Castelli Romani Dawn Loop · part 1

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Fuel stop in Fiumicino-Isola Sacra

   Isola Sacra is a flat, triangular island at the mouth of the Tiber, cut off from the mainland by the river's natural channel, the Fiumara Grande, and by an ancient canal dug under the emperor Trajan. Most people know the area only because Rome's main airport, Leonardo da Vinci, sits just to the north, but the island and its surroundings hold a remarkable amount of history if you are willing to pause for it.

   Read the complete Fiumicino-Isola Sacra write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Castelli Romani Dawn Loop is where the day begins. Next is Castelli Romani Dawn Loop high point.

2. 2. Fiumicino-Isola Sacra

   Isola Sacra is a flat, triangular island at the mouth of the Tiber, cut off from the mainland by the river's natural channel, the Fiumara Grande, and by an ancient canal dug under the emperor Trajan. Most people know the area only because Rome's main airport, Leonardo da Vinci, sits just to the north, but the island and its surroundings hold a remarkable amount of history if you are willing to pause for it.

   Read the complete Fiumicino-Isola Sacra write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   You top out here; the road stops climbing. Next is Castelli Romani Dawn Loop checkpoint 8.

3. 3. Near La Massimina-Casal Lumbroso

   The Tiber does its last bit of meandering here, between the airport at Fiumicino, the exhibition halls of the Fiera di Roma and a scatter of new suburbs at Ponte Galeria and Parco Leonardo. On a map it looks like nothing much, a tangle of motorway junctions on the western fringe of Rome, and on the ground it is mostly that. But it is a very old landscape under the concrete, and if you have ridden down from the Val d'Orcia, it is worth knowing what you are arriving into.

   Read the complete Near La Massimina-Casal Lumbroso write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   The route ends here after 146 km. Next is Scenic stretch near Rignano Flaminio.

4. 4. Scenic stretch near Rignano Flaminio

   North of Rome, the ancient Via Flaminia runs up through the Ager Faliscus, a landscape of volcanic tufa plateaux cut by deep, wooded ravines, and Rignano Flaminio sits right on its line. The road was built in the third century BC to link Rome with the Adriatic, and you are following, more or less, the route of legions, merchants and pilgrims who travelled it for two thousand years.

   Read the complete Scenic stretch near Rignano Flaminio write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Scenic stretch near Rignano Flaminio, late in the day. Next is Photo stop near Forano.

5. 5. Photo stop near Forano

   Silver-green olive groves cover the hills of the Sabina, the ancient land of the Sabines north-east of Rome, and the oil they produce is among the oldest protected olive oils in Italy. Forano is one of the small hill towns of the area, perched above the Tiber valley with stone houses and narrow streets, and from its edges the view stretches across the river to the volcanic hills and mountains beyond.

   Read the complete Photo stop near Forano write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Finish at Photo stop near Forano. That is the ride.