Near-Death on Italy’s Hardest Bikepacking Route

Cycling the world – Europe: 176 episode
In this episode of my round-the-world bike tour, I tackle a challenging section of the bikepacking Alta Via dei Monti Liguri. Although I’m spared from the rain, the trail itself is brutal, quickly narrowing to a single track that takes me up and down mountains and ridges. In some spots, the trail has fallen away, making it dangerous to even push my bike through. Signposts warn about the route’s hazards, advising against proceeding without proper gear, experience, or in adverse weather. At this point, I’m fully committed, with low water and food supplies. Eventually, I reach a via ferrata where part of the trail is missing, leaving a sheer drop below. It takes several tries to cross with my bike, an experience that feels near-death. Finally, I reach the pass, only to find the rifugio closed. Frustrated by the route’s absurd difficulty, I decide to head off the trail and make my way to the coast.

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45件のコメント

  1. 🇬🇧🇮🇹🇪🇸
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  2. Saludos desde Venezuela, Daniel
    veo que se metio una tremendo viaje , bonitas montñas.
    Esta vez fue exigente la ruta, pero al final da una buena sensacion de haberlo logrado.
    Felicitaciones
    Forza

  3. Glad to see that you made it in one piece! 🙂 please be cautious.
    I smiled also because I recognised the tone of voice afterwards, when you're still in the realisation of what just happened.
    Take care Davide!

  4. What a great adventure! What a struggle, i can only imagine! and of course my favorite "fckn hell!". Davide, my respect!!! How i would be on all these trails. Please, evaluate your loaded bike's weight and how it varies between different parts of journey. Mille gracie!

  5. Ciao .. non so che traccia hai seguito..ma fattelo dire da uno che abita a Pigna.. hai completamente sbagliato strada .. i sentieri che hai fatto tu li fanno solo in MTB ,quelli bravi, e solitamente in discesa.. certamente non carichi di roba .. da Ventimiglia dovevi farti la valle fino a Pigna e da lì salire a melosa.. arrivato lì scegliere se farti l entroterra Ligure(anche via provinciali volendo dato che l unica parte trafficata in Liguria è la costa)o la via del sale entrambe bellissime soprattutto l ultima anche se meglio farla nel altro senso.. i rifugi dove sei passato sono chiusi da decenni.. proprio un peccato, ti sei fatto un mazzo allucinante per arrivare alla strada giusta e quando sei arrivato hai mollato .. spero che tu non abbia fatto l aurelia.. buona fortuna!

  6. hi Davide, I hope it looked scarier on video than in reality, at any rate, I just fast forwarded those hair-raising moments because it was too much for me to stand.
    by the way, did you find a solution to the issue you had with Paypal?
    ciao

  7. Mamma mia Davide 🙈… x la serie vogliamoci del male !!! 😅 pensa che su strava e su komoot ci sono tracce di utenti che l’hanno fatta tutta da Spezia a Ventimiglia ! Un bikepacking molto minimal ho visto ; e comunque non mi sono preso la briga di controllare ma credo proprio che alcuni passaggi li abbiamo bypassati in favore di tratti più pedalabili uscendo dall’altavia e riprendendola successivamente , anche perché come hai potuto constatare punti di appoggio per rifornirsi di cibo ce ne sono pochissimi, e ad ogni modo il portage è inevitabile ! Da ligure doc ho percorso molte volte diversi segmenti dell’AV qua e là, giri ad anello chiusi in giornata , con la mtb senza borse e ne ho sempre avuto già abbastanza così! 🤪 . Che dire : applausi ! applausi ! e ancora applausi !!!

  8. BUON GIORNO Davide. Man, that is no joke trying to traverse that with a bike, it would be difficult for most people to do it on foot.

  9. Love your videos my dude, love what you're doing. If you have a spare/used tube, you can strap your bike and carry it over your shoulder and torso for rough and dangerous passages like you had there (and grab the metal rope with your free hand which can be life saving). Some brands also sell some dedicated stuff but they're usually expensive though more comfortable. Dunno how that works with large panniers though, I guess you'd still have to dismount them as you did.

  10. Good day Davide! I think this is one of your most spectacular challenges! A setting like this, in the silence, with lush greenery and along a rock face, is the most beautiful thing about it! Above all, to experience it on a touring bike is a memory that will stay with you forever! I love the feeling of vertigo that runs through your stomach and up to your face. You have to know how to manage each movement, thinking about the next one with your supports, and make sure that at any moment you can validate plan B, i.e. the possibility (or not) of withdrawing immediately! Personally, I would have loosened the stem to turn the handlebars e.g. 60° to the left and then tightened (!) again to ride along the wall without having the handle on the right and the front pannier getting caught in the rocks. Perhaps a time lapse would have been nice for the part where you cut the video because the weather was turning… In any case, well done for your determination not to give up. Thank you for sharing this exceptional experience^^ I love the slideshow at the end! PS Maybe we also need to be grateful and understand that we need to be more organised when it comes to food.

  11. Unbelievable, is it possible that, according to some "expert", this trail is supposed to be for mountain-biking?? You have balls, haha, this was extremely dangerous and exhausting, although the scenery is amazing. Well done!

  12. This looks like a really nice Hiking trail, not that difficult with the right shoes and a little bit of experience.

    But not with cleats, and a heavy Bike!
    I experienced these type of routes also, mapped as a Biking trail on Komoot. Halt die Ohren steif! ❤

  13. L'alta via dei monti liguri non è interamente pedalabile e non è nata per esserlo. alla pagina " Alta Via Info h24 " ti consigliano dei tratti alternativi . forse sono 10 euro spesi bene.

  14. Thank you for sharing your inspiring adventure. Please take care out there! You really picked a extremely dangerous route🤯🤯

  15. I'm at 15:22. I can see perfectly well. I don't think his bicycle will not fall. If I have bicycle there, it will fall off of cliff. Then I will continue to hike. I must meditate and study nature now. I will question the heavens for an answer.

  16. Complimenti Davide, per il coraggio e la testardaggine nel voler proseguire lungo l’Alta Via dei Monti Liguri! Hai ragione, non è davvero un percorso pensato per le biciclette

  17. I suffered from vertigo just watching. That was such a scary place to take a bike. Congratulations on having the good sense to abandon the route. Keep safe and keep well.

  18. Bloody hell Dav that was indeed a tad 'sketchy' 😲. My wife kept jumping off the sofa, unable to watch 😅 and then threatened to kill me, if i ever I get any ideas about taking her on such a route 😂😂. Thanks as always for doing the hard miles, and bringing us along ❤

  19. Ciao Davide, you are neither stupid, nor an idiot! …a little bit crazy for sure, and a true adventurerer!
    Ok, I correct myself… very crazy… how the hell did you push the bike on those nonexisting paths?!? To quote you: "fuckin Hell!" 😂

  20. Hye David👋🏼 Awesome tour!
    Are you still happy with the bike? Could get my hands on a longitude L frame, but i'm not sure if it fits. What size does your frame have? I'm 1,80m
    Thank you❤
    Joe

  21. Davide, you asked the question if you should go down and be sensible or continue and be an idiot. I could hardly watch. Please use my donation to book a course on how not to be an idiot. Thanks for your courage!

  22. I have a 50 kg weight bar that I Iift so that I can shoulder my fully laden bike and carry it up and down mountains for small bits at a time. I learnt that a lack of strength and exhaustion in the middle of nowhere cna narrow down options. Having said that I don't think I'd have completed that trail you did ! Chapeau.

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