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 464 km round trip from Ravenna - roughly 8 h 35 in the saddle. It goes by way of Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Mauro, Gessi Bolognesi, Gessi di Zola predosa and Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
This part of the ride is 66 km of Mausoleum of Galla Placida → Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Mauro.
It is a surprise how small Galla Placidia's mausoleum is. A cross-shaped brick chamber no bigger than a modest chapel, it stands hidden behind the church of San Vitale in a quiet corner, with plain walls that give no hint of what is inside. Step in and the dark opens into a deep blue night. The vault is covered in tiny gold stars on a field of lapis-coloured glass, and a gold cross shines in the dome above, with figures of the apostles and doves drinking from a fountain in the lunettes. The only light comes through thin alabaster windows, which turn the daylight amber.
Read the complete Mausoleum of Galla Placida write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Mausoleum of Galla Placida is where the day begins. Next is Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Mauro, 43 km on.
Driving through the hills of Romagna, south of Faenza, you notice a long, pale ridge cutting across the valleys like a wall. This is the Vena del Gesso Romagnola, a band of gypsum rock about twenty-five kilometres long, and Monte Mauro is its highest point, rising above the villages of Riolo Terme, Brisighella and Fognano. The ridge is now a regional park and part of the UNESCO site for the evaporitic karst of the northern Apennines.
Read the complete Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Mauro write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Mauro comes up about 66 km into the recorded legs. Next is 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 128 km into the recorded legs you reach Gessi Bolognesi. 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, about halfway. Next is Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola, 43 km on.
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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola sits at 171 km, about halfway. 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 comes up about 310 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through 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.
about 341 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Gessi Bolognesi. Next is back through Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Mauro, 42 km on.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Mauro write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Mauro, late in the day. Next is Mausoleum of Galla Placida.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Mausoleum of Galla Placida write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 464 km.
Mausoleum of Galla Placida → Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Mauro is 66 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Mauro → Gessi Bolognesi is 62 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
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 → Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola is 74 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola → back through Gessi di Zola predosa is 77 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Gessi di Zola predosa → back through Gessi Bolognesi is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Gessi Bolognesi → back through Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Mauro is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Mauro → Mausoleum of Galla Placida is 65 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.