1686 meters. During the final check we noticed that Jarkko's bike wasn't in a proper shape. Several spokes were badly loose and because of that the whole rim was risky for a long ride. Luckily Sami had a proper tool to fix the rim. After half an hour Sami managed to tighten the spokes and to rebalance the rim. It seems that bike rentals do not check the rims at all between customers.

Starting tunnel at Tremalzo on 1800 meters.

At twelve we finally started to head towards the starting point of the trail. Approach took about 15 minutes from the reataurant and we had to climb additional 120 meters up to 1800 meters. The fun part starts just after the tunnel. Initial part of the Tremalzo trail  goes on an old World War I road. Story tells that prisoners of the war built the road during World War I.

Rocky road is easy to ride and for us that meant a high speed. Still we had to use breaks a lot on the steep curves to avoid sliding and falling out of the way. The road is mostly covered with loose rock and is thus demanding to ride fast on tight curves.

Old war road ended to the Passo Nota at 1205 meters and first part of the trail was completed. From Passo Nota we headed towards Bocca dei Fortini (1243 meters) by following the trail number 421. Here some pedaling was required to ride few steep uphills. Next we headed to Passo Guil (1209 meters) by following again the trail number 421. From Passo Guil we continued to Passo Rocchetta (1159 meters) switching to the trail number 422.

Trail map.

At Passo Rocchetta we continued on the 422 wich is long, fast and enjoyable to ride. There is also more technical alternative 422bis. I have done it once. Still I wouldn't recommend it. It is great for experienced and technical trail riders but 422bis is it's own kind of a "fun" and majority of the riders do not enjoy it.

After the trail ended to a rock road we had a small planning break for the rest of the day. During the recent years I have chosen the rocky and dry riverbed that is crossing the 422bis pedaling route (see our trip to the secret spot). It is enjoyable and fast trail that crosses the 422bis few times until it joins to the main route 422bis.

Freeriding path 422 nearby Passo Rocchetta.

This year was different. We chose the 422 trail that ends nearby Pregasina. It is more demanding  and steeper than the earlier part. This trail requires good control on a loose rock, on steep turns and on sudden drops. Final part of the trail runs on a very loose rock road. From that part forward the path continues to on an asphalt road and then via old Ponale road down to Riva.

Tremalzo trail has shown it's greatness again. It is a nice combination of easy scenery roads, technical trails and demanding and steep descents. We had a great reason to enjoy ice cream at  Riva!

Videos will be available afterwards once we get a better Internet access.

See our photos from the Tremalzo trail.

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Anaconda freeride run

GPS map of the day.

It was time for a good trail run. Having a good trail means also a long ascent with a lot of pedaling. Target trail for the day was Anaconda that is one of the most enjoyable rides that I have rode at the Lake Garda region. Trail starts from a village Santa Barbara at 1170 meters. To get there we had to pedal uphill around 1100 meters via road SP88 that eventually ends up to Santa Barbara.

For some reason we started the day slighly later than usually. We left from Villa Nicole at noon at the hottest moment of the day. For our luck the temperature was only 34 celcius degrees and there was actually a good propability for a rain.

Having a break.

Our pedaling part took about 2 hours and 20 minutes. During the climb we had our first break in a shadow after the first 300 vertical meters. It was essential to choose a shadowed spot for the breaks, otherwise we would have run out our water supplies too early. After the first stop we had a break after every 200 meters of pedaling. This may sound lousy for a street biker but for a trail biker with a heavy bike to pedal and to carry all the essential protective gear it is decent uphill. 

Start of the trail.

Once the pedaling part was completed up to, the Santa Barbara, we found the trail by turning right to a dirt road just before the center of the village. Actual trail found soon after that on the right side of the dirt road. Anaconda trail is starting a trekking path number 637 and the beginning point was easy to find.

Trail starts with a smooth part with good nature banks that allows to ride fast. Regular cross country riders can enjoy the same trail just with less speed. There were few small upphills at the trail, but overall it was a smooth and enjoyable ride. First part continues to Malga Fiavei. From there the trail follows the dirt road for some time. Soon after Malga Fiavei there was a bike path separating to the left side form the dirt road. Spot can be racognized easily, there are log steps covered with some sand for trekkers. Anaconda follows that path down to Nago. This part of the trail was more demanding and I would recommend cross country riders to continue on the dirt road to Arco instead of the bike trail. From this point further Anaconda shows it's true nature.

Altitude and speed chart of the day.

Last parts of the trail was quite demanding even for a Garda veteran. Lots and lots of loose stones and sharp rock on endless paths. Trail is definitely ridable but on some parts I felt that I should have known better what is coming up. I bet that it pays to ride this part few times in a row to learn all the best lines and turns on the most difficult spots.

Finally we arrived to Nago where everyone of us ran out of water. That left us only one option: to ride a nice and easy dirt road towards Arco. Great day, total of 5 hours and 30 minutes of good riding. For me a hard biking day means that I'm obligated to eat ice cream as much I can swallow! Not a bad deal.

Freeriding at the Anaconda trail.

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Secret spot and a hidden trail - Punta dei Larici

Trail map from Riva to Punta dei Larici.

Short but still one of my favorite trails starts from the "secret spot" at Lake Garda. Punta dei Larici is located at 908 meters on a beautiful peak with a gorgeous view over the lake and down to Limone. There is still a price to pay to get up there. Reasonable climb of 800 meters sounds ok but the final 350 meters of the pedaling goes up on a steep dirt road. Biking uphill on a dirt road starts to feel an excercise when temperature rises up to 35 celcius degrees and the rider has a heavy trail bike.

Our trip started from Riva nearby the car tunnel on the western side of the city. Trail was closed around 2003 or 2004 because of heavy rains, but luckily it was re-opened and is now in use for trekking and mountainbiking purposes. This old trail is one of the most beautiful bike climbs at Lake Garda and during the early afternoon hours the road is usually full of tourists.

Heta, Jarkko, Sami and Mika posing at the secret spot.

After the scenery road ends the pedaling continues towards Pregasina. Road to Pregasina has good asphalt and is easy to pedal. Our trip's halfway hotel was at La Madonnina statue. From here the road continues towards Pregasina village that had the last spot to fill water reserves before Punta dei Larici. From Pregasina to the Punta dei Larici the road became more rough and steep.

Final spot Punta dei Larici found by turning left at the crossroads with trail 422bis. This secret spot offered a great place for relaxing and getting energy for the best part of the ride, trail down to Pregasina.

Our speeds and altitudes during the day.

Going down the main road would be a waste of effort in a place like this. Still most of the riders seems to go down to Pregasina via the main ascent trail 422bis. Over the years I have found a great alternative trail that crosses the main 422b few times and eventually ends up to the main road. This path is marked on some maps as a river or rivulet. To find the starting location we headed down via the 422bis but on a first steep right turn we headed down to woods. Starting point should be easy to find by keeping eye on the right side of the road. I'm not going explain more about the delails, let the video show the rest. Videos are still pending due our limited internet connection.

See photos from Flickr

Trail riding nearby Pregasina.

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