Casentino to Romagna and back 70 miles / 8,200 feet / 6.25 hours
The cycling routes I wrote about in 2022 were probably challenging enough for most people, especially perhaps le Pizzorne, Monte Serra and Casentino/Pratomagno Part 1, but then the 2023 rides became incrementally more difficult as I sought out new routes, with longer distances and much more climbing. 60-70 miles with at least 6,500 feet of climbing being the new normal typified by Bagni di Lucca and back and Pratomagno Part 4.
The route described here is the toughest of them all as it crosses the Apennines twice and involves a third climb inside Romagna sandwiched between the two bigger ones.
Passo della Calla from Stia 2,800 feet at an average of 5.4%
Passo del Carnaio from Santa Sofia 1,700 feet at an average of 4.9%
Passo dei Mandrioli from Bagno di Romagna 2,200 feet at an average of 5.6%
This loop in fact was my final fitness test in Tuscany before heading to the Abruzzo mountains for a full month to tackle the legendary Blockhaus climb of Giro d’Italia fame, as well as the Passo San Leonardo ride, the National Park of Abruzzo, Lazio & Molise circuit and the Backroads of Southern Abruzzo ride.
Determined to arrive in Abruzzo in the best condition possible my goal was to work up to 66,000 feet of climbing covering 625 miles in my final month of training, peaking with the ride described here. Nutrition is a big part of a training program this intense so I developed my own energy bar recipe to sustain me during the 54 hours I spent on my bike completing the final month's goals.
The bar/restaurant at the top of Passo della Calla
But even with all that training under my belt and the benefit of a few kilos of weight loss, this was still a challenging ride for someone in his late sixties involving over 6 hours on the bike. The starting and finishing point for this loop is the beautiful town of Poppi, right in the center of the Casentino valley. Poppi is easy to reach but more importantly it sits at the lowest point of the ride which allows you to finish the day with a very long descent.
Poppi - Pratovecchio - Stia - Passo della Calla - Santa Sofia - Ospedaletto - Passo del Carnaio - San Piero in Bagno - Bagno di Romagna - Passo dei Mandrioli - Badia Prataglia - Soci - Poppi
In summer an early start is advisable and a convenient and safe place to park the car for several hours is next to the tennis courts in the old part of Poppi a little way up the hill towards the castle. Also, this is another loop that is best done clockwise so that the biggest climb of the day, Passo della Calla, can be attacked with fresh legs and because the connecting road from Poppi to Stia has very little traffic during the early morning hours.
Stia marks the start of the long climb up to the Emilia Romagna border and though it’s a full 10 miles the gradient is very reasonable and also remarkably consistent so you can get into a good rhythm.
There’s very little change of scenery during the 90 minutes or so after leaving Stia because Passo della Calla is deep inside the Parco Nazionale delle Foreste Casentinesi but on a warm day it provides plenty of shade and there are a couple of water fountains at the side of the road as you ascend up to 4,250 feet.
At the top there’s a bar/restaurant that will be filled with the usual motorbike crowd at the weekend but this is also a very popular climb for cyclists.
The 17 miles to Santa Sofia is mostly descending as one would expect given that the town is situated 3,400 feet below Passo della Calla. I was pleasantly surprised by how attractive it is given that nobody ever seems to mention Santa Sofia or write about it. On a Sunday morning in mid August it was buzzing with activity and the numerous cafes along the river were full of families enjoying a late breakfast so with the almost half the mileage done, but not yet half the climbing, I joined them for a well deserved break.
Crossing the river and heading south-east out of Santa Sofia the climbing starts again almost immediately. There’s no place to hide from the midday sun here which makes the climb feel harder than it should and in fact there are some tougher gradients right at the start of the 7 mile ascent to Passo del Carnaio. This climb was on the Tour de France earlier this year after the start of the race in Florence.
Once over the peak it's a quick descent into San Piero in Bagno. The Romagna countryside has a very different feel to the Casentino and is characterized by gently rolling hills and arable farmland with the sea only 40 miles away.
You won't really notice San Piero as you breeze through it because it's not much more than a suburb of Bagno di Romagna which is a lovely town and very well preserved because the main road goes around it leaving it undisturbed.
I have fond memories of Bagno di Romagna (photos below) because 12 years ago I stayed here for two nights on a five day bike tour that crossed the width of Italy from Cesenatico to Pietrasanta through the heart of the Apennines. Bagno di Romagna is a small spa town with excellent local food and great cycling in every direction.
The third and final climb of the day, Passo dei Mandrioli, starts very soon after leaving Bagno di Romagna and even though the profile shows only one small section of the 7 mile climb where the gradient is over 7%, it is nevertheless quite a tough climb for tired legs on a hot afternoon.
Unlike Passo della Calla however, it has some great views on the way up and at the top just before re-entering Tuscany the Adriatic sea is visible in the distance.
I've cycled Passo dei Mandrioli many times over the years and there's never much traffic so I've always enjoyed the long fast descent to Soci. It's about 10 miles and once you're past the resort town of Badia Prataglia (above right) it's a mostly straight road that is not particularly steep so very little braking is required. A right turn in Soci involves a very short final climb but this is the quick way back to Poppi.
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