Campolongo sul Brenta

June 23, 2025

We are looking forward to our ride today, having settled on a small town outside Bassano del Grappa for our last overnight before this amazing journey comes to a close. The route consists of bikeways again and, more importantly, it’s all downhill! We had considered riding to Asiago as a last night in the hills but when I had a close look at the three access points, it was scratched off the list and replaced with Campolongo sul Brenta. All three routes to Asiago involve a major climb with 12-15% grades and one of them has two such climbs. Nope, nada, uh-uh, no way Josè, we’re not doing that. Besides, what was I thinking? Maybe it was the thought of going to such a famous cheesey place. In any case, Asiago will have to wait for another time. We are off on a ride that follows the Brenta River all day.

Another glorious day begins. That’s a hill for another day.

As we were packing up after breakfast, I heard the sound of a helicopter, very close by. I dashed out to the lounge and saw a helicopter descending for a landing on a property just two streets in front of us. Anna came and was just as surprised as I was. There had been no sirens but she said it was likely a medical emergency. I commented how skilled the pilot was to make a landing in a neighbourhood in the city! Apparently they can airlift patients by helicopter to Trento in just three minutes. The helicopter shut its engines down and about 10 minutes later, lifted off and David took this photo.

Morning excitement unfolding in front of us.

We thanked Anna for her hospitality and said our goodbyes by 8am, an early start for us simply because the weather was going to be a stinker today. We cruised down to the bottom of Levico, zipped across the highway and hung a sharp left to follow the Brenta eastward on the bikeway.

I had plotted the route out last night on cycle.travel and sent it to my GPS unit, all the while thinking how it wouldn’t be necessary because we’d be riding just one bikeway today. Ha.. not so fast, grasshopper! It’s a darn good thing I plotted it because there was not one, but a network of bikeways on the valley floor. Whenever we came to a Y, a T or a crossroad, we knew which way to turn. What a time saver!

When the Downside is Good

The downside of something is usually the undesirable result of something but in the cycling world, it has a much sunnier meaning: the downside of a hill or mountain is when the free miles kick in! It’s like cashing in on the hard work it takes to get to the top of the hill, no matter how small it is. And in a tour like this, the payback can last for days. I got to thinking about all the downhill cruising over the last few days and it dawned on me that we’d earned it by gaining all the elevation that peaked on the Stelvio day. Now, it seems obvious we’d be going downhill back to Venice, right? It would if I’d considered it, but we have been living in the moment for the entire tour and taking everything as it comes, soaking it all in moment to moment. The big underlying goal was to summit the Stelvio Pass and enjoy it and I’d spent no time considering the free miles that we’d have riding back downhill to the Venetian plain. Today, it was the gift that kept on giving. And, I’m guessing it’s why the Via Claudia Augusta is loved by so many!

Most, but not all, paths lead to Bassano.

The first thing you notice as you near Borgo Valsugana, just 15k from Levico, is the castle complex on the hill overlooking the city and the valley, for that matter. Castel Telvana was developed around the square 26-metre high lookout tower. It was a strategic structure during Roman times and played an important role in control of the Claudia Augustsa ‘Altinate’. Today it is privately owned but you can still access the killer view over the valley by walking up the original muletrack from Borgo.

Borgo is a cute town, another good choice for an overnight stay.

What’s not to love about this? Come and take a stroll along the river.

Castle view from the west as we were leaving town.

There is no end of work in looking after and managing water in this region. The Brenta does not look like a grand river at this time of year but it’s evident that it has its moments when water gushes off the mountains and sweeps everything in its path downstream. The hydrologic issues of the area are known and well-researched. Weather events here develop rapidly and unpredictably and involve large volumes of waterand sediment. To this end, they were working on shoring up the riverbed. We were astounded at the size of the rocks on the opposite bank. I imagine they will all be reorganized to make a solid flank to contain future flows.

Work being done to stabilize the riverbed.

Upstream view, where the washout entered the Brenta.

The source of the big washout. That would have been one fearsome sight.

The ducks watched as the renovations to their digs proceeded.

Gorgeous lilies grew in swaths along the trail.

Information station and shelter from the rain, if you’re unlucky to encounter it.

On and on it went. Dreamy cycling and we had it to ourselves once again.

