Nature trail bag

The Borsa Natura route tour is planned to show all the most salient details from a naturalistic point of view of the Nature Reserve, offering cycle tourists passages with wonderful views, and with breathtaking views of the Sibillini mountains and the Macerata countryside.



Duration: about 4 hours of cycling, breaks for stops at points of interest and for lunch are not included.
Length: about 35 km.
Elevation gain: 490m.
Difficulty: Medium on an ebike, challenging on a muscle bike. Type of bicycle required Mountain-bike or Gravel.
Surfaces: Asphalt roads, dirt roads, compact dirt roads.

The minimum number of participants is two people and booking is recommended three days in advance by writing to info@ecoup.it or calling +39 335.7729250 or via Whatsapp

The participation fee includes:

- electric Mountain-bike rental service (helmet included)
- accompanying cycling tour guide
- Nature trail bag

(Not including anything not mentioned in the points listed above)

Sports clothing is recommended (possibly in bright colors and especially suited to the forecast weather conditions), the use of sneakers, sunglasses, water bottle, windproof jacket, helmet (possibly available for hire) and shorts with caseback.
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When using your own bicycle (obligatorily mountain bike or gravel) it is important to check that the brakes, gearbox and wheel pressure are working properly.
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Please note that compliance with the rules and regulations of the Highway Code is always mandatory, even on paths, mule tracks and secondary roads.

Route description

Meeting point and starting/ending point of the route: "Ecoup - sustainable mobility" bicycle rental point Contrada Abbadia di Fiastra, 7 - 62010 Urbisaglia (MC) - GPS coordinates 43.220590 - 13.406376.
Lake The Veins: The first stop is along the northern shore of the small lake Le Vene, a former gravel quarry, is an example of successful environmental recovery where migratory birds such as gray herons, egrets, coots, little grebes, kingfishers and the moorhen. You arrive at the lake after just about ten minutes and although it won't be tiredness, the reason for stopping is to take the opportunity to closely observe the fauna that inhabits the lake by taking advantage of two specific locations, a shed along the shore and a bird watching tower.
Cross and Sibillini panorama: Continuing the tour, about seven km from the start you reach the highest point of the area (about 290 msl), here the effort of the climb is amply rewarded by the breathtaking panorama of the countryside and the spectacular glimpse towards the Sibillini Mountains, yes here it is It is "mandatory" to stop to take beautiful photos and take advantage of all the technology available to capture the nature that surrounds us at 360°.
Fiastra River: The tour now continues with an enjoyable downhill stretch of dirt road, braking the bicycle so as not to fall and not lose the view of the landscapes on the horizon, we arrive gently on the plain where we cross the Fiastra river whose waters, once marshy, once of the Cistercian monks became precious for the agricultural development of the entire valley.
LaSelva: R after about thirteen km we arrive in the heart of the area and an example of what used to be a very extensive forest. In the wood, dominated by oaks and inhabited by numerous wild animals, we take a wide avenue and continue bicycles in hand for a few hundred meters taking advantage of the coolness and quiet and we enjoy the environmental context that gives a charge of energy for body and soul .
Lunch break: Back in the saddle for a short ride towards the refreshment point where you can have lunch in the shade of the dense vegetation and recharge your batteries for the second part of the tour.
Protected area animals: After the lunch break we continue reaching a protected area for the recovery of animals, where there are mainly roe deer, we pedal along the fence built to prevent the entry of predators and we hope to meet Milco the manager and guardian of the area, so we will have the opportunity to see these elegant cervids very closely.
River ford: We walk a few kilometers calmly and then we have to rely on our adventurous spirit to cross the Fiastra river, nothing dangerous or so difficult, at most a few sprays of water and we have fun going from one bank to the other, putting our sense of balance.
Countryside: Now we travel along a long, lonely dirt road which cuts through the countryside as it climbs, leading us to discover the city of Macerata and the Chienti valley on the horizon. Once at the top we go down through the vineyards of a large cellar and continue along a dirt road that delimits the easternmost part of the forest.
Avenue of lime trees: With the wood behind us, we cross and take the provincial road for a couple of kilometers and then a lot of descent to get to the cycle path along the Fiastra river, crossing a long Viale di Tigli whose flowering that lasts until late summer cheers us up with its characteristic sweet and intense smell so attractive to honey bees.
Conclusion : From Viale dei Tigli in about ten minutes we arrive at the rental point to end the tour, park the bikes and unhook the bag by now full of emotions and fresh memories of a ride immersed in nature.
Curiosity: Along the way we will see testimonies of a not so distant era (such as the "Casino del Principe"), when the territory of the Abbadia was a hunting reserve where a passionate hunter took up his rifle but much much more popular as a cyclist in the 1950s, Fausto Coppi.