Will Pedal for Pasta – and Gelato
I’m sipping electrolytes and snapping panoramic photos of craggy, exposed hillsides. They’re just part of the bucolic, undulating terrain planted with a patchwork of grape and olive crops on steep slopes. These planted inclines form a haphazard quilt of various shades of green and earth tones that look like they were sewn together by someone who’s had too much grappa.
My cycling guide Cristina Merloni explains that the exposed bits are clay. If you visit nearby Faenza, you can see the colourful pottery local artists create with it, displayed in shop windows.
Fuelled by a pasta lunch (the first of many), we’re following one of Merloni’s routes that she designed for the region of Emilia-romagna. This area extends from Rimini, through Bologna, to Piacenza at i ts northwestern point. Merloni has developed a few dozen itineraries in the region, which she shows me via a compact little guidebook over our pre-ride lunch. You can also find them on her website Digibike ( digibike.it). She works with tour operators to book and organize trips.
The mountain bike I’m on was delivered to my hotel, Villa Abbondanzi ( villa-abbondanzi.com), by a nearby bike shop called Bike Passion ( bikepassionstore.it), and adjusted for me in the parking lot.
When asked about her favourite place to ride, Merloni answers: “The Foreste Casentinesi park ( outdoorromagna.it) is my favourite spot for continuous immersion in the wilderness (it is one of the largest forests in Europe) and for the type of trails, with many degrees of difficulty and riding skills: forest roads, singletrack trails, and paths with rocks and jumps.”
Merloni, who has competed in some pretty big races, from the Mongolia Bike Challenge to the Cape Pioneer Trek in South Africa, loves the variety that the region offers. “The flat trails are near the sea, in the Po Delta Park, along the Rotta del Sale Trail ( rottadelsalebiketrail.it/en), and are also excellent for gravel bikes,” she explains. “The hills in the countryside are ideal for cross country and the discovery of a land rich in history and culture, among fortresses and medieval villages where people live and work.”
Melting from the heat, I wheeze my way to the top of one climb only to find another hill. I tell myself I can handle one or two more. It mercifully ends as the ancient buildings of Brisighella finally pop into sight. A gelato in the square gives me the energy for the return trip.
In 2019, the inaugural Appenninica mtb Stage Race ( appenninica-mtb.com) ran along the Apennine Ridge in Emilia-romagna and Tuscany. It took riders through more than 450 km of technical trails with more than 16,000 m of elevation gain. Something to think about, perhaps, for a post-2020 goal.— Tara Nolan