In the Dolomite mountains in Italy you can take a different kind of trip that uses the infrastructure that is there for skiing and hiking to create off-road itineraries that take cyclists deep into the high mountains, says Tom Allan in the Financial Times. Each night along the route ends at a different mountain hut or small hotel. These rifugios (lodges) can be spartan. But the first on the route, the Utia de Börz (PassoDellEerbe.it), falls firmly into the comfort end of the spectrum, which is just as well. “Nothing deadens the joy of mountain biking more than a heavy pack.”

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