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.
262 km from Mendrisio to Mendrisio, about 4 h 01 of riding. It goes by way of Church and Dominican Convent of Santa Mari, Venetian Works of Defence between the 16th and back through Church and Dominican Convent of Santa Mari. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 900 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It crosses from Switzerland into Italy - carry ID and check vignette or toll rules. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 71 km this is Lake Como Scenic Circuit, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Monte San Giorgio is a wooded, pyramid-shaped mountain on the shores of Lake Lugano, straddling the border between Switzerland and Italy. To the eye, it is a pleasant green hill with villages on its slopes. To palaeontologists, it is one of the most important fossil sites in the world. About two hundred and forty million years ago, during the Middle Triassic, this area was a tropical lagoon, and its sediments preserved an extraordinary range of marine reptiles, fish, invertebrates and plants. The mountain was added to the UNESCO list in 2003 on the Swiss side, and in 2010 on the Italian side.
Read the complete Monte San Giorgio write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Monte San Giorgio is where the day begins. Next is Church and Dominican Convent of Santa Mari.
Most people who come to Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan are here for one painting, and they are right to be. On the wall of the old refectory of the Dominican convent, Leonardo da Vinci painted the Last Supper in the 1490s for Duke Ludovico Sforza, and despite his experimental technique, which began to fail almost at once, despite centuries of damage and despite a bomb that destroyed much of the building in 1943, the painting survives. The wall was protected with sandbags, and the long restoration completed in 1999 revealed colours and faces that had been hidden for centuries.
Read the complete Church and Dominican Convent of Santa Mari write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Church and Dominican Convent of Santa Mari comes up about 71 km into the recorded legs. Next is Venetian Works of Defence between the 16th.
Bergamo is two cities: the busy modern town on the plain, and the Città Alta on the hill above, enclosed by massive walls built by the Republic of Venice between 1561 and 1588. Bergamo was then the westernmost outpost of Venice's mainland territory, facing the Spanish-ruled Duchy of Milan, and the walls, more than five kilometres long, were designed to withstand artillery, with bastions, platforms and gates. They were never seriously tested in battle, which is why they are so well preserved. In 2017 UNESCO listed them, together with other Venetian fortifications in Italy, Croatia and Montenegro, as the Venetian Works of Defence.
Read the complete Venetian Works of Defence between the 16th write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 130 km into the recorded legs you reach Venetian Works of Defence between the 16th. Next is back through Church and Dominican Convent of Santa Mari.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Church and Dominican Convent of Santa Mari write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Church and Dominican Convent of Santa Mari, late in the day. Next is Monte San Giorgio.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Monte San Giorgio write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Monte San Giorgio. That is the ride.
Monte San Giorgio → Church and Dominican Convent of Santa Mari is 71 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Church and Dominican Convent of Santa Mari → Venetian Works of Defence between the 16th is 59 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Venetian Works of Defence between the 16th → back through Church and Dominican Convent of Santa Mari is 60 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Church and Dominican Convent of Santa Mari → Monte San Giorgio is 71 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.