Our route starts from the Ponte Vecchio in Lecco: continuing along the cycle path we arrive shortly after in Pescarenico.
«Pescarenico is a small piece of land, on the left bank of the Adda, or rather the lake, not far from the bridge: a small group of houses, mostly inhabited by fishermen, and decorated here and there with trammel nets and nets aimed to dry. ” A. Manzoni, I promessi sposi, chap. 4
Its name derives from the special seventeenth-century concession of the right to fish to the families who lived there in the stretch of the Adda between the two lakes of Lecco and Garlate, particularly rich in fish.
Our bike route proceeds through Maggianico: the cycle path runs along the state road that leads from Lecco towards Calolziocorte, but if you have the whole day available, we recommend a stop at Villa Gomes.
To reach it, it is necessary to leave the stretch of cycle path we are traveling on, turning left just before the Palataurus complex and go down through the pedestrian subway. Villa Gomes is located behind the Lecco-Maggianico station.
Instead, continuing straight along the cycle path in Rivabella you pass the Palataurus complex on the left and a series of industrial warehouses, to reach the end of the straight, which winds here in two parts: if you proceed to the left, passing the overpass, that stretch of cycle path ends right in front of the Church of Blessed Serafino di Chiuso; if you continue to the right after the roundabout, you will skirt the Rivabella campsite and continue by bike to Vercurago.
We choose to make a very short stop in Chiuso to see the church of Santo Serafino, and then go back for a short distance and continue along the cycle path to Vercurago-Calolzio.
From Vercurago the cycle path continues in a less rational way: upon reaching the Lido di Vercurago it is necessary to continue by bike for a short distance in the Pascolo di Calolzio hamlet: we cross the state road in front of the Cartiera dell’Adda to find ourselves along the river and continue in a straight line more easily up to the Complex of Santa Maria del Lavello.
Leaving the Sanctuary of the Lavello we take the bikes again: our route continues towards the Alzaia Bridge, previously built to house a railway line and then decommissioned in the 1990s, when a new one was built, not far away. Since the end of 2012, the provincial administration of Lecco has restored the bridge for cycle and pedestrian use, rebuilding it in wood and this giving the area a new tourist impetus.
The bridge will allow us to cross the course of the Adda to reach the opposite bank of Olginate. We will return to Lecco on this side of the river. With the bikes we pass by the stretch of the river that runs along Olginate and that frames a little further another reinforced concrete bridge,whose name is Ponte Vittorio Emanuele III.
Inaugurated in 1911, already in the following decade it was affected by major interventions aimed at ensuring its stability.
The upper part was completely demolished while the pillars formed the foundations of the structure that still today connects the two banks of the Adda.
In the dry moments of the river it is still possible to glimpse the remains that someone connect to a Roman bridge built between the third and fourth centuries while others to an early medieval defensive structure that would incorporate the ancient warhead.
This ford was part of the important road that connected Bergamo to Como and the Postojna consular road to the north-east.
Despite the destruction of the bridge between the 5th and 6th centuries, the road remained vital for the traffic of the territory and the connection was maintained, at first, thanks to a walkway resting on the remains of the pylons or by boats.
After Olginate, continue straight towards Garlate, where we will stop at the Silk Museum.
After the visit to the museum we head towards Pescate, a village between lake and mountains and strip of land of considerable landscape-environmental interest.
From the bank of Pescate we stop to admire in front of us the village of Pescarenico, framed by the Resegone.
Once past Pescate, the cycle path leads to Ponte Vecchio, where our circular tour along the cycle path ends.
