This route starts in Ovada. The first leg goes through Apennine woods, the second through the vineyards and uncultivated fields of the hills around Ovada.
Set off from the railway station in Ovada and head to Belforte Monferrato, passing close by the motorway tollbooth on the way. Be careful of the traffic on this first leg. Once you leave the village on the SP 170, go uphill a bit more and then downhill after the bend. Turn off almost straight away, on the first downhill track on your right. This forest trail takes you down to a ford, then up again on the other side of the valley. This is a woodland setting. At some points, the trail has been damaged by rain. If you're a less experienced cyclist, you may have to get off and push your bike. The trail is signposted by yellow squares that carry on until you reach a tarmac road, Strada Colma. Turn right on it and follow it uphill until the tarmac runs out in the Magnoni area, the highest point on the route. Now take the track on your left in the direction of Cascina Fontanassi. After a short while, you'll reach the border of the Capanne di Marcarolo Natural Park. Turn left again and go down towards Cirimilla. After a few ups and downs in the woods, the track arrives at the bottom of the Piota valley, near Cascina Cirimilla. Here you come back onto the tarmac. Carry on for a while, going down into the valley. Right after Cascina Cirimilla, take the first track on your right up into the woods. This takes you along some beautiful ups and downs to a concrete ford over the river Gorzente. Be careful at the ford. You should only cross it if the river is not swollen. After the ford, the track continues until a tarmac road that takes you to the lakes of Lavagnina. Turn left and head downhill soon after. When you reach the bridge, don't cross it. Instead, turn right onto a path that follows a pipeline and head up the valley of a stream that you'll have to ford three times. After the last concrete ford, you'll find yourself on a track running right under the castle in Casaleggio Boiro. A little on, you'll come back onto the tarmac. Carry straight on to Casaleggio Boiro. Once you get to the village, turn right onto the SP 170 for a while, then left towards the Cascinotto area. Once you get to the end of the road, go straight on down the path. It runs along the crest of the hills for about 2 km, with beautiful views of the vineyards and woods. Far away on your right, you can see Montaldeo with its castle. Turn left when you reach the tarmacked junction and go up to Cascina Pastori, then on down past Cascina Mirani and Cascina Malve. When you get to the little bridge at the bottom of the hill, turn right in front of it onto a track. This brings you near the bed of the river Piota and on to the cemetery in Lerma. From here, the track turns into a tarmac road again and takes you to the medieval village of Lerma. Cycle into the castle square and admire the view. Then go down into the fortified ricetto and leave the village by a path below the houses. This path leads to a small clearing known as il cengio, the ledge. Turn left here and go down to a mill. The path is a little overgrown in summer but still usable. When you get to the bottom, you'll find the mill, which is now a farm stay. Get back onto the SP 170 from the mill road. Turn right and come to the junction for Tagliolo Monferrato. To get back to Ovada without encountering too much traffic, go through Tagliolo, carrying on up the SP 170 and then down the SP 171, which will drop you near the centre of Ovada.