CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
From Borzano it runs 457 km to Borzano; allow about 8 h 30 of riding. The stops in between: Cathedral, Gessi di Zola predosa, Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola and Medici Villas and Gardens in Tuscany. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through. 35 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it.
The low hills south of Reggio Emilia, where the Po plain starts to ripple up toward the Apennines, hide a strange geology: outcrops of gypsum, the glittering crystalline rock left behind when ancient seas evaporated millions of years ago. Water dissolves gypsum easily, and over time it has carved caves, sinkholes and blind valleys into these hills. The Bassa Collina Reggiana, the low Reggio hill country, is part of the UNESCO site Evaporitic Karst and Caves of Northern Apennines, listed in 2023, and around Borzano, Albinea and Vezzano sul Crostolo you can see the white and grey gypsum cliffs poking through the woods and vineyards.
Read the complete Bassa collina reggiana write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Bassa collina reggiana is where the day begins. Next is Cathedral.
Modena's cathedral is one of the masterpieces of Romanesque architecture in Europe, and the inscription on its facade still names its makers with pride: the architect Lanfranco and the sculptor Wiligelmo. Work began in 1099 to house the relics of Saint Geminianus, the city's patron, and the result is a building of pale stone, with arcaded galleries, lions supporting the columns of the portal, and carved panels telling the story of Genesis with an expressive power that still surprises. The Ghirlandina, the cathedral's bell tower, leans slightly and rises high above the rooftops, and together with the Piazza Grande they form a UNESCO site.
Read the complete Cathedral write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Cathedral comes up about 37 km into the recorded legs. Next is Gessi di Zola predosa.
Southwest of Bologna, where the flat Po plain meets the first ripples of the Apennines, the hills around Zola Predosa hide a strange geology. These are gypsum hills, made of evaporite rock formed when an ancient sea dried out millions of years ago, leaving layers of shimmering selenite crystals. Water dissolves gypsum easily, and over time it has carved sinkholes, blind valleys and caves through the rock. In 2023, the Evaporitic Karst and Caves of the Northern Apennines were listed by UNESCO, and the Gessi Bolognesi around here are a key part of that story.
Read the complete Gessi di Zola predosa write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 76 km into the recorded legs you reach Gessi di Zola predosa. Next is Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola, 48 km on.
The Santerno valley climbs south from Imola into the Apennines toward Tuscany, and about fifteen kilometres up, the river cuts through a ridge of shining grey-white rock. This is the western end of the Vena del Gesso Romagnola, the gypsum vein that runs across this part of Romagna, and Monte Penzola rises above the village of Borgo Tossignano, with Fontanelice and Casalfiumanese nearby.
Read the complete Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola, about halfway. Next is Medici Villas and Gardens in Tuscany.
The Medici left behind a necklace of villas around Florence, and the group of them listed by UNESCO in 2013 shows how a banking family turned itself into a ruling dynasty with the help of architecture. Humanists, painters and poets were invited to talk and eat in these gardens, which is where some of the Renaissance really happened.
Read the complete Medici Villas and Gardens in Tuscany write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Medici Villas and Gardens in Tuscany sits at 194 km, about halfway. Next is back through Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola, 48 km on.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola comes up about 301 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Gessi di Zola predosa.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Gessi di Zola predosa write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 378 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Gessi di Zola predosa. Next is back through Cathedral.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cathedral write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Cathedral, late in the day. Next is Bassa collina reggiana.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Bassa collina reggiana write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 457 km.
Bassa collina reggiana → Cathedral is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cathedral → Gessi di Zola predosa is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Gessi di Zola predosa → Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola is 74 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola → Medici Villas and Gardens in Tuscany is 76 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Medici Villas and Gardens in Tuscany → back through Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola is 75 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola → back through Gessi di Zola predosa is 77 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Gessi di Zola predosa → back through Cathedral is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cathedral → Bassa collina reggiana is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.