Bar To Bar in mountain bike - Tappa 5: Roddino - Monforte d'Alba

From Roddino, a border village between Alta Langa and Langa del Barolo, you return to the wine heart of the area, ready to cycle among the most famous crus of Barolo, stopping for unmissable visits in villages overflowing with history.

From Roddino we leave the town towards Serralunga and once we reach the Chapel of the Madonna della Neve we take the grassy path on the right that runs halfway up the hill to then join the Bricco del Gallo road (on asphalt first on the left and then immediately on the right).

(This part Roddino-Sinio-Montelupo-Sinio-Serralunga is recommended only for expert cyclists. For others we suggest reaching Serralunga directly from Roddino on asphalt).

Shortly after the farmhouse, go under the road on the left, first on a dirt road, then on the right in the grass between the vineyards and, further on, through a hazelnut grove. The road descends gradually (D1-2), to enter the woods and find the dirt road almost at the valley floor. Once you reach the provincial road, you cross it to go back to the village of Sinio, dominated by the beautiful castle and positioned almost vertically over the valley. It is no coincidence that we will use the stairs to cut through the steep alleys of the village and reach the upper square with the town hall and, indeed, the castle (now a hotel) from the church street. We turn left into Vicolo del Castello and, then, at the next camper parking area, we turn right to begin the climb towards Montelupo. After 50 m we take the first dirt road on the right (S2) and follow it among the hazelnut trees until we reach a house in the hamlet, from which we turn left, uphill (S2) for a couple of kilometres, until we briefly rejoin the asphalt Protto locality. Having reached Gabusi (right, left, right in rapid succession) we take the grassy path on the left which now, having passed the village of Montelupo, descends gently to the mouth of a gorge (which we will leave on the right by turning left), then, after the little bridge, you arrive at a group of houses. After the last farmhouse the road becomes steep and becomes a narrow path in the woods (D3), and then emerges among the vineyards, always very steep and stony, and descends between fields and hazelnut trees, each time keeping left up to the Cascina dei Bricchi. Here you continue down a very steep descent (extreme D3), still keeping to the left and, with two gravel hairpin bends, you reach the asphalt again just beyond Sinio towards Valle Talloria.

We then cross the provincial road to Valle Talloria and take the dirt road that goes down to the ford on the Talloria and then climbs steeply (S3 beyond the stream, take the one on the right) first through the woods and then the vineyards, until we reach the village of Cerrati , from which, going down the hill, we go down to the provincial road which opens onto one of the most beautiful landscapes of Barolo. Almost all the great crus of Serralunga are located on this side overlooking the opposite hamlets of Ginestra, Castelletto and Perno di Monforte. Right below us is the famous Lazzarito, with Meriame on the right and Garombo on the left, with Marenca and Parafada. We therefore turn left to reach Serralunga, the most medieval of the Langhe villages, with its turreted castle dominating a single circle of houses. We enter through the arch onto Piazza Umberto I with the donjon of the Falletti fortress now above us. A tour of the castle (museum, national monument, which has remained intact in its defensive specifications) and the main road is a must. Finally, we leave the town on Piazza Cappellano from whose remarkable viewpoint we can admire the vineyards of Vigna Rionda (perhaps the most famous cru of the town), to reach the Collaretto crossroads on the asphalt road (another well-known Barolo vineyard) on the right and, then, after passing the village, take the dirt road in front of us which descends to D2 among the truffle plants, up to the stream below. We cross it to find ourselves at a crossroads from which we take the steep uphill median on stony ground (extreme S3), which, once past the woods, opens onto the Ginestra vineyards, to take us back onto the asphalt through the village, overcome some sharp hairpin bends, then the cemetery and, finally, reaching the longed-for Monforte from above. Monforte is another center of great charm with the Saracca, the oldest part of the town, which rises steeply like a pueblo up to the Palazzo degli Scarampi and the Horzowsky Auditorium (where in July the largest beautiful jazz music festival in Piedmont). Arriving from above, we will travel down the Saracca: the streets of the village deserve an in-depth visit, facilitated by the presence of numerous rooms and accommodation. The bell tower, which stands between the oratory and the brotherhood, is the most important vestige of the disappeared medieval castle that occupied the entire esplanade. Here in 1080 the Cathars (but in reality they were Manichaeans) barricaded themselves to resist the Pope's militias in what remains the first case of persecution of heretics. The poor inhabitants of the town were dragged in chains to Milan where, upon refusing to recant, all three hundred were condemned to the stake: the Corso Monforte of the same name remembers them up there in Lombardy. The sad fate of the Cathars brings us back to the historical reality of these hills which, disputed and fragmented between local lords, experienced endless invasions even from the most distant kingdoms, raids by pirates and epidemics left behind by mercenary soldiers. The density of votive chapels, country churches and monasteries (often now disappeared) is therefore well explained by the fragility of these communities, which ultimately found order and a bit of peace only with the rise of the Savoys in Piedmont at the end of 600, after an endless war like that of the Thirty Years.