A relatively undiscovered great riding area I found was the Val D'Osta NW italy where the Italian, French and Swiss Alps converge. I rode from Milan, messy traffic, to Turin then up in the Val. spent the best week of my 3 1/2 months in '04, went hiking 3 days myself and then asked my BnB landlady about climbing a bit higher. She called her nephew, and we arranged to spend 4 days and nites climbing higher stayin in huts.One morning we were having coffee when the overcast cleared and both the Matterhorn and Mont Blanc were visible. When we returned we had lunch and I wanted to pay him what I owed for his fee, would not allow me to pay him ,said I was his friend and he doesn't charge friends when they climb, and that someday I would return and we would go higher
Nice folks abound all thru Europe where I rode, and recently in East Africa met more