Cycle tourism, as an industry, is advanced here and this makes it a very appealing destination for bikers of all ages. Knowing that cyclists need food, drink and rest, there are trailside Bicigrills along the way. This one is more like a bicibar than a grill as there are no bratwursts on the grill but maybe that gets underway in another season. We stopped for a cold drink and a strudel to cool off in the shade, as did several other bikers. We were surprised to see so many cyclists as we hadn’t seen many on the trail today.

The bicibar, a welcome and popular stop for a snack, a strudel or just a cold drink.

Now, this is my kind of stool. There were others made from mountain bike shocks.

There were seats of all descriptions at the Bicibar.

We were nearing the point where the Brenta pokes through the mountains, heading south. Eventually, it emerges at Bassano del Grappa. The pathway here is older and a bit rougher but still a fantastic respite from traffic which has its own highway to duke it out with other drivers. Our plan was to stay just a few km upstream from Bassano as it’s a comparatively large town and we anticipated the tourists would be flocking there.

As we neared the bend in the Brenta, we began having dejaa vu moments, recognizing the scenery as we approached. Soon, it all fell into place. We had ridden here in the opposite direction and had taken a turn to the east at this same point. The small pass we rode on our way to Feltre was buried deep in the forest to our left, but still looked familiar. Soon after, we crossed the somewhat confusing but familiar tangled, spaghetti of roadways that connect the north-south and east-west highways. Then we were back on our own trail along the wooded west bank of the Brenta.

Another Bicibar, this one is closed but was hopping four weeks ago.

The reminders of the horrors of World War I are abundant in this area and here, we came upon a small cemetery next to the trail. We had ridden right past it several weeks ago. We spent a few peaceful minutes to take it in, noting once again the ages of the fallen soldiers. Many were under 20yrs old.

Eventually, the trail ended and we were back on the minor highway. It was very quiet, as most drivers head for the main highway across the river.

A classic scene, riding through a small Italian town.

The competitive kayak course was quiet today.

Two kayakers were practising on the course. It is one tough sport!

We were in no hurry so took a break for a cold drink at a roadside gelateria. We ordered our usual small drink and a coffee smoothie. Meanwhile at the next table of bikers, all senior men, servings of big gelatos smothered in strawberry sauce and whipped cream were brought out. We really are wimps sometimes!

Across the valley we could see and hear the works of a dolomite & lime extraction facility. The entire wall of the mountain has been extracted over the past 100 years.

A dolomite & limestome extraction site, still going after 100 years. For all you gardeners, this is the what we use on our lawns and gardens.

David stopped to take a picture of the grassy path that I griped about a few weeks ago. Something along the lines of.. cycle paths just stop once you get on them. What I thought was a marked cycle way above, was only a small connector to the Brenta Cycle path, and a pretty nice one at that. What a queen 🙄!

I’m not sure what they mean. Do we all have to fall in line here instead of weaving?

The beautiful crystal clear Brenta River.

Each morning, I make it a habit to contact the B&B or hotel on Whatsapp to tell them when we expect to arrive and ask if we can check in a bit early. The answer is almost always ‘yes’. Today, I suggested 3pm but we arrived at 2pm so we hung out by the river for awhile, where there was a light cooling breeze. We watched children in the river rafts screaming with glee as their rafts bounced over the rapids. This is their last day of school and they were enjoying it to the fullest. There were 5 rafts with about 20-25 kids per raft. We attracted their attention and had them yelling, ‘Say pizza!’, and having paddles-up matches. What fun!

Our hotel was located right on the main drag. The restaurant overlooked the river and our room was in a building across the street. It was a classic, older hotel that somehow fitted exactly with the tranquility and hospitality we wanted for our last day in the mountains. Breakfast is offered at 6:30 am because many of their customers are local workers.

View from the municipal garden of the town across the river, from our hotel room.

For dinner, David ordered a braised pork dish while I ordered a traditional bacala on polenta. Both were delicious and satisfying. We drew swords, I mean spoons, as we usually do when sharing an affogato for dessert.

Tomorrow we make the trek back to our Agriturismo near the Venice airport.

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Today's ride: 64 km (40 miles)
Total: 997 km (619 miles)

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Anne AnastasiouWhat beautiful scenery, yet again, today. What an amazing trip.
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4 weeks ago

Patrick O'HaraThanks for sharing your adventure with us, guys!
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4 weeks ago