Have to watch the timings now as it is getting dark by 20h30 although not too bad in the city with the neon lights so pretty.Ride up to Mont Thou by the route du Genie.

Reverse of my previous trip. This time climbing by the easier route but with the poor road surface. It really is much easier this way with just a couple of short ramps to conquer.

A day of flatter riding with a classic tour of lake Orta from Pettenasco with a little detour to check out the fish ponds of Laghetti di Nonnio. The road up to the ponds has a few steep ramps.

Lunch ride to cover a few kms before the vacation. It was actually a bit more climbing than I expected, around 700 meters.

A pleasant after-work outing to rack up a few more meters and a Strava KoM! Note: any good cyclist should be able to climb Mont Cindre in half the time it took me :-).

My old morning or evening commute route. I was WFH so did this as a lunch ride as I couldn't be bothered to get up early. VAM of 825m/h for 30 minutes including a stop to give a lady directions.

Little afternoon ride before the TdF finish.

Cycling in the Alps is starting to get depressing. The PR at the Col d'Hurtières belongs to a certain Colin Savioz on Strava, 24 minutes. I took 50 for 700m over 8km.

a bit of exploration. Took a "short cut" Gozzano - through "mirkwood" - an unpaved forest road.

I've cycled around the lake of Orta before, in both directions. In my opinion the climb out of Omegna is the easiest even if it is sun exposed as the gradient is never severe.