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.
From Borgo Tossignano it runs 306 km to Borgo Tossignano; allow about 5 h 38 of riding. It goes by way of Gessi Bolognesi, Cathedral, Bassa collina reggiana and back through Cathedral. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through. 59 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it.
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 is where the day begins. 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.
Gessi Bolognesi comes up about 57 km into the recorded legs. Next is Cathedral.
Modena's cathedral is one of the masterpieces of Romanesque architecture in Europe, and the inscription on its facade still names its makers with pride: the architect Lanfranco and the sculptor Wiligelmo. Work began in 1099 to house the relics of Saint Geminianus, the city's patron, and the result is a building of pale stone, with arcaded galleries, lions supporting the columns of the portal, and carved panels telling the story of Genesis with an expressive power that still surprises. The Ghirlandina, the cathedral's bell tower, leans slightly and rises high above the rooftops, and together with the Piazza Grande they form a UNESCO site.
Read the complete Cathedral write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 118 km into the recorded legs you reach Cathedral. Next is Bassa collina reggiana.
The low hills south of Reggio Emilia, where the Po plain starts to ripple up toward the Apennines, hide a strange geology: outcrops of gypsum, the glittering crystalline rock left behind when ancient seas evaporated millions of years ago. Water dissolves gypsum easily, and over time it has carved caves, sinkholes and blind valleys into these hills. The Bassa Collina Reggiana, the low Reggio hill country, is part of the UNESCO site Evaporitic Karst and Caves of Northern Apennines, listed in 2023, and around Borzano, Albinea and Vezzano sul Crostolo you can see the white and grey gypsum cliffs poking through the woods and vineyards.
Read the complete Bassa collina reggiana write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Bassa collina reggiana, about halfway. Next is back through Cathedral.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cathedral write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Cathedral sits at 167 km, about halfway. 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.
back through Gessi Bolognesi comes up about 250 km into the recorded legs. Next is Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola, 42 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.
Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola closes the day.
Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola → Gessi Bolognesi is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Gessi Bolognesi → Cathedral is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cathedral → Bassa collina reggiana is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Bassa collina reggiana → back through Cathedral is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cathedral → back through Gessi Bolognesi is 60 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Gessi Bolognesi → Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola is 56 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.