Seguendo il corso del Tanaro

    The river guides us on a 40 km ring along the Tanaro, on both the flat and up hills, riding on levees and quiet roads. It is the perfect way to enjoy Alessandria, the city of bicycles. We leave the station of Alessandria on the left, continuing west; at the second roundabout (0.4 km) turn right to follow the cycle path that - albeit with interruptions - will lead us out of the town; at the roundabout of Largo Catania (1.5 km) turn right and continue to the next, where we turn left; following viale Milite Ignoto we reach the Forlanini bridge over the Tanaro river (4.0). We leave the quiet main road and follow alongside it by the river towards Montecastello; on the left, up a steep hill, is the castle that surveys the surrounding territory from the top of the Monferrato hills. We cross the village, and as we leave it, climb one and a half kilometres to the hamlet of San Bernardo. From here, the most scenic stretch of the route begins, a gentle up and down among the cherry tree hills: on the left the valley of Fiondi, on the right the low Tanaro valley and in the distance, the Po valley.   We go down to Rivarone; it is well worth a stop in the park on the Tanaro river (17:40 km). We leave the village and turn right on the busy main road from Valencia to Sale, which takes us to the Tanaro bridge. It can be a dangerous stretch because of all the traffic but is unfortunately inevitable. Immediately after the bridge, we leave the main road to go down the embankment dirt track that after about two kilometres leads us to Piovera. At the second hydrometric station, leave the embankment and turn left in the direction of the village. (20 km). It is worth visiting the medieval castle and the museum of contemporary sculpture. We leave the village to re-join the embankment along an attractive avenue of blackthorns towards the Musona estate: in the background, we can still see the castle of Montecastello. After two kilometres of dirt road (in times easy, occasionally less so) we reach Fonti di Lobbi, where once upon a time people came to drink the curative waters but where today there is a trattoria (restaurant). Leave the embankment and turn left onto the paved road that leads us to Lobbi. Go through the village and take the main road from Sale to Alessandria (30 km), go past the flyover, the toll gate, and immediately after the petrol station turn right on a road that leads us into Castelceriolo. We follow it all the way through the village, where we turn right in the direction of the cemetery on the road, Grilla. Following alongside the bank of the Bormida, we go 5 km to the SS 10 from Marengo to Alessandria. We continue cautiously along this busy stretch of road, cross the bridge over the Bormida, (37.5 km), pass under the ring road - on the left Napoleon’s majestic Sycamore tree - and safely reach a kind of cycle path which, albeit with interruptions, takes us back to where we started. After about one kilometre, at the traffic lights, turn left and take the track in the middle of the avenue, following it straight on, we reach the station: around 40 km in all. Claudio Pasero and Daniela Pestarino

Points of interest

Comune of Alessandria website and read here Alessandria, city of the bicycle Pietra Marazzi website Piovera website Hamlet of Castelceriolo Read here Comune of Montecastello and its medieval castle Read here

Departure, arrival and municipalities crossed