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 240 km round trip from Bologna - roughly 4 h 14 in the saddle. On the way it passes 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.
Strada Maggiore is one of the oldest streets in Bologna, running east from the Two Towers along the line of the Roman road toward the Via Emilia, and it is a street where the arcades seem to be a different style every hundred metres. Some are medieval and made of timber, with beams that look too old to hold anything up, others are Renaissance and graceful, with slender columns. Along the way the street passes tall palaces, small shops, old churches and, on the right, the lovely porch of Santa Maria dei Servi, a Gothic church whose portico is among the most beautiful in the city.
Read the complete Strada Maggiore write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Strada Maggiore is where the day begins. Next is Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola, 48 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 comes up about 56 km into the recorded legs. Next is 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 120 km into the recorded legs you reach Villa de Cafaggiolo. Next is back through Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola, 47 km on.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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.
back through Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola, late in the day. Next is Strada Maggiore.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Strada Maggiore write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Strada Maggiore. That is the ride.
Strada Maggiore → Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola is 56 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
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 → 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 → Strada Maggiore is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.