Everywhere you ride, the cast of characters is the same. Go to any mountain biking destination, and there is always a crew of absolute rippers, dedicated trail builders, shuttle drivers with ear-to-ear smiles, visiting road trippers with unlimited motivation, riders way in over their heads because they just had to do the classic trail, and some old dude on a hard-tail who you expect to be slow but is actually way faster than everyone else.
Finale Ligure is one of the most famous mountain biking destinations in Europe, and for a good reason. The trails are excellent, the views are incredible, and pretty much every ride ends with swimming in the ocean. Locals there are as psyched as any I’ve ever seen, and they’re building more trails as fast as they can. It’s no wonder that this place is a stop on the Enduro World Series.
The only real downside is that most of the trails are still underground, so there are no signs. It’s pretty common to get to a trail junction that splits three ways and then check the map to find no three-way intersections, take a guess at where you may be, and then just drop in on whichever trail looks like the most fun in the next 50 meters. But it really didn’t matter because either way you were going to get in some excellent riding.
While our three days here were incredible, they unfortunately ended with a pretty nasty crash, several miles of walking bikes, and eventually a ride in an ambulance for Jasmin. Luckily, she turned out to be relatively OK, but it was an interesting lesson in the good and bad sides of healthcare in Europe.
