[CR]Cycling museums in Italy

While in Italy, I went to visit a number of museums while doing research into the bike tour that I proposed for September 2003.

I went to see the Alfredo Binda museum in the province of Varese. This is quite a disappointment as a museum and not necessarily worth a detour.

I then went to Madonna del Ghisallo. There aren't all that many bikes to see there as the chapel is very small and they simply can't display everything that they have available to them. Right next to the chapel, they have broken earth on the construction of what is destined to become the Museum of cycling. In theory, this would be an incredible museum and would effectively be like the Italian cycling hall of fame as virtually all Italian racers would support it fully. Unfortunately, it would seem that they are having some financial problems and most of the cycling magazines in Italy are doing their part to try to help collect donations. For those that have been there before, it is an idyllic place at the summit of a steep climb. The museum would be built into the hill overlooking the lake of Lecco. I am not sure of exactly who is in charge of the building of the museum, but it is either the religious order in charge of the chapel or a non-profit group. Either way, with the economy not going well, the financial probelms will not likely go away any time soon.

I then went to the Fondazione Tino Sana in the province of Bergamo. This is a reasonably recently museum that was built by Tino Sana, a successful entrepreneur in the wood business. The museum has woodworking exhibits as well as displays depicting trades falling by the wayside. Lastly, they have a number of interesting bikes. Some of you may remember the bikes that Sana had constructed almost fully out of wood back in the 80's and 90's. It is quite a nice museum, especially when you look at such things as the collection of tradesmen bikes. My favorite was the coffee vendor's bike. It has a roaster and a grinder to sell the freshly roasted and ground coffee to customers while they waited. No wonder that the Italian coffe has such a reputation!

The newest museum that I went to visit is the Museo Nicolis http://www.museonicolis.com/main1.html This museum was opened 2 years ago by Luciano Nicolis. Like Tino Sana, he is a very successful entrepreneur who has decided to return something to society by opening his private museum. Even though he does charge an entrance fee, the ticket sale will never go to pay for the building and collection. As you can see in their web-site, they have not only bicycles but also motorcycles and cars. The cars are actually the true highlight that draws people into the museum. In cars alone, there are more than $20 million worth of cars displayed and he is continually adding new ones. Nicolis showed me into the restoration workshop behind the museum where he is restoring a Voisin car. He also has the second best bike collection in Italy that I know of. As a new museum and one that is 'owned' by an obviously wealthy man, he doesn't benefit from the largesse of other collector's like some other museums. This is well worth a visit just to see the 9 racing Bianchis that he has that span the period from 1906 to 1961.

I also went to see the Toni Bevillacqua memorial museum. This is truly a great museum. It has been put together by Sergio Sanvido. Sergio, who is in early 70's has been involved in the bicycle business all of his life, in fact his family has maintained a bike shop in the town of the museum for well over 60 years. Sergio was probably one of the first to recognize the future collectability of lightweight bicycles and started putting htem aside back in the 60's. His collection is second to none, and unlike Sana and Nicolis, he has put everything together without any financial clout behind the collection. Unfortunately, like in many of the museum, teh bikes are often restored in a somewhat lackadaisical way, with incorrect components or decals. It is however well worth a visit. Nobody will leave without being impressed. Sergio is also there to personally show groups around. You can tell that notwithstanding his age, he is still fully in love with cycling.

With regards to the tour, I have sent out feelers to a number of tour organizers, but up until now without any response. I'll contact them again shortly.

Steven Maasland Moorestown, NJ

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