I have long dreamed of seeing that iconic photo of Riomaggiore's pink and yellow apartment blocks crowded on top of each other in person. I've often wondered 'is that for real?' and if so how? For me it captures romance and exotic travels all at once. I never though I'd get there by bike. There's few blogs/forums/commentary on cycling the Cinque Terre, perhaps it's not an obvious route. Maps are difficult to makeout, the road appears narrow and hair-raising and there are several tunnels so it conjures up images of the worst Italian roads, overcrowded, scary and guaranteed death. But it is anything but. It's simply fabulous. It's a 42km tough yet rewarding ride from La Spezia. The road is of excellent quality, part of it has a wide shoulder while the rest is narrow and winding but there's hardly any traffic and what there is has to go slowly too. There are hills. Mountains in fact (at one stage my speedo dipped to 5km/hr) but for a bird's eye view of the coastline it was a small inconvenience. What a fabulous perspective and such an ideal cycle route. So what's stopping you?! Do it. Now!