As soon as we leave the resort, we face the most demanding climb of the route, a stretch of 1.5 km through the Rocca Ripesena forest with a difference in altitude of 130 m.
Upon clearing the woods, we ride past the panoramic vineyards of the “Vigna S.Quirico” property to find ourselves on a plateau that leads to a winding path, at the end of which it is possible to see the evocative Castle of San Quirico.
After a quick stop to take some incredible photos, we travel 2.5 km on an asphalted road (rarely traveled by cars), to the village of Canonica. Here we leave the paved road and head off-road once again towards Sasso Tagliato, a fascinating route, at times dug into the tuff, which after about 3.5 km leads to the SS 71 that offers a spectacular view of the Orvieto cliff.
We then head for two kilometers in the direction of Porano, first on asphalt and then on dirt, our destination being the archaeological site of Hescana, where it is possible to visit the homonymous fourth century BC tomb, unique in that it still preserves the paintings on the walls, representing the journey of the deceased to the afterlife.
After the visit, we head back to Orvieto on an asphalted road for about 2.5 km, to the bend at the Santissima Trinità (The Holy Trinity), a former convent of the Clarisse that dates back to the 11th century.
From here we dive onto an off-road trail, featuring a pleasant succession of ups and downs along a dirt road immersed in the woods, until we reach the Sugano lake, which we cycle along for a short distance pedaling no more than 50 cm from the water!
It’s time to return to the resort: so, we face the last 4 km climb on an asphalted road with a difference in altitude of about 160 meters.
