Skip to content
CurveScout

CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE

MamBo and Villa de Cafaggiolo

Plan this ride

Recorded distance
247 km
Riding-time estimate
4 h 19
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.

Open this ride in CurveScout

Why this ride

A 247 km round trip from Bologna - roughly 4 h 19 in the saddle. The stops in between: Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola, Villa de Cafaggiolo and back through Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola. The line favours views over speed.

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

  1. 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, 49 km on.

  2. 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 Villa de Cafaggiolo.

  3. 3. Villa de Cafaggiolo

    In the green bowl of the Mugello, north of Florence, the Medici family kept a house long before they ruled the city. Cafaggiolo was an old family property, and around the middle of the fifteenth century Cosimo the Elder had the architect Michelozzo transform it into a fortified country villa, with battlements, a tower and a moat, a cross between a castle and a farmhouse. Lorenzo the Magnificent spent time here as a boy, and the villa became a favourite retreat for hunting and escaping the plague in the city. It is one of the Medici Villas and Gardens in Tuscany listed by UNESCO, and visits depend on current restoration and opening arrangements, so check before you arrive.

    Read the complete Villa de Cafaggiolo write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    about 124 km into the recorded legs you reach Villa de Cafaggiolo. Next is back through Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola, 49 km on.

  4. 4. 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, late in the day. Next is MamBo.

  5. 5. 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

    Back at MamBo. That is the ride.

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 Villa de Cafaggiolo

Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola → Villa de Cafaggiolo is 64 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Villa de Cafaggiolo to back through Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola

Villa de Cafaggiolo → back through Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola is 63 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.

More motorcycle rides nearby