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lue
itineraries
land, can boast of so much beauty
on 70 km of cycling paths, with
plans to increase that to almost a
thousand, half of which in
protected areas, or in other words,
as far from fumes as are those that
have been created up till now.
The longest route – around thirty
kilometers – is along the eastern
Riviera on the Via dell’Oro Nero,
the Way of Black Gold, which in
Liguria is slate, that valuable stone
which serves for everything here
from blackboards to roofing to
works of art. The way begins in
Lavagna to end in Gattorna,
partially on its own path, partially
on secondary roads, all immersed
in nature, to then turn towards
the mountains letting the cyclist
discover landscapes
that he has never
seen before. Called
the Ciclovia
dell’ardesia, it is
also for pedestrians,
as it crosses villages
and offers places to
eat. The shortest
cycling path instead
is named after
Fabrizio de Andrè, in
Arenzano it is a
good place to have
children begin as it is perfectly
flat, short, and offers beautiful
landscape that is “reassuring”.
Well worth your while.
Also full of fascination is the
newest cycle path, which goes
from Framura to Levanto, the
door onto the Cinque Terre, on a
former railway line under the
mountains, alternating tunnels
with open tracts that are extremely
picturesque as they jut over the
sea, crossing on basaltic rocks. It is
fairly short, like the coastal park in
the Piani d’Invrea, which goes until
Varazze. Both of these have places
where you can rent bicycles. What
makes the latter route famous is its
landscape of tiny beaches which
are easily reached under the
massive Mount Beigua.
raggiungere Taggia da Arma.
22 km, tra poco 24, con una peculiarità
interessante: è trafficata
anche in settimana dai pendolari
salutisti - oppure amanti della
bellezza - che vanno al lavoro in
bici. E questo, in Liguria, era impensabile.
Nolo bici e ristoro in
tre punti della pista: San Lorenzo,
Arma di Taggia e Sanremo.
Paesaggio mutevole: gallerie,
che hanno un fascino tutto loro,
angoli selvaggi, centri storici
e, a Sanremo, qualche parco
di ville favolose, come quella di
Nobel che, pentito per aver inventato
la dinamite ma senza
esagerare, aveva costruito un
moletto sul retro, cioè sulla pista,
per fare gli esperimenti con
le torpedini.
Pedalando nelle piste
ciclabili di Liguria: tra
Varazze e Arenzano, a
Levanto e (qua sopra) in Val
Fontanabuona, dove il 27
maggio si corre sulla
Ciclovia dell'ardesia (info su
www.cicloviadellardesia.it)
Cycling the cycle paths of
Liguria: between Varazze
and Arenzano, in Levanto,
and (above) in Val
Fontanabuona, where on
May 27 they race on the
Path of Slate, Ciclovia
dell'ardesia (info on
www.cicloviadellardesia.it
But the pearl of Ligurian cycling
paths is the one that runs from
San Lorenzo al Mare to Sanremo.
Readers of Blue are already
familiar with it, but some new
features have been added. It has
almost reached Ospedaletti, and
next year, work should begin to
extend it eastwards to Finale.
There is already a branch which
heads into the hills, the first of
many, and lets you reach Taggia
from Arma. 22 km, soon to be 24,
with another interesting aspect:
even during the week you see
physically-fit commuters – or
lovers of beauty – who go to work
by bicycle. And this, in Liguria, was
once unthinkable. Cycle rentals
and eating places are located in
three points along the path: San
Lorenzo, Arma di Taggia, and
Sanremo. The landscape is
constantly changing: tunnels,
which have their own fascination,
tracts of wilderness, old town
centers and, in Sanremo, some
parks of fabulous villas, like the
one that belonged to Nobel who,
feeling remorse for having
invented dynamite, built a little
pier at the back of his villa, on the
cycling path, to carry out
experiments with torpedoes.
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