The best road cycling routes around Soazza

Nice to see at the roadside

The old track bed is now a very beautiful cycle path.

Behind the post office in the village center, another work by the Swiss artist duo NEVERCREW is hidden on the wall of a private house. The depiction of the bear is part of the art project in Moesano.

Along the wall by the road towards the village center, you will find a large mural with an elephant. The work comes from the Swiss artist duo NEVERCREW and addresses the relationship between humans and nature.

Station, Grono - (1907-2013) History of the BM With the inauguration of the new San Bernardino motorway (1970), the small, narrow-gauge Mesolcina railway, with no direct connection to the nearby Gotthard railway, appeared obsolete. Starting in 1972—amidst lively protests from the Moesa population—passenger service was discontinued and replaced by P.T.T. buses. After the loss of three out of five electric locomotives due to serious accidents (1969) and the damage to the Soazza-Mesocco section in the 1978 flood, the length of the railway line was significantly reduced on the Castione-Cama stretch. The Rhaetian Railway (which had absorbed the BM between 1942 and 1943 during the severe economic crisis) decided to store its rolling stock in a disused factory in the Grono industrial area, which became a large depot and workshop for overhauling the bogies. This space will be the starting point for the redevelopment of what remains of the Bellinzona-Mesocco electric railway for tourism. In 1985, the Friends of the Mesolcinese Railway Association (AAFM) was founded, and in the summer of 1995 the first Sunday passenger service was inaugurated, a service that continued every summer for the next 18 years. In 2000, the Association transformed into the Tourist Railway Operations Company (SEFT) and recovered an original BM electric locomotive (purchased by the Gotthard Railway Club in 1980), built in Prague in 1909 before being sold to France. In 2003, the Rhaetian Railway also discontinued its freight service, and SEFT was granted another decade of passenger transport. On October 27, 2013, the last tourist run between Castione and Cama took place, definitively ending railway operations in Mesolcina. Since 2020, a Swiss electric locomotive with first and second class seats (1933) and a Belgian freight car (1889) used by the BM have been on public display in the Al Pascolet industrial area on the site of Fratelli Censi SA Tecnica Ferroviaria, not far from the former SEFT depot-workshop. Text / Source: visit-moesano.ch https://www.visit-moesano.ch/sites/moesano/files/2024-04/Storia%20BM.pdf

Self-service Hofladen. A very well-placed stop to refuel before continuing on to the climb to San Bernardino Pass. Yoghurt, cheese, sausages, ice cream... Yoghurt is really delicious. If you are lucky, you might meet a super friendly feline friend, which is happy to share some of the delicious yoghurt ☺️

Steep! Make sure you have the right gears and eat enough!!

The route begins in the historic town of Chiavenna and follows a mostly flat, well-maintained cycle path south along the Mera River. Passing the picturesque Lago di Mezzola, the route offers beautiful lake views and leads through quiet villages with a typically Italian flair. The route is mostly paved and very suitable for road bikes, also ideal for longer tours to Lake Como. Here, riders can expect a scenic ride with views of mountains, lakes, and Mediterranean vegetation. The route can be easily combined with a train or rail connection, allowing for flexible departure and return times.