It was a day of detours and diversions but also stunning along the coast as some big waves from the recent storms crashed into the beaches.
We started on time and rolled into town for a morning coffee at a cafe that specialises in Toasties. I was tempted, but it was simply too early for second breakfast. I’d only finished first breakfast a half hour earlier. The coffee was nice and Cathie had a quick bit of banter and a laugh with one of the ladies in the coffee shop. They’re so friendly.
Last night, it was absolutely dead in town. We were lucky to find anywhere to eat. This morning was the opposite. The cafes and bakeries were pumping and the streets were full of people going about their business.
After the rains of the last couple of days, it was still quite overcast and the road was still wet. Almost immediately, we were on a cycle path out of town, and into a tunnel. It was an old train tunnel that was now solely for cyclists and pedestrians. We passed through quite a few today and you would have thought that a tunnel would have been a great way of avoiding the passing showers, but most of them leaked and sprayed us with water on the way through.
The day was promising to be a very easy 47 kilometres but as we approached Savona, they were closing the road. There must have been a serious issue because they simply wouldn’t let us through, even on the footpath.
The guy pointed me to the alternate road but it was soon heading in the wrong direction so we went back. He still wouldn’t let us through but pointed us to the other road which went over the top of some very very steep hills. The map confirmed that we had no choice, so up we went … and up … and up. Then down and down, then up some really steep sections and cars that were doing the same as us. It was all a bit of a shambles, Italian style.
When we made it back to the coast we were a little tired and Cathie didn’t take much convincing to jump on a train for the final 10 kms into Finale Ligure.
We would discover that the MTB endurance world championships had been on here in the week prior to our arrival and the place was full of mountain bikers. The hotel had a couple of bike storage rooms and was well setup for cyclists – that’s something wasn’t expected, but happily welcomed.
The town was very nice too, so we walked in, had a look around then a nice meal. I could easily spend more time here. It’s very relaxed.
