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5 segments from The Long Circle South / 2026. Filter the full log with the same tag.
After days of rain, reroutes, and volcanic roads, the expedition slowed down along Sicily’s southern coast. By 14:00 the camp was set near Agrigento — finally back in the tent, feet in the sea, and the journey briefly running exactly as intended.
The ride north along the Adriatic began beautifully but gradually collapsed into crowded coastal infrastructure, heat, and fragmented traffic-heavy riding. The reward came at the end of the stage: a quiet old villa in the hills above San Benedetto del Tronto, where the expedition finally found silence again.
Today began with some of the best inland riding of the expedition and ended in forced off-road detours after three major road closures destroyed the route toward San Marino. Exhausted, down half the electrical reserves after a power bank failure, the expedition retreated to the Adriatic coast where a simple campsite became the day’s final victory.
Today’s route crossed the overheated Po Delta at 32°C before winding through wetlands, Venetian villas, hidden castles, and finally some welcome hilly roads inland. The final approach flattened out once again, reminding the expedition that the long northbound extraction toward the Alps has fully begun.
The Dolomites were not just scenic today — they completely changed the rhythm of the expedition. After weeks of heat, coastlines and operational chaos, the mountains finally delivered the scale, silence and technical riding Long Circle South had been building toward.
