CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. 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.
337 km from Zafferana Etnea to Zafferana Etnea, about 6 h 26 of riding. On the way it passes Militello Val di Catania, Modica and back through Militello Val di Catania. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,200 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
Etna is not so much a mountain as a living presence that dominates eastern Sicily. Europe's highest active volcano rises over 3,300 metres above Catania, its height changing as eruptions add and remove material, and it smokes, rumbles and occasionally spits fire with a regularity that the locals regard with a mix of reverence and resignation.
Read the complete Mount Etna write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Mount Etna is where the day begins. Next is Militello Val di Catania.
Militello in Val di Catania is a small town in the hills south-west of Catania, in eastern Sicily, surrounded by orange groves and olive trees, with Mount Etna visible on the horizon. Like many towns in this part of Sicily, it was devastated by the earthquake of 1693, which destroyed much of the south-east of the island, and was rebuilt in the Baroque style. Its churches and palaces are part of the UNESCO-listed Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto, inscribed in 2002, together with Noto, Ragusa, Modica, Caltagirone and others.
Read the complete Militello Val di Catania write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Militello Val di Catania comes up 69 km in. Next is Modica.
Modica was destroyed in 1693, rebuilt in a hurry, and the result is one of the most dramatic baroque towns in Europe. A great earthquake that January killed tens of thousands across south-eastern Sicily, and the towns of the Val di Noto rose again in a new style, with curved facades, carved balconies and grotesque stone faces looking down from the corners. UNESCO listed eight of them together in 2002, and Modica is one of the finest. It occupies two steep ridges and the gorge between them, and the houses climb up the sides in layers, so that a walk through the streets is mostly a matter of steps.
Read the complete Modica write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
139 km in you reach Modica. Next is back through Militello Val di Catania.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Militello Val di Catania write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Militello Val di Catania, late in the day. Next is Mount Etna.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Mount Etna write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Mount Etna. That is the ride.
Mount Etna → Militello Val di Catania is 76 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Militello Val di Catania → Modica is 62 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Modica → back through Militello Val di Catania is 62 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Militello Val di Catania → Mount Etna is 76 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.