Apricale, Liguria by mountain bike

Apricale, Liguria

Cannondale Scalpel MTB

Cycling unchallenged over the frontier from France to Italy, along with hordes riding road race bikes; firstly an unavoidable 557 m. road tunnel but then charming Alta Ventimiglia on the Rivièra dei Fiori (Riviera of Flowers) of Liguria.
The infamous roundabout at Ventimiglia straddling the delta of the River Roia is no easier to negotiate on a mountain bike than anything else, but the view of the snow on the Alpi Maritimi around Tende was a visual thrill in compensation.
Up the next valley, of the River Nervia, where the main crop is the famous Ligurian olive oil; on to Camporosso and then Dolceacqua, many roadside trees with ripe oranges on the branches.
Crossing the river at Isolabona and riding a moderate climb up to my destination, the hilltop village Apricale. That was a quiet country road with flowers and birds and the torrente Merdanzo flowing in the valley below.

Apricale was suggested for my ride by an Italian at the next table of a favourite restaurant in Menton. It turned out to be a fortified village, dating from the Bronze Age; the cobbled and vaulted streets could only be explored on foot. I took lunch in the piazza (square) in front of the castello and church with a view commanding the valley of the torrente and overlooked by monte Bignone (1299 m.).
A pleasant ride down the valley of the torrente Merdanzo with a stop back at Dolceacqua for a real Italian caffè ristretto (and to be checked out by the local gatto), before hitting the return route (and a chilly headwind) to the coast road, frontier and Menton, back in France.
I enjoyed the hired Cannondale Scalpel mountain bike though this wasn’t the day to take it far off the blacktop, it was a precise ride but comfortable enough and not sloppy; the 12 gears were usefully progressive, the riser seat enough and the brakes firm and progressive with no tendency to snatch. It’s a useful notch up from my own bikes. The Scalpel caught the attention of other cyclists on the coast route, even though I was outclassed on speed and maybe clothing style. And I found the Italian Rivièra dei Fiori road traffic respectful, more so than France and certainly the UK.

Maps gives this as 28 km each way, ↑386 m. ↓110 m.

Alta Ventimiglia