Road Cycling: Quarna Sopra, Lake Orta, Italy - 837 m. (2,746 ft)

Fri, 31 May 2019

Technical

Description

General Description

The climb to Quarna Sotto is 400 meters of vertical over 5km giving an average gradient of 8%. The switchbacks at the end are steeper. The road has some tree cover but the slopes are south-east facing. The road surface is reasonable, traffic is light to moderate. The road climbs out of Omegna to reach Quarna Sotto then eases to the second charming medieval village of Quarna Sopra. Continue through the village about a km out of town there is a typical alpine style house and a right turn, take this to double back to the viewpoint (belvedere) with picnic area and spectacular views over the lago di Orta.

Sight Seeing

• Oratorio di San Rocco - built in the 14th century
  
• Statue Madonna Pellegrina
• Oratorio della Madonna del Fontegno
• Oratorio del Saliente
• Church of Santo Stefano - 15th century, history organ
  
• Various murals painted by the artists Andrea Mandalari and Maurizio D'Angiò
• Woodwind museum
  

Ride Report

A return to the historic villages of Quarna Sopra and Sotta