Bike Trip: Annone to Cogoleto
Hey! During this summer I’ve done something that come up in my head some time ago. Maybe a bit of a crazy idea, always postponed as something possible, but too far, until this year. My friend Stefano and I went on holiday in Liguria in an unconventional way: with our bikes!
The trip looks like this:
The trip, divided in 3 days, is also available on Komoot thanks to my dad! I’ll leave link here, if you like looking at the stats!
Preparation
First I need to say I have never really rode a road bike. My dad used to, and his old bike is still lying around still in perfect conditions! So, during the previous days, I have done a few short rides to get used to the gear, especially the clipless shoes. Also the bike preparation was important: at first I wanted to fit all the needed thing in a few small bags attached to the bike. However, I ended up using a really lightweight backpack, just to store the extra stuff.
As you can see above, the setup was pretty minimal only to store the strictly necessary. You can see the spare inner tube attached below the seat, a bike bag one the front and two 700ml bottles to store lots of water for long stints.
During the preparation however this setup changed a lot: the front bag moved down between the frame, the spare tube bag moved down over the rear wheel and I added a pouch bag secured with some car ropes to store keys, clothes and a pair of flip-flops. I then added a pair of bike lights bought at Decathlon (SL 510, really cute and USB chargeable) to stay safe in case of dark and tunnels, and a really light but shaky phone holder.
The phone was pretty important, to help with navigation and to stay connected. I also synced my Apple Watch data to record the whole run. However, to sustain these really heavy loads, I brought a big (99Wh!) charging bank stored in the front back and that stayed always connected to the phone. Honestly, I think I could’ve pulled off without charging the powerbank for the whole 2 and a half days.
So, enough preparation and ready to go! Here is the final setup beyond me and Stefano at the start of the trip.
Day 1
On 15 August, after a long lunch (15th Aug is National Holiday in Italy) we started our adventure. We started around 5pm, to avoid the midday sun but to arrive in Milan just before sunset. I started form Annone Brianza, my hometown and reached Stefano after a few km at his house. After a final check on his bike, we overcome the first part of the day, a slight uphill road of a few km. This helped a lot getting the feeling of the bike and tweaking our street ride.
After a little stop at a friend’s house, we continued in a slight refreshing downhill in the middle of “Brianza” with a beautiful sun just over the horizon. We then passed through small towns and then Monza a beautiful city near Milan. The view and the streets then started to change, we reached Milan! With just enough sunlight remaining, we got through Sesto San Giovanni and then entered Milan, finally reaching my “student” house. After a good risotto, we went to bed and prepared for the second day.
Day 2
On the second day, we got up at 4.30 to prepare for the day. The bikes were already packed, so we just prepared ourselves and got on the road. We biked from Bicocca through the streets of Milan, from north to south. We stopped at 8am near the “Naviglio” river to have breakfast at 8am. After a cappuccino, we got back on out bikes but fallen immediately for a beginner’s mistake. Stefano’s front wheel got stuck in a tram rail that cost him a fall. I was following right behind, so I awkwardly fell too after not managing to break on time.
We stopped to make sure it was all ok (fortunately yes!). A sweet old lady also helped us with some water and alcohol to heal the small bruises. We then returned to our bikes, now proceeding with extra caution on the streets of Milan. After only a few hundreds meter however, we were already out! We then biked along a beautiful cycle path alongside the “Naviglio Pavese” until Binasco. The bike path was really nice and new, with a good asphalt and away from cars. After that we went through the Ticino Natural Park, where we crossed the Ticino river, a big water course that stands out in the middle of the woods.
From then, we reached the “Pianura Padana”, the largest plain in Italy that spaces across northern Italy. The streets soon become really monotonous as the plains are used mainly for agriculture. Fortunately the weather was on our side, and clouds covered the high sun providing some shadow. Otherwise, with no tree in sight, we would’ve suffered a lot the heat. We stopped to eat our lunch at “Sannazzaro de’Burgondi” a small town in the middle of basically nowhere. Unfortunately, a lot of restaurants were closed being the owners on holiday, so we were left with the only option of a kebab.
After the lunch break, we started to feel the long distance. The muscles were starting to get tired and even mental strength that got us doing long stints started to vanish. We crossed the Po river on a long bridge, as Po is the longest river in Italy and it’s pretty large.
After the Po, we entered the most difficult part of the entire journey. The path was not that difficult, neither technically nor physically being 40 km of almost plain roads. However, we started getting tired and began to stop more and more. Finally a relief was reaching Tortona, probably the biggest city we encountered that day after Milan. Tortona not only was a checkpoint, but the view also finally started to change, as we could see in the distance the mountains that we would’ve faced the next day. The infinite plains were finally over.
