There’s a reasonable amount of mountain biking here in Lerici. It’s not nearly as big as Rothrock, but it still beautiful and worth putting in the effort to see. We bike in areas behind our flat called Monte Rochetta and Redarca. It’s a 3-mile uphill ride to get to the trailheads. There are quite a few gravel roads but most of the true mountain biking trails are enduro style quite so because it’s very hilly around here. Many of the trails are built for a single direction of travel. Everything is well labeled though with the trail name and its difficulty level (they use the green, blue, black diamond system). Many of the true MTB trails here are black diamonds.
I picked up a whip from a place called Eurobike in Romita Magra. It’s a 2015 Specialized Stumpjumper Comp Evo (aluminum). Slightly different feel from my Salsa Horsethief and El Mariachi back home. I also rarely ride Specialized bikes. I like the bike well enough though. I ride 27.5″ wheels here with tubes which were recommended by the store owner given the terrain. At home, I have been running 29″ wheels tubeless for as far as I can remember; that was a bit of a change for me. The guy who sold me the bike was great. He even dropped it off for me because I couldn’t take it on the bus. In fact, we bought Ryanne’s bike (the yellow one in the pics below) from there as well. Again, the guy offered to take the to our flat free of charge. While we were waiting for the bus from Eurobikes to head home, we ran into the same guy and he stopped and let us hitch a ride home with him!
There’s a lot of history in the hills leading up to Monte Rochetta. On the ascent, you can see old trails and terraces which are long abandoned. Off of Trail Branzi (one of my favorite, http://www.lericibike.com/2016/05/16/trail-branzi-2-2km/), there are some ruins. One prominent structure is a hunting lodge built in the 1600s by the Count at the time. Around the 19th century, frescoes were pained inside which you can still see today. During WW2, this building was actually the home base of a clandestine print press which distributed anti-fascist literature. The Germans came upon it in 1944 but someone had informed the occupants before they Germans got there to capture them and all that was left was the printing press and the abandoned building. No one has occupied it since and it stands has pictured today. Inside there is a plaque which reads (translated into English), “Here at the Rocchetta in the long clandestine silences, simple and courageous men, defying the Nazi-fascist anger, gave new ideas to the press and affirmed in the history the freedom of thought and the right democracy demanded by the resistance. “ [1].
The mountain biking community here is fairly organized and does a good bit of trail maintenance it seems. There is somewhat of a gentlemen’s agreement whereby you don’t ride the trails for 2 days if it rains. This is to help keep the trails in good shape. They also organize beginner rides through the gravel roads and easy trails to help the youth develop their skills and foster an appreciation for the sport. [2]
Many of the trails here are always designated hiking trails which are marked with red and white horizontal lines. I made the mistake once assuming the markings meant these trails were maintained. I took a wrong turn once which let me out off a big drop onto the road. No turning back to go the way I came. So, I continued on until I found a red and white marked trail. It was steep with quite a bit of scree — clearly not bikable. I figured since the trail is marked it can’t be that bad. Well, it was. It was at least 100m of scree and I had to carry my bike the entire way. The work paid off though because I was rewarded with a beautiful view once I reached the top and discovered a local rock climbing area.
Ok, on to the views! There are lots of great views along the circuits of trails here. Vineyards, old camps, panoramas of Lerici, and of course, spectacular views of the Carrara mountains. On trail La Serra, I once ran into a man and his son with a group of what looked like small donkeys. You never know what you will find on the trails here.
Ciao!
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References
- Clandestine Printing House in Redarca. http://www.tramedilunigiana.it/it/risorsa/monumento/stamperia-clandestina-di-redarca. Fetched 22 April 2018.
- Lerici Bike on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/lericibike/
- http://www.lericibike.com/
- http://www.lericibike.com/2016/05/16/trail-branzi-2-2km/
- https://www.facebook.com/Eurobikes-di-Piero-Arpesella-474552732565146/
Comments
How lovely. 👏🏻