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4 segments from The Long Circle South / 2026. Filter the full log with the same tag.
The day began with a true northbound transition out of Carovigno, riding between the Adriatic and the salt pans after deliberately skipping the trulli villages already seen southbound. After lunch, Gargano delivered a beautiful second stage — until a giant boulder blocked the road and forced a return through the same spectacular coastal curves.
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.