After Tortona we stopped for a long pause at Cassano Spinola to regain our strengths for the last push to our night place. We discovered that Cassano Spinola was one of the “Villages of the Champions”, being one of the villages that very famous Italians cyclist like Fausto Coppi often crossed in their rides near their hometowns.
The last bit of road was uphill, but the thought of arriving kept us pushing beyond our strengths. We climbed till Gavi, the place where we booked our B&B for the night. Prepared for closure, a final inconvenience: we took a wrong road following Google Maps that brought us on a steep hill that finished on an off-road trail! We were tired and out of breath for the climb, but we didn’t give up and continued immediately. We learned our lesson: don’t trust Google Maps in bike mode (in 2024), as considers trails feasible and more importantly doesn’t take into account the climb! In fact, returning to the Komoot Map, we took the suggested main road that got us to Gavi in less than 30 minutes. We only used Google Maps in the final meters, to get to the exact location of the B&B.
The B&B was very nice, it is called B&B L’Albicocco in Gavi. The owner helped us with the bikes, storing them inside the building for the night. We then tried the local food at Beer & Co a restaurant in the center of Gavi. The food was very nice, and we enjoyed every bite of it. After dinner we were exhausted and immediately went to sleep only after a quick look at the main streets of the beautiful small village.
Day 3
After a long night sleep, we woke up around 7am to prepare for the last day. We slept really really well, thanks to two big beds and all the tiredness from the day before. After a generous breakfast at the B&B, we left around 8.30am. The climb was just ahead of us, as we needed to pass the Appennini to get in Liguria. We decided to go for the “Passo della Bocchetta”, as it was the easiest to traverse to get into Genova. The slope gradually started to increase as we passed through small villages near the mountains, like Voltaggio.
Following a road alongside a river, we started gaining altitude fast. However, in the meantime, the weather started to get worse. Clouds were closing the sky, and we feared a thunderstorm before we could reach a safe place at the top. So we decided to give it all, using all our energies knowing that, after the summit, a long downhill road awaited us. We reached the top of the mountain pass at Campomorone, at an altitude of 772 m. The last hundreds meters were difficult, but reaching the top was priceless! We stopped for a well deserved rest, with our wind jackets on.
At the peak we were happier than ever, even if we couldn’t still see the sea hiding beyond the mountains. We got on our bike after we made sure it was not going to rain, to have a safe ride downhill. Even though I enjoyed the ride down as it was restful not to pedal, I was not super confident on the bike. The brakes were pretty old (however they worked fine), but most importantly I was not so sure on which position to hold during the descent. I was a bit scared to hold the handlebar on the bottom part as I struggled to reach the brakes with my fingers, probably because their position was not well-adjusted.
After a long ride down we finally reached Genova, and started to bike on roads that soon become city-like. Komoot was really helpful, for the most part we followed a cycling path along a main road, and so we avoided busy streets filled with traffic. Even if we had to pedal, we were in perfect shape and the bikes were not tiring at all. So, we decided to take a deviation and visit a bit more Genova! As it was noon, we stopped for a “focaccia” in the center of the city. We finally saw the sea, that was an incredible sensation. It was crazy for us to think that we made it till there!
Last break lunch done, the only final kilometers were ahead of us. Unfortunately the sun was high and the sky was clear, so the temperature was pretty high. After waiting a bit, we decided to start anyway, as the distance was not too long and we were feeling pretty well. We went again through the streets of Genova, but now going further west to take the Via Aurelia and exit the city. A problem with the bike of Stefano made us stop: the seat was coming loose. Fortunately (thanks to his extreme care in packing) he brought a multitool, that he used to quickly secure the seat again. Unfortunately, biking through via Aurelia is not too relaxing as the road is tight and a lot of cars are passing by. However, the view on the sea was amazing.
We were biking hard, pushed by the thought of getting at the “finish line”. We basically never stopped on the last 30 km, as we weren’t feeling fatigued at all. Last we reached Arenzano, the last town we had to cross to reach Cogoleto. From there we took a cycle path separated from the road, and after a few tunnels through the hills we were at Cogoleto! We made it! Seeing the see, the beaches, the palms was all fantastic. We were so happy to have reached our goal, but a bit sad that the journey was already over. At Cogoleto we felt like we could have gone for hours!
We parked our bikes in the garage, put on our swimming trunks and went for probably our most deserved swim in the sea! It has been an incredible experience and I am so glad we did it, as it is something that I will remember as one of my best adventures of all time! Thank you, Stefano, for being the perfect cycling companion and friend!
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