May 21, 2022
Sestri Levante to Molino Nuovo
We weren’t sure what to expect from today’s ride. Al rode through this area in 1986 but felt at the time it wasn’t for the likes of him (a scruffy young guy on a bike, I imagine, before I met him).
We managed to miss the first climb by missing a turn and continuing on the beach road but the traffic was light early on a Saturday morning. Eventually, though, we had to go up because there was no through road below. Then we got to descend through some very ritzy neighbourhoods down to Zoagli, followed by a few more ups and downs to Rapallo. Then a short, annoying climb (steep with lots of diesel-spewing motos) and descent into Santa Margherita Ligure. It’s a sunny Saturday in early summer and everybody wants to go to Portofino—except the many others whose destination is Santa Margherita Ligure. Shortly past SML, though, the Carabinieri were out controlling traffic and the rest of the way to Portofino was very pleasant cycling along a scenic seaside road with very little traffic.
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More police (Carabinieri auxiliaries, I think) were controlling traffic when we got to Portofino. Everyone had to park and walk. It was also the first time I’ve seen a no bikes sign with a tag indicating that even walking your bike was forbidden. Al said that, although he didn’t remember that specifically, he’d ridden out to Portofino in his previous trip and just turned around and left. Because I wanted to see it, he volunteered to stay with the bikes while I walked down to the harbour. He didn’t want a turn.
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Riding back through the traffic-controlled section was even nicer because we were on the water side of the road. All too soon we were in SML and watching for our left turn, happy that we didn’t have to go over the nasty hill again, though the traffic had died down quite a lot. It was noon, so we bought a piece of vegetable focaccia and a slice of zucchini quiche to share for lunch on our way through town.
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Next was the day’s big climb, 300 m up. The grades were decent so not too bad at all. On the descent, we missed the sharp left turn onto SP 30 our planned route included and continued down the freshly paved SS 1. We certainly weren’t going back up when we realized the error since we would intersect the route at the bottom.
One last climb was to our accommodation. I usually try to avoid booking places that are uphill and away from any town centre (unless they offer dinner) but for some reason, it had been tricky to find a place in this area that both offered a reasonable free cancellation policy and was within our price range. But this place seems worth the climb! There’s a restaurant just down the hill, not too far and highly recommended by a fellow getting into his car after lunch when Al and I had stopped to look at it. We shall see!
Today's ride: 50 km (31 miles)
Total: 788 km (489 miles)
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