The squared sea

Tour description

Province: Alessandria
Suggested bicycle: city bike
Difficulty: medium
Depart: Trino Vercellese
End: Trino Vercellese
Total distance: 47 km
Soil type: asphalt and dirt road
Suggested period: from March to October

Highlights and tour details

A ring of 50 km near the Po river on secondary roads amongst the hills of Monferrato and the rice paddies of Vercelli's area.

Leaving the train station of Trino, you have to turn right, pass through the level crossings and, after the traffic lights, crossing the state highway 31bis, you will reach the bridge over the Po. On a beautiful sunny day the view will embrace the bed of the "great river" as well as the Alps. After the bridge, you have to turn right, towards Gabiano-Rocca dele Donne. You have to proceed along a level road, accompanied by the spectral presence of an abandoned worker village, that reminds of the movie "The day after" and makes you focus the attention on the opposite river bank, where the nuclear power station stands out. Now you have to face an uphill road, not long but rather challenging, leading to the village of Brusaschetto Vecchio (260 metres). Pedalling, you do not feel the fatigue because you are immersed in a breathtaking view: lush hills of vineyards, with the Monte Rosa on the background and, below, the "squared sea" of the flooded paddies.
After the fork towards Camino you have to take, the deviation to Rocca delle Donne, on the right, (260 meters), the village that once hosted a convent for women; a sloping sea of flowering acacia trees separates the village from the paddies. Down there, between the blue and purple waters, you can see an island, that the map shows as Palazzolo Vercellese. You have to leave Rocca and then, after a climb of a couple of miles, you have to take, on the right, the road that leads to Isolengo and then Cantavenna, where you can taste the local wine at the winery at the square and, at the Locanda del Rubino, you can observe the curious photos of "fat is beautiful". Two kilometers away from Cantavenna, towards Gabiano, you will arrive at the first house of Zoalengo, where you have to take, on your left, a tunnel that leads to a descending road, not long, but very steep, until you find again the plain, on a straight road, that leads to Piagera, hosting a fruit and vegetable market open on Sundays.
In Piagera you will be back in the county road that, after about ten kilometres, leads to the bridge Crescentino. After the bridge, you don't have to enter Crescentino but, at the first road on the right, you have to turn towards the locality Mezzi, then, keeping the left, before the houses of Porzioni, you have to take a road that crosses, with a small bridge, the Roggia of Doretta Morta.
Then you will find yourself riding through the flooded rice fields, accompanied by the elegant flight of herons and the croaking frogs, immersed in a special atmosphere that reminds of the songs of the women working in the rice fields (the so-called Mondine).
You will come to St. Maria and from there continue on the dirt bank up to Porto Natante, where there was a ferry operating until 1994, that joined the two banks of the river. You have to pedal across the Po River Park and leave it in Fontanetto. Here, after a short break, you have to take the statal highway 31bis, ride through Palazzolo Vercellese and return to Trino. Nearly 50 km in all.

Where to sleep

Cà San Sebastiano Wine Resort & Spa
Via Ombra, 10 cap 15020 – Camino Monferrato (Alessandria)
Tel. 0142 945900
Email: info@casansebastiano.it
Web: www.casansebastiano.it

Agriturismo Barbalando
Fraz. Torcello Regione Regina, 135 cap 15033 – Casale Monferrato (Alessandria)
Tel. 0142 408241
Email: info@barbalando.it
Web: www.barbalando.it

La Casa di Vignaretto
Strada Cocconito, 1 cap 14023 – Cocconato d'Asti (Asti)
Tel. 0141 907174
Email: casavignaretto@gmail.com
Web:

Ara Mea
Via Mazzini, 60 cap 14020 – Aramengo (Asti)
Tel. 335 7429998
Email: info@aramea.it
Web: www.aramea.it