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Agree with your comment about Nice, felt a bit jarring to descend to the noise and decadence of the Riviera after being in the mountains for a week. Turin was lovely though.
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I believe Via de Sale, etc is all open again. At least to bikes.
All good advice.
I got lucky and barely any rain/bad weather, but riders who made it onto the Strada dell'Assietta the night before me got caught in snow. I did it the next day in sunshine (after staying at the particularly great Rifugio over the top of the Finestre).Would echo not eating a bad meal on whole trip, EXCEPT Italians are rigid on mealtimes and if you turn up at the wrong time you will often not get fed. Some places also very firm on booking for meals, I think because they'd rather serve no food than bad food.
If/when I do it again I'd try for the leaving a bike box in Turin. You can buy a flimsy cardboard bike box at Nice airport easily, but it still wasn't a very fun experience. I think James was keen to make it a no-fly ride, but not sure this became official policy - partly just because it's so time consuming to get there any other way.
I pointlessly made a food collage for an article I wrote about it (which then didn't get used), should further inspiration be required.
ad441
I did it on rigid mtb with 2.1 tyres. Was a great choice for the rougher bits (via de sale, etc), less good for the road bits. Tyre choice is probably most important - wouldn't want to go narrower than 47.
Majority of people were doing it on gravel bikes but you'll be fine with either. Lowest gearing possible is main thing, there is a lot of steep climbing.
Think I took 8 days, most people did it in 6 or 7. But basically you want to take as long as you can get away with - the longer you have, the more opportunity for leisurely meals, etc. The route's flexible enough that you can adjust it as you go along depending on time limits. If I'd had more time I'd have detoured to Molini di Triora. Whatever you do don't miss Via di Sale.
Personally I'd sacrifice time in Nice for more time on the route - Nice (for me anyway) was horrible and overcrowded after being out in the mountains and was glad I only stopped there briefly before heading to the airport. On the other hand Turin is a nice place to spend time beforehand.
Would love to do it again - don't think I've met anyone that's done it who hasn't had an amazing time.
(have probably spammed my photos on here before, but if not - https://www.flickr.com/photos/adownie/albums/72157711147121713)