Torino Nice Rally - Day 1
Photo by Tim Wilkey
Day one of the Torino Nice Rally was definitely the section I had given the most consideration. The amount of times I had heard “day one is the hardest,” had me braced for the worst and ready to congratulate myself for surviving and enjoy the rest of the trip.
SPOILER ALERT: day one is not the hardest, not by a long shot.
The ride began with a group portrait at Piazza Giambattista Bodoni, then we had a flat, straight 30km out of Turin. It wasn’t the most exciting start, there’s a pretty busy main road, but it’s the most direct way to get to the good stuff. And girl, does day one have some good stuff!
Colle del Colombardo was the climb of the day and the reason that so many people remembered it as a brute. But if you’re wired up like me, and prefer a loose gravelly climb to a consistent tarmac one, it’s an amazing way to start. It was steep in places, loose and went on for long enough to put a bit of fear into everyone about what the days ahead would hold.
When we reached the top we took a moment to marvel at the first big view of the trip…and the first big descent. The descents are the moments I will remember with a giant smile on my face, especially this one.
It was the first time I had ridden downhill for that long, a magical experience that had me grinning from ear to ear the whole darn time. I love the speed and even better if the terrain is technical.
Words can’t really explain how great bombing down a mountain feels on a fully loaded hardtail.
We resupplied at a supermarket in San Antonio (the first of many pavement picnics) before pushing on to Bussoleno for a Maxibon. We’d already scoped out a bivvy spot for that evening just 1km out of the town which came with an amazing view…and hoards of Asian Tiger Mosquitos.
Mosquitos like to bite me, a lot, so I also had the pleasure of riding the rest of the rally with 42, itchy af, mosquito bites. Strong start.
DAY 1 STATISICS
108km travelled
2,180m elevation
16.6km av speed
6:32 moving time
42 pissing mosquito bites
1 Maxibon
