Why this ride
From Bologna it runs 348 km to Bologna; allow about 6 h 18 of riding. It goes by way of Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola, Gessi Bolognesi, Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Casino and back through Gessi Bolognesi.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
MamBo and Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Casino
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 348 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 6 h 18
- 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. MamBo
Not every checkpoint on a ride needs to be old. MamBo, the Museo d'Arte Moderna di Bologna, opened in 2007 in a former municipal bakery on the northern edge of the old centre, and the building says a lot about how Bologna thinks. The city turned the factory where it once baked bread for its people into a home for twentieth-century and contemporary art, with a strong collection of Giorgio Morandi, the painter who spent his whole life in this town painting bottles and jugs on a table, and whose little house lies not far away.
Read the complete MamBo write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
MamBo is where the day begins. Next is Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola, 36 km on.
2. Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola
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.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola comes up about 60 km into the recorded legs. Next is Gessi Bolognesi.
3. Gessi Bolognesi
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.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 118 km into the recorded legs you reach Gessi Bolognesi. Next is Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Casino, 36 km on.
4. Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Casino
Crystals the size of a hand catch the sun along the Vena del Gesso, a ridge of selenite gypsum that runs for some twenty-five kilometres across the hills of Romagna, from the Sillaro valley to the Lamone. The rock formed millions of years ago when the Mediterranean dried up and its salts were deposited, and it has since been carved by water into caves, sinkholes and blind valleys. In 2023, UNESCO listed the evaporite karst and caves of the northern Apennines, and the Vena del Gesso is the heart of it. Monte Casino is one of the peaks on the ridge, near Borgo Tossignano and Casola Valsenio.
Read the complete Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Casino write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Casino, about halfway. Next is back through Gessi Bolognesi.
5. back through Gessi Bolognesi
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Gessi Bolognesi write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Gessi Bolognesi sits at 145 km, about halfway. Next is back through Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola, 37 km on.
6. back through Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola comes up about 289 km into the recorded legs. Next is MamBo.
7. MamBo
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete MamBo write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
MamBo closes the day.
Leg by leg
MamBo to Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola
MamBo → Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola is 60 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola to Gessi Bolognesi
Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola → Gessi Bolognesi is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Gessi Bolognesi to Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Casino
Gessi Bolognesi → Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Casino is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Casino to back through Gessi Bolognesi
Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Casino → back through Gessi Bolognesi is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Gessi Bolognesi to back through Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola
back through Gessi Bolognesi → back through Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola is 56 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola to MamBo
back through Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola → MamBo is 60 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.