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.
A 289 km round trip from Rastignano-Carteria di Sesto - roughly 6 h 08 in the saddle. On the way it passes Gessi di Zola predosa, Cathedral, Bassa collina reggiana and back through Bassa collina reggiana. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through. 42 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it.
Ride south out of Bologna and within ten minutes the city's suburbs give way to something surprising: a range of low hills made of gypsum, a soft, crystalline rock that dissolves in water and forms caves, sinkholes and strange, shiny outcrops. These are the Gessi Bolognesi, a protected regional park between the Savena and Idice valleys, and in 2023 they became part of the UNESCO site for the evaporitic karst and caves of the northern Apennines.
Read the complete Gessi Bolognesi write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Gessi Bolognesi is where the day begins. 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.
Gessi di Zola predosa comes up about 31 km into the recorded legs. 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.
about 75 km into the recorded legs you reach Cathedral. Next is Bassa collina reggiana.
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, about halfway.
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.
Cathedral sits at 132 km, about halfway. Next is back through 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.
back through Bassa collina reggiana comes up about 184 km into the recorded legs. 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.
about 221 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Cathedral. 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.
back through Gessi di Zola predosa, late in the day. Next is Gessi Bolognesi.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Gessi Bolognesi write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 289 km.
Gessi Bolognesi → Gessi di Zola predosa is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Gessi di Zola predosa → Cathedral is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cathedral → Bassa collina reggiana is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Bassa collina reggiana → Cathedral is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cathedral → back through Bassa collina reggiana is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Bassa collina reggiana → back through Cathedral is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cathedral → back through Gessi di Zola predosa is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Gessi di Zola predosa → Gessi Bolognesi is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.