Why this ride
A 148 km round trip from Urbino - roughly 3 h 27 in the saddle. On the way it passes Gessi di Onferno, Evaporiti di San Leo and back through Gessi di Onferno.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Historic Centre of Urbino and Evaporiti di San Leo
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 148 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 27
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
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.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Historic Centre of Urbino
Urbino is a whole hill turned into an idea. In the fifteenth century Federico da Montefeltro, a professional soldier who earned a fortune leading other people's armies, used it to build one of the most refined courts in Renaissance Italy, and the town that grew around his palace is still almost entirely brick and stone of that age. It was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1998, and it remains a lively university town rather than a museum.
Read the complete Historic Centre of Urbino write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Historic Centre of Urbino is where the day begins. Next is Gessi di Onferno.
2. Gessi di Onferno
The hills behind Rimini hide a surprising piece of geology. Around the hamlet of Onferno, in the comune of Gemmano, the ground is made of gypsum, laid down when the Mediterranean dried out millions of years ago and then pushed up into these ridges. Water dissolves gypsum easily, so the landscape is pocked with sinkholes, blind valleys and caves, and the Grotta di Onferno winds for hundreds of metres beneath the village. The name is often linked to inferno, supposedly because vapour rising from the cave mouth in cold weather looked like the breath of hell.
Read the complete Gessi di Onferno write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Gessi di Onferno comes up about 36 km into the recorded legs. Next is Evaporiti di San Leo.
3. Evaporiti di San Leo
San Leo stands on a limestone block that rises sheer out of the Marecchia valley, and from a distance it looks like a fortress that nobody could possibly have captured. The ground under it tells a longer and stranger story. The evaporite rocks in this area, gypsum and associated salts, were laid down around six million years ago, when the Mediterranean nearly dried out in what geologists call the Messinian salinity crisis. Seawater evaporated, minerals crystallised, and the beds you see in the cuttings are the leftovers of that event.
Read the complete Evaporiti di San Leo write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 74 km into the recorded legs you reach Evaporiti di San Leo. Next is back through Gessi di Onferno.
4. back through Gessi di Onferno
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Gessi di Onferno write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Gessi di Onferno, late in the day. Next is Historic Centre of Urbino.
5. Historic Centre of Urbino
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Historic Centre of Urbino write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Historic Centre of Urbino. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Historic Centre of Urbino to Gessi di Onferno
Historic Centre of Urbino → Gessi di Onferno is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Gessi di Onferno to Evaporiti di San Leo
Gessi di Onferno → Evaporiti di San Leo is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Evaporiti di San Leo to back through Gessi di Onferno
Evaporiti di San Leo → back through Gessi di Onferno is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Gessi di Onferno to Historic Centre of Urbino
back through Gessi di Onferno → Historic Centre of Urbino is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.