Spring in Friuli

We meet Massimiliano, shortly Max, at the bar "Al Posto Giusto", the hub for everything that revolves around mountain biking in the small town of Nimis. The president of the local bike club "Maglianera" is a powerfully built, always smiling jack-of-all-trades who has meticulously planned our visit.
It is my third stay here, after Max contacted us last November via Instagram and invited us. And as always, the day begins with coffee and croissants.
After a short round of introductions - this time I have brought some of our guides and photographer Christoph with me - we head straight to the trails. The Bernadia Trail Area and the Lugnesie Bikepark are on the agenda today.

The Monte Bernadia rises like a big block from the landscape of the Friulian hills, and at first glance, its flanks do not really look inviting. At the summit sits the Forte Bernadia, built in 1910, a memorial from the First World War which, lying in the second line of defense, was never involved in a battle.
Nowadays, celebrations and the occasional rave take place in the vaults.

Our trails are physical," Max briefly explains to us before he dives into the dense green of the first path. And indeed, we will find out that these are not smoothed out, machine-built, easy-flowing highways where you can just let yourself drift downhill.
The limestone, after last week's rainfalls, is a mix of slippery and sharp-edged, and there are repeated counter climbs that are definitely more fun if you sprint up them standing on the pedals. These paths clearly favor fit bikers - but then again, which ones don't?

The characteristics of the trails are due to their origin: With painstaking manual labor, the team from Maglianera has uncovered old, partly decayed paths between the individual villages and cleared them of the biggest obstacles. And this, unlike in some Austrian regions, was done on behalf and with the full support of the municipality.

Of course, not everything is pure bliss here: Max already showed me a torn-off signpost during my first visit - you probably can never please everyone. His statement "We are outside the law" underscores the situation in Friuli: There simply is no law regulating mountain biking on forest paths. But Maglianera is also working on this and is in constant exchange with the regional government.

Generally, we have had the impression for a while that industrial forestry, as it is common in Austria, often stands diametrically opposed to bike tourism. The old beeches and pines here in Friuli or also in nearby Slovenia are at best firewood, and therefore one can move around on the MTB more freely than 40 km as the crow flies further north, beyond the border to the Alpine Republic. And during the hunting season, during driven hunts, some trails are simply closed by agreement until noon - it can be that simple.


After the Brisicul, our last trail of the Bernadia-Area and hand-shaped highlight of the day, we roll relaxed downhill and stop again for beer and panini at Al Posto Giusto.

The bar is at the same time accommodation, base camp, bike workshop, and starting point of all tours in Nimis. Chef Lorenzo, himself a member of the Maglianera Club, gladly makes his house available for after-ride drinks, but also for events. And so, we find ourselves in the fortunate position to participate in the annual meeting of the IMBA (International Mountain Bicycling Association) Italy.

Max wouldn't be Max if he didn't have his fingers in the pie here too. By the way, he is also the Trailforks moderator for Friuli, and to our surprise, he explains to us that trails that appear new on the platform are indeed reviewed and sometimes even deleted. A refreshing difference from other apps like Strava or Komoot.

Whole eight trails are behind us, and the locals want to show us three more in the "Lugnesie Bikepark". However, the name is somewhat misleading; the small village hill has absolutely nothing in common with a lift and bike park lines. It is more of a local recreation area, crisscrossed by walking paths. But here too, the bikers from Nimis have made an effort and created three simple lines – a perfect terrain for training sessions.
On the question of why we don't meet a single walker in this city forest on a Friday afternoon, Max has a pragmatic answer: "Italians are no outdoor people. They don't go for a walk, they rather hang out in shopping centers...".

The persistent rain from last week is still noticeable the next day. We decided to take a shuttle day and picked out some trails near San Leonardo to the southeast for this purpose.
We share the shuttle with three Italian bikers who really push the pace. Thus, we struggle to keep up on the unfamiliar and slippery paths. Before we settle down for the obligatory Aperol and ice cream in San Pietro, we tackle one of our favorite descents: the Machete Trail. Exhausted but happy, we then start the "journey home" back to Nimis.

And since, as mentioned, the journey is the destination, we will visit an old acquaintance at Tolmezzo tomorrow. Years ago, I got stuck in the snow on this mountain and had to give up, but tomorrow the conditions should be right.
Trail centers and shuttles are really great, but now it's time for something Alpine again …