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 296 km round trip from Ouro Preto - roughly 5 h 26 in the saddle. The stops in between: Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Congonhas, Pampulha Modern Ensemble and back through Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Congonhas. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,150 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. The line favours views over speed.
Ouro Preto means Black Gold, and the name comes from the dark, iron-stained metal that miners found in the streams around here in the 1690s. The strike set off one of the biggest gold rushes in history, and within a few decades the town, then called Vila Rica, had become the richest in Brazil and one of the largest in the Americas. Today the gold is gone, but the town is still a spectacular set of whitewashed houses, baroque churches and steep, cobbled streets draped over a series of hills.
Read the complete Historic Town of Ouro Preto write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Historic Town of Ouro Preto is where the day begins. Next is Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Congonhas.
Congonhas is a town of steelworks and iron ore in the hills of Minas Gerais, and on its highest ridge stands one of the great works of Brazilian art. The Sanctuary of Bom Jesus de Matosinhos is a pilgrimage church that looks out across the valley, and in front of it, along a stepped terrace, stand twelve Old Testament prophets carved from soapstone by the sculptor Antônio Francisco Lisboa, known as Aleijadinho, the Little Cripple. Their gestures are dramatic and slightly twisted, their faces intense, and they seem to speak across the town below.
Read the complete Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Congonhas write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Congonhas comes up about 56 km into the recorded legs. Next is Pampulha Modern Ensemble.
about 148 km into the recorded legs you reach Pampulha Modern Ensemble. Next is back through Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Congonhas.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Congonhas write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Congonhas, late in the day. Next is Historic Town of Ouro Preto.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Historic Town of Ouro Preto write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Historic Town of Ouro Preto. That is the ride.
Historic Town of Ouro Preto → Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Congonhas is 56 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Congonhas → Pampulha Modern Ensemble is 92 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Pampulha Modern Ensemble → back through Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Congonhas is 93 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Congonhas → Historic Town of Ouro Preto is 56 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.