A rural saying goes: “You don’t grow old at the table.” Not because time stops passing, but because its pace slows down. In the past, meals marked a necessary break from work in the fields; today, they remain – at least in part – a moment that resists the rush of everyday life. I find similarities with cycling: on a bike, there is more time to observe, to reflect at a calmer pace, to move through the landscape, which then reappears at the table, through the products of the land. I’m in the Cuneo area, starting from Alba, between the Tanaro River and the Langhe, among hills where celebrated wines are born. ⁠ ⁠ Four routes await me: for the last two I’ll move to Saluzzo, and on the final one I’ll ride toward Mount Monviso, climbing to the source of the Po, Italy’s longest river. At the outset, I’ll explore part of Langhe Monferrato Roero, a group of hilly territories in southern Piedmont recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for their cultural landscape shaped by centuries of winema...