142 | Cycling World
My First Taste
of Italy
Cycling World Editor can ’ t believe he ’ s never been to Italy , so visits Emilia Romagna , and discovers the “ land with a soul , people with a smile ”
Cycling World
164
Cycling in Emilia Romagna lived up to its promise : riding through this
soul and riders ’ smiles mirrored the locals ’. Emilia Romagna is welcoming cyclists ,
and a network of bike-friendly hotels . The
that they have given rise to the region ’ s own Granfundo . This was the main purpose of my visit , I had been invited to take part in Granfundo degli Squali , a long and everrising race come sportive . As well as cycling there is a wide cultural diversity with the joys of the Adriatic coast , which features the wellknown coastal resort Rimini , and an interior known for its Romanesque and Renaissance cities such as Modena , Parma and Ferrara . May is the perfect month to discover the region , pleasantly warm with a rolling
hues . Our guides were from Terrabici , a consortium of local professionals from the cycle tourism industry . Their mixture of
come might bring rain , led to an ambitious day of riding : 65 miles with 1370 metres of climbing . We set out from the coastal town of Cattolica where we staying and headed northwest along the coast to Riccione . It was serenely quiet ; though warm by UK standards , still not beach weather for the sun-loving Italians . There was evidence of what the high season would bring ; the beaches are covered in uniformly laid out umbrella stands and children ’ s plastic playparks . May is certainly one of the last opportunities to speed along a soon-to-be heaving sea front . After Riccione we took an inland route zigzagging through the interior , leaving the coastal plains behind as we started to climb in the Marecchia valley . Great spurs of rock can be seen overlooking the riverbed , upon which stands Verucchio , a town dating back to the ninth century , though it is its medieval layout that remains today . After an all-to-speedy descent we ground up a long climb reaching an impressive height of over 650 metres . We climbed for so long that we had literally risen out of Italy into the independent republic of San Marino . San Marino is known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino and is an enclaved microstate . It ’ s claim to fame is having the smallest population ( 32,000 ) of all the members of the Council of Europe . It also claims to be the oldest surviving sovereign state and constitutional republic in the world being the continuation of the monastic community founded in 301 . Our guide Andrea , under a cloud of jealously , informed us of its highly stable economy , one of the lowest unemployment rates in Europe , no national debt and a budget surplus . Then slightly bitterly he told he told us they paid much less in tax and the women rarely married men from outside the region . Despite the
a bride and living in tax-free bliss , we still enjoyed the impressive architecture and a
Our ride homewards was mainly hair-raising descents , through narrow serpentine roads that demanded our attention to be drawn from mesmerising landscapes . The gravityled rhythm was interrupted by a climb to the village of Montescudo , nestled on a ridge separating the plain of Rimini from the route leading to the Apennine Mountains . It is an
Riviera . We moved quickly on , swooping down to the river clutching road below , then knocking out a good club run pace along the
For our second day we requested something a bit lighter , needing to keep something in our legs for the Granfundo of the following day . So today was just a mere 36-miler which still encompassed 790m of climbing . We headed northeast along the coast straight into the climb of Gabicce Monte , which
some descents which could not be enjoyed in the usual manner- we knew the next