For a very long time, the definition of an “unsupported” bikepacking event was universally understood. It meant you were dropped in the middle of nowhere with a GPS tracker, left to sleep in a ditch, and forced to filter your own drinking water out of a muddy puddle. It was a miserable, character-building experience reserved strictly for masochists.
But the gravel scene is evolving, and we are admitting that sleeping outside on the dirt is terrible.
Enter the inaugural Lombardy Gran Trail. Scheduled to debut next week from April 3 to 6, this new 550-kilometer bikepacking event is promising riders a rugged, unsupported adventure through northern Italy. But it also features free, designated indoor base camps complete with hot showers.
The Music Producer’s Vibe Check
The Lombardy Gran Trail is the brainchild of EPICDAYS.cc, a collective founded in 2024 by Andy Serighelli. Before organizing gravel races, Serighelli spent 15 years as an international music producer. Now, he is apparently applying the logic of a multi-day music festival to endurance cycling: you can go out and get as filthy as you want during the day, as long as there is a designated chill zone to recover in at night.
EPICDAYS told us the event is designed to showcase a completely different side of Lombardy. The region is mostly famous to cyclists for Il Lombardia—the brutal, dying-leaves WorldTour monument—and a massive, sprawling industrial manufacturing sector.
The organizers are promising something far more scenic, steering over 300 riders from 11 European countries away from the factories and toward gravel roads, lakeside trails, and historic city centers.
550 Kilometers of Paved and Unpaved Pain
Starting from the Santini Cycling headquarters in Bergamo, the route gives riders two distinct ways to suffer.
For the true sickos, the 550km Long Route traces a massive loop through Brescia, down to Lake Garda, into the Po Valley (hitting Mantua, Cremona, and Pavia), up toward Milan, and back to Bergamo.
For the people who actually want to enjoy their weekend, there is a 250km Short Route. It shares the first leg with the long route but bails out early at Mazzano, heading south toward Crema before tracing the Serio River back to the start line.
In true gravel-scene fashion, organizers are aggressively withholding the final GPX tracks until just a few days before the start. Because nothing builds anticipation quite like not knowing exactly how steep the climbs are going to be until it’s too late to back out.
Redefining “Unsupported”
The best part of this event is how it handles the overnight logistics.
While riders are required to carry their own gear and ride at their own pace, EPICDAYS has set up two free, exclusive base camps for registered participants. One is in Mazzano, and the other is near Pavia. You can roll up to a local sports center, unroll your sleeping bag on a dry, climate-controlled gym floor, and take a hot shower before doing it all again the next day.
Purists will argue that access to a municipal shower completely invalidates the “unsupported” label. But honestly? The purists can go freeze in a bivvy sack in the woods. Giving people a safe, warm place to crash while they ride 500 kilometers across Italy is a brilliant compromise that makes bikepacking actually accessible.
With over 20% female participation expected at the start line, the formula is clearly working. If this is the future of ultra-endurance cycling, we are absolutely here for it—mostly for the hot water.