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In the shadow of the lantern


Cia Marco, do you remember me? Sure Andera, how are you? Thus began a chat during the last fair in Verona with Andrea Rocchi, a biker known in Varazze a few years ago during a stage of the Superenduro. 

He explains to me that he started a tourism project, opening a bed n 'breakfast and realizing what was a dream, to be a guide on the paths of his home. She invites me to go and see him, to take a tour of the hills surrounding Genoa and see how well that stretch of Liguria is also worth doing.

As often happens, it was not easy to organize this tour; uncertain weather, various commitments and seasonal ailments caused the exit to be postponed several times. But in the end we succeeded.

The leaden sky makes us forget we are at the sea

Of course, one expects to go to the beach at the end of May and to find the sun and a mild climate that can accompany the adventure, but no, I leave home early in the morning with a clear sky and 20 ° and arrive in Genoa with a gray leaden and 14 °, fantastic I plunged into the London autumn.

But let's leave the weather alone, we bikers don't get scared in front of anything and so what can two drops of water and a little mist be?

It starts from Andrea's b n'b, an enchanting place with an interesting view and details that immediately make a holiday. We leave the gate and the trail begins, we go up a typical Ligurian crosa, we head towards Mount Gazzo through a football quarry. Impressive to see how the mountain has been eaten from both sides. We reach a group of defensive fortifications that have now been converted into a picnic area and after having met a school group on a trip and having filled up with the cheerful energy that the little ones know how to give, we leave for the Gazzo sanctuary, the first panoramic puto of the day . If it were not for the view below, it would not be said to be a stone's throw from the center of one of the most important Italian cities. Genoa and its port is below us, but we are immersed in nature, among paths and trees, woods and rocky trails. An interesting contrast I talk about with Andrea, who explains to me that many of his customers land at the small airport that we see below us and in two minutes they are ready to discover the Ligurian hinterland. A break to understand where we are, meanwhile the fog has risen, and we set off for the first descent that Andrea has decided to propose to me.

A wild trail, rock garden and completely natural tracks are the joy of the undersigned. In the meantime, the somewhat incredulous thought of being in Genoa continues to remain in the mind, not in a small village in the Apennines, but in the city.

You can also make special encounters on the paths of the Genoese

Meanwhile we go down, we meet some free horses that look at us a little hesitant and quickly, too quickly, we are back in civilization. Just a moment and go up; this time we change the valley we leave the city for a while and we go into the green of the woods. Andrea is my guide, today my Virgil and he takes me between the circles of purgatory to atone for my sins. I admit that in short, you want the fog or my distraction, I get lost or I get lost and I pedal regardless of where I am, villages that recall some valleys I come from, a very fun trail worked and slowly we find ourselves at Mario, osteria by Tucci.

See you at Mario's sooner or later ...

Obligatory stopping point to regenerate. Mario is the manager of a restaurant located in an unspecified point of the universe. Time is suspended and there is a strong feeling of being in a place where time travels at different speeds, no design, modern furnishings or details that would make the super poser happy, a welcoming place that knows how to host two-wheeled travelers with a spontaneous cordiality that makes you immediately say, well I'm at home and for today I don't move from here anymore. Tagliolini with mushrooms and ravioli, strictly homemade, are not exactly the diet of the perfect cyclist, but how can you say no? The tyrannical times do not allow to relax more than necessary and I have to skip the homemade tart that was there at hand.

the climb to the Guardia monastery using the old railroad

The monastery of the Guard awaits us with its incomparable view and the guideway on which to ride. We leave with the fog that envelops everything and I can only trust my guide. A bit of asphalt, a bit of dirt road and in the distance we see the Apennines joining the Alps, here we are almost in the mountains. The suggestive aspect of Liguria is just that, just get distracted for a moment and deckchairs and parasols give way to woods and mountains. However we arrived on Mount Figogna, at the sanctuary of the Guard. And here I discover the tricks that the fog makes if you are really careful, I look in a direction convinced to see Genoa and instead Andrea warns me that he is on the side ... okay, the guides must be useful for something. Fog, fog and more fog, so it is useless to stop too much and start again.

The last descent is a pleasure, banks, supports, sections worked by local trail builders, a painstaking work that gives excellent sensations, then you go up a little more in the forts area, where the cries of the children in the morning remain only memories and last trail, the sea is under there, jumps, stones, braking and an ending that you do not expect and that I do not want to spoil you, bring us back to the gate from which we started this morning. There is still so much to see on these mountains, Andrea promises me that next time we will go to the brush mountain, 995 meters above the sea for a 1000 and no more 1000, a dh from the mountains to the sea that already teases me.



Written by

[email protected] Mountain bike travel editor and expert. Chiropractor and personal trainer, for years following some of the strongest national interpreters of enduro mtb.

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