Finale Ligure – Stage 1

Words & Photos: Joe Houghton

Almost a year in the waiting, six months in the planning, two weeks of nervously packing and it was finally time to leave NZ. It felt like my Not Quite the Ideal Summer Everest and Summer Bikepacking Trip had come together nicely to prepare me for this, my dream bikepacking experience... three months pedalling across Europe, racing a few Enduro World Cups and the Megavalanche along the way.

The days leading up to flying out had been filled with the usual last minute errands, packing AND a full rebuild of my bike, resulting in a rather stressed environment to say the least. This was further added to when upon arriving at the airport I was told I couldn’t board my flight without proof of an exit ticket from Italy. After being told that my strategy to ride out wouldn’t suffice, despite having a bike with me, a 20 euro train ticket from Finale Ligure to Nice finally got me through check-in. I was left pondering the logic behind it as I filed the ticket with zero intention of using it.

After three flights I arrived in Milan, Italy. I’d organised to stay at a hotel by the airport for two nights, which gave me a day to explore Milan before starting the first bikepacking leg of the trip. After a day wandering Milan, during which I discovered that a latte in Italy is simply hot milk, two big nights of sleep and taking full advantage of the hotel's buffet breakfast (including stuffing 10 crossiants into a bag for bike snacks), I was ready to go.

The first leg on my trip was to Finale Ligure for the first round of Enduro World Cup (EDR). Being keen to get to Finale, the first day consisted of a 190km pedal from Milan to the port city of Genoa which took almost 12 hours, door to door. The ride was always going to be a big effort but was made harder by discovering the big cultural differences between Italy and home - petrol stations not selling anything but petrol, and a lack of public toilets. This led me to almost bonking before finding a supermercato, and a rather gross roadside emergency. Getting to the campsite was a relief, and knowing the following night I’d be in Finale made it even better. The next day was an easy 60 odd km along the coast and by lunchtime I was in Finale.

The following few days consisted of three main themes: riding; trying to get a race entry; and finding a lift to Poland for the next round of the EDR series. The riding in Finale is incredible - massive climbs, technical descents with plenty of gelato and coffee before and after to fuel the missions.

Trying to get a late race entry was an uphill battle. A few weeks earlier the entries were released with no warning in the middle of the NZ night and sold out almost instantly. We woke up in NZ to the news that all the spots were gone. The flip side of this disappointment was that without the need for rest before racing, I got to ride more and sample almost everything Finale had to offer. I also was able to watch the best enduro racers in the world on course, including kiwi Charlie Murray who hit the podium in P2!

The final theme of sorting a ride to Poland is still up in the air as I write. Only time will tell how that one plays out.

Joe will update us on how he covers the 1400 odd kilometres from Finale to Poland in his next instalment.