Cycling in Lucca

[JacobJuul]

I'm going to be visiting Lucca with a friend of mine, in Feburary until late march to train. (cycling).

But is it even possible to ride in the mountains in this period of time?
Is there snow or icy roads ? I can find a weather report from Lucca, but it's hard to find anything about the weather in the mountains surrounding Lucca.

I hope some of you can help.

[vongoren]

Hi Jacob
well, it mostly depends on what you mean with riding on the mountains.
The mountains North of Lucca are snowed from 800-1000 meters of altitude and especially in February - March the slopes are often frozen (and quite dangerous, as witnessed by the yearly number of victims).

By street bike, the routes are in the bottom of valleys are nice even though with a lot of traffic; be carefull.
A very classic tour is Lucca -> Garfagnana valley -> Castelnuovo in Garfagnana -> Tunnel of Cipollaio to the sea side -> Versilia -> Lucca, roughly 120 km long.
Another classic is taking the train from Lucca until Aulla, then to come down to Lucca by bike all along the Garfagnana.

By mountain bike, as said i would avoid the Apuane in that season, also considering that the paths are quite hard on those steep mountains.

Garfagnana is much easier and more suitable for MTB at lower height. MTB can be a good mean fof discovering the hills just North of Lucca, from Pescia to Monte Carlo, Freddana valley, Camaiorese, tours around the lake and marsh of Massaciuccoli, Sant'Anna di Stazzema, high lands of Versilia etc.

Monte Serra, between Lucca and Pisa, is definitely warmer and easier to bike, both for street and for mountain bike.

This link gives you an idea about the state of weather
http://www.lamma.rete.toscana.it/pre...oll_meteo.html
I consider it the best weather forecast for that region, unfortunately in Italian, but the grafic is international :-)

Ciao
M

I'm going to be visiting Lucca with a friend of mine, in Feburary until late march to train. (cycling).

But is it even possible to ride in the mountains in this period of time?
Is there snow or icy roads ? I can find a weather report from Lucca, but it's hard to find anything about the weather in the mountains surrounding Lucca.

I hope some of you can help.