This epic route through Lombardy to the Ligurian coast was a wonderful experience, especially, because it wasn’t a mass event. I’ve done it with about 660 like-minded others. Almost 300 km of cycling on one day is quite special, although I can report it wasn’t that bad.
In the cyclists’ community, there is a saying, that if it isn’t on Strava, it hasn’t happened. So here’s my track on Strava and the log is then virtually the evidence. My cycling friends are deeply impressed and Marc from Canberra replied, I am now a legend.
The Arrival
One a day of sightseeing, culture, the Pinacoteca di Brere, Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, the Museo del Domo, and lunch at the Galleria Vittorio Emanuelle II. Afterward, my Garmin directed me to the team hotel, the Ripamonti Residence Hotel in Pieve Emanuele, a somewhat aging convention hotel about 20 km south of the center.
Milano Impressions
On my way to the hotel, I noticed a cyclist with a packed tracking bike, a small Swiss flag waving from his saddlebags, and the Zurich Velo license plate, ZH72, stuck to the fender. He looked a bit ragged with his beard, flyaway hair, and haggard figure. We cycled a little together and he revealed his 2 1/2 years of cycling around the world, and now he has only a few days to come home. As I always used to say, cycling is an adventure, you never know whom you meet. I’m still annoyed that I said goodbye without a photo.
Arrived at the hotel I met Günther’s group (milano-sanremo.net), with whom I booked the package (starting place, hotels, luggage transport) with. So I was at least not alone in this bizarre place. Whoever plans this for themselves can join here and Günther proved himself a good organizer.
The Start
7 am at the starting slot. It was lined up in three groups, which started with a few minutes delay. My number, 240, was in the first group, so I was in front of them all.
The Race
The 297 km and almost 2000 meters of altitute is described best in 4 different sections, because of the different character of the landscape.
Milano – Acqui Terme
The first part is right from the start, it went 150 km to Novi Ligure, later Acqui Terme, exclusively on country roads with the worst road conditions I’ve ever experienced on-road biking. That wasn’t nice. Even cobblestones are more grateful because it rattles evenly, here you hobble over the road, get knocks, and bumps, and constantly dodge somehow. It went over land only, climbs are just some bridges or overpasses, through towns or villages you come unfortunately not at all. Here wide tires with little pressure would be the solution, but not my configuration with 23mm/8bar setup. Hey, but I’m riding a road bike and not a mountain one. That hurts quite in the arms and wrists.
Acqui Terme – Savona
Obviously, people in Liguria own more funds for road construction than they in Lombardy, the road conditions turned considerably better, and the joy of riding returned. The second part starts in Acqui Terme, were directed into the hills, rode through villages and towns and it began uphill. A mathematician would say it went evenly steadily up, really not hard. However, dark clouds were brewing and the wind was coming up and of course, I had not taken a rain jacket. A rain jacket, what for, with this weather forecast before? Besides, my jersey pockets were already stuffed with food. So I was then busy ranting about myself, how stupid I can be again, without a rain jacket! “Roland, don’t ride in the mountains without a rain jacket.” Further up I came, the more I prayed that the rain may come quite after the descent, so that I do not have to “egg down” the mountain with my rim brakes on the carbon rims, as in 2017 at La Planche Des Belies Filles. With wet carbon rims, the brakes either do not grip at all or so abruptly and totally that you can fly over the handlebars.
But Saint Peter had mercy and it turned out well the wind abated, the clouds disappeared and a great descent down to Savona let my cyclist’s heart rejoice, also because the motorists visibly had difficulties to follow, we run very liberated this piece to the end.
Savona – Imperia
Finally, down on the coastal road, I call it the third part of the route. Here we rode through all the beautiful villages on the coast along the Via Aurelia to the west. Well, it was White Sunday, with considerable traffic, but in the other direction :). On my way I was puzzled why so many people sitting on the side of the road looking down to the coast, there must be something. It cleared up later when I heard aircraft noise and saw an F18 flying over the sea. The Italian Air Force was putting on an air show. Later I learned that this is a tradition.
Now, you must not think coastal riding is easy and always flat. Within a car, you don’t notice the climbs when it turns around the corner to the next bay. This means, it goes up and down again and again with around 60 to 110 meters of altitude, partly climbing of up to 8%. Passing through these beautiful little villages made this section a beautiful experience.
Imperia – San Remo
But that’s all nothing, in the fourth part, it became demanding again. I stopped with an Italian at a bar to refill water and got a Coke. Just 3 refreshment points at a 300 km route were not sufficient. When you’re on the road at 28 degrees in the sun, you need enough water. He breathed heavily and said with a serious face: “And now come the mountains”, as if we now still had to ride up the Mont Ventoux and the Galibier afterward.
From an acquaintance, I was asked before about this piece and because I did it already once, I denied the claim to be hard at all. However, my friends, after 274 km the situation looks quite different, it challenges one again. So, 20 km before the finish line it suddenly went up to Cipressa for about 6 km with up to 9% of climbing, back down to sea level, and then another 5 km uphill to Poggio.
Here I had a nice Italian by my side who was a bit down and I could motivate him by saying: “Hey, we’ve come this far, let’s do the rest”, I cheered him on. In his worse moments, he cried every 100m what is still in front of us. He was hitting his stride, but ended up doing it. At the top, we high-fived and rolled down.
At the finish, he came with a small beer and said, “Numero Uno”, in the sense there will be more, and yes he then came two more times. Below again is the altitude profile with the mentioned last peaks before the finish.
At the Finish Line
This time it was very different when I crossed the finish line. So many people clapped and cheered and were happy for me. Mallorca was similar, but still an anonymous mass, here I felt it more familiar because many I have met on the road and met them again here.
Rarely have talked to so many drivers and also seen how others did. You simply didn’t ride here for yourself alone, but somehow together. The cheering party at the finish line, a side street in San Remo’s old town, was exuberant and communicative in a way I had never experienced before. During the 300 km many people got to know each other and they celebrated together. That was nice.
I enjoyed the atmosphere extensively, looked for and found many riders I now knew and we exchanged about what happened on the course. Extensively means, I was one of the last, also because I still got power for my cell phone at the timing desk.
When everything was dismantled, a young Slovenian, about 30, with whom I met on the way, came in. He reported a complete collapse and looked alike. I was able to make sure that he got into the classification. In the end, my ego did not find it bad that many much younger riders came way after me to the finish line, clear or not? 🙂
My Return
I can not travel back, without riding along the Via Aurelia, with all these beautiful small towns, Allassio, Petra Ligure, Finale Ligure, Andora, … So I tackled this 150 km stage from San Remo with stops in the mentioned villages to the train station in Genoa.
The ride into Genova takes time and you’re on your road bike in city traffic. Again and again, I am amazed what looks like chaos the swarm of road users orchestrates an order characterized by mutual respect and consideration. Honking is not an expression of aggressiveness, but a language, and sometimes I think it has even dialects. It seems to me that there is an agreement here that everyone gets ahead. When cars line up, they make room for the two-wheelers to pass, always leave a gap for me as a fast cyclist, and never complain when I want to get in front.
At a crosswalk a man suddenly struggled, his purchase rolled away, and he lay on the ground and seemed stricken. Immediately everyone jumped out of their car to help and took care of him. The traffic just had to wait and everyone accepted that, no one honked and no one demanded to move on.
And there they were again, the mopeds and scooters at the traffic lights, and the familiar game began again and I reaped again puzzled looks. Well, with the road bike I have a much faster acceleration from 0 to 35 km/h when I sprint from the red light to the next. Once there, the perplexed moped and scooter drivers always look at me in amazement and some laughed and saluted.
At the Genova Principe station, a train was waiting to take me and my bike to Zurich without changing trains. So, bought a ticket, found a seat, and went off to the train restaurant. After an admittedly somewhat small chicken Thai Curry and 2 Feldschlösschen it was time for a siesta. So the 5 hours to Zurich passed pretty quickly.
San Remo Impressions
Fazit
Had I not done it, I would still dream of riding this epic route and it is definitely epic. Am I do it again, rather not, because of the first 150 km and this bad road conditions, and coastal coast riding I can do even so. Furthermore, there are many other adventures to discover. The sense of community, however, was a class of its own, that was wonderful. In the end, it is always the encounters that remain.
So, on to the next event,
Roland
PS: For those who missed the intro: