Milano - Sanremo, Enduro Challenge

The Pro Rider Joins the Team?

A few months later, around June's end, Kask gave us the news that they'd invited Nathan Haas, a former pro road cyclist turned gravel racer, to join us on this 4-day adventure from Milan to Sanremo. We had a video call with him, and we immediately thought he was a cool guy. But let's be real, he's a pro racer, and we're a bunch of goofballs. After that call, we realized we needed to kick our training into high gear if we didn't want to keel over on this 4-day ride.

So, towards summer's end (early September), we finally met up in Milan. On the first evening, we hashed out the last details, and the next morning, we hit the road at the crack of dawn – 5 am. As we pedaled towards Piazza del Duomo in Milan, it was pretty clear that Nathan was in tip-top shape on his gravel bike. Pippo couldn't help but say, "Not only does he pedal more than me, but I bet he's faster than me on the trails as well." Well, we couldn't be intimidated by a guy in lycra!

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Day 1 - Milan to Nizza Monferrato:

We woke up at the crack of dawn, cruising around Piazza del Duomo and the Galleria. We were sort of looking for the red carpet, but we couldn't find it for some reason. Back to the hotel for breakfast, and then we hopped on our bikes headed for Nizza Monferrato. Around 130 km lay ahead of us, but we weren't exactly trembling with fear.

After the first 30 km, we hit some gravel roads, and eventually, Pippo goes, "Follow me, I know a trail." Well, that was a disaster, to say the least – it was full of fallen trees, and we lost about 2 hours covering just 3 km. After that "experience," we crossed the Ticino river and had to race against the clock to make it to Nizza Monferrato on time. Nathan was mad because we hadn't arranged a proper lunch, but hey, we're enduro riders.

We almost made it to Nizza Monferrato, but our pals from Kask decided to give us a lift to the fantastic Braida Wine Resort where we had dinner and spent the night.

Day 2 - Nizza Monferrato to Ormea:

This part turned out to be the most challenging of the adventure, and our backcountry team managed only a portion of it. Nathan, the brave soul, almost rode it all – our enduro bikes (or legs) weren't too thrilled with all the ups and downs around the Monferrato hills. Once in Ceva, we had an amazing lunch and pushed on to Ormea where we spent the night.

Day 3 - Ormea to Monte Saccarello:

Finally, we got to Day 3 – this was our day. Nathan thought we'd be pedaling the whole day, but lucky for us, Pippo had arranged a shuttle. We wanted to show Nathan how awesome the trails are in Nava, with some help from our friends at Nava Freeride Paradise. We jumped on their shuttle and got to ride some cool trails.

Nathan's riding skills are truly impressive – we knew he'd be good, but we didn't expect that much. He rode full enduro trails on his gravel bike, it was unbelievable! Colnago Bikes are definitely sturdy!

Late in the afternoon, we made it to the top of Monte Saccarello and spent the night at Rifugio Laterza. The place was magical, the weather was perfect, and we managed to capture some of the best content we could have hoped for. After a hearty dinner and lots of laughs, we hit the sack, ready for the fourth and final day of our little adventure.

Day 4 - Monte Saccarello to Sanremo:

We set out fairly early from the hut and started following the long ridge toward the Mediterranean Sea. We were pedaling uphill, and it was pretty cold, but the weather was fantastic, and the views were breathtaking. Once again, we descended on a fast single track, and Nathan impressed us with his speed and control – it was mind-blowing.

From the beautiful Garezzo Tunnel, we had a massive descent down to Molini di Triora. Triora is known as the village of the witches, so we couldn't resist a stop in this crazy place. We rode right through the heart of the village and had a quick lunch. We couldn't linger because we still had 40 km to reach Sanremo, and it was scorching hot.

We rolled down from the mountains to the seaside towards Sanremo. It was one heck of a ride, but it was totally worth it! It was cool to see the contrast between a gravel biker and an enduro rider, but it was even better to see how, at the end of the day, we all just love having fun on our bikes.