Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Riding the "strade bianche" or white roads of Italy with Ciclismo Classico. Ciclismo Classico The hottest trend in bike travel right now has to be gravel biking. It’s a sport that’s vaulted into the mainstream, and it’s why bike tour companies like Ciclismo Classico, an American operator that has long specialized in Italian bike tours, has just introduced four gravel bike tours to their roster of trips.
Gravel biking, for the uninitiated, means that you’re riding on gravel roads, not paved ones, at least for much of the day you spend on the bike. Avoiding pavement entirely is hard to do in a country like Italy. Specially designed gravel bikes are built for these conditions, with wider tires to provide better traction, a longer wheelbase, disc brakes, and drop handlebars.
Ciclismo Classico has custom designed their own gravel bike, La Ribelle Gravel, in a partnership with Officine Mattio, a well-known Italian bike company, and is rolling them out for these tours. The advantages of gravel biking over road biking are enormous. A gravel road is the road less traveled.
There are far fewer cars and trucks, or none in some cases. It’s a far more peaceful and scenic way to experience a place and there is no worry about a fully-loaded semi passing you at 70 miles per hour. In the best cases, you can go for hours without encountering motor vehicles.
Speed is not of the essence on these trips, which you can think of as “sl.