A Day in and around Alba

May 25, 2022

We were pretty tired when we got to Ceva yesterday after two big days of loaded riding and were looking forward to a medium day followed by a day off in Alba. I had a couple of potential short loop rides worked out but the weather forecast was atrocious so we weren’t sure if we’d be riding at all…riding in the rain to get somewhere is one thing, just going out to get some exercise when you don’t really need it is another thing altogether.

As it turned out, the torrential downpour started earlier than either of our weather apps predicted, while we were having our late, light dinner. Dinner was late because of our late lunch, and light because neither of us was particularly hungry—or so we thought until we took our first bites of our shared pasta dish. We also shared a salad and there was lots of bread (and breadsticks, which we hadn’t seen until our lunch in Alba) so I was sated. However, the skies opened and it was very heavy, accompanied by thunder and lightning. We ordered dessert to share too. By the time we were done, the rain had abated and we walked home dry.

This morning, it was cloudy but the rain had stopped. Whether it would stay stopped was another question. We had decided to do the easier of the short loops , weather permitting, and it was.

We rolled out around 11, headed first for Barolo. The roads weren’t as quiet as the map had indicated (skinny white roads on Michelin maps aren’t always) but there was a bike lane exiting Alba through its big-box strip and we turned on to a definitely quiet “track road” about 2 km before Barolo (which we somehow missed riding through). Then the climb started, up to La Morra.

Faded and rusting memories, in the centre of the roundabout approaching Barolo.

On the track road, more specifically the steep uphill part after the muddy bit (it rained last night…)

We bought a couple of pieces of bakery pizza there and ate them sitting on a bench with a view over the valley below. A quick explore of the town, to find a covered café in case the threatening clouds were coming our way, a few photos, and we were off down the hill. The storm seemed to have gone another way.

In La Morra. That’s a heavy-looking sky.

Zipping down the hill, we missed a turn. Did we want to pedal back up a couple hundred metres, or did we want to just take a different route? The different route looked just fine, and it was. And we stayed dry all the way home.

After our ride, we enjoyed this up half-bottle of local wine that our host provided, along with some cheese we’d picked up yesterday.

Heart

Comment

Link

Today's ride: 33 km (20 miles)
Total: 1,053 km (654 miles)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	5
Comment on this entry	Comment	0