Stage rieti ponticelli by bike st Francis way of Assisi

The third leg of the Southern Way begins at Ponticelli and after a series of arduous climbs leads to Rieti.

Stage 3 - from Ponticelli di Scandriglia to Rieti

Description

Cycling
The third leg of the Southern Way begins at Ponticelli and after a series of climbs and towns in the Sabina area, leads you to the Holy Valley of Rieti

From

Ponticelli di Scandriglia

To

Rieti

Distance

45 Km

Surface

tarmac - dirt road

Road Sign

No

Water sources

yes (Poggio Moiano, Monteleone Sabino, Poggio San Lorenzo,Torricella in Sabina, Ornaro Basso, Rieti)

The third leg of the Southern Way goes from Ponticelli di Scandriglia to Rieti, passing by many towns in the Sabina area. It is also one of the journey’s most difficult legs in terms of distance (45 km) and cumulative climb (some 1,400 metres).The first stretch is through olive groves on a road that immediately starts going uphill, towards Poggio Moiano. Once past Monteleone Sabina you head down towards the Via Salaria Vecchia road to then climb up to Poggio San Lorenzo, more or less the midpoint of the day’s ride. If you want to split this leg in two, then stop here for the night. From Poggio San Lorenzo you continue uphill to Torricella in Sabina as the landscape gradually changes and the olive groves give way to woods of a diverse variety of oak trees.Past Torricella in Sabina is another climb, this time to the little town of Colonetta, and here the worst of the day’s ascents is over. The rest of the way goes over undulating roads that pass by such towns as Ornaro Basso and San Giovanni Reatino before you actually reach Rieti, through the Park of the Terme di Fonte Cottorella.