Last week I travelled over to Piedmont, Italy, to run a tour that I’d done twice before. It’s always nice to go back to someplace you know, especially when some of my service providers (hotels, etc.) remember me. Italians seem to have very good memories, or maybe they are good fakers, but we had a great welcome from all our hotels and restaurants we’ve used before.

The tour started in Cuneo, a city you may not have even heard about. I love this place for its proximity to the Alps, but also because it’s not a touristy town. You feel the authenticity everywhere and people are genuinely welcoming, or at least they have been for us every time we’ve been there. It also doesn’t hurt that my favorite Osteria in Italy is in Cuneo.

Sorry, I’m between tours and don’t have a lot of time to get tricky with photo formatting, so the pics above and below are fairly random.

After a couple of rides out of Cuneo we transitioned over to the Langhe wine region (Barolo, Barbaresco, Dolcetto d’Alba, etc., etc.) and its wonderful hills and valleys. The riding here is essentially a series of climbs, long ridge roads with panoramic views, then valley transitions till the next climb. It was hot, and the climbs were steep, so every lunch, aperitivo and dinner was very welcome…and there were LOTS of aperitivos.

I feel like the food choices were better this tour, too. We had some seriously great meals and never anything remotely close to ‘bad’. There is no losing weight on an Italian bike tour, but somehow it seems be alright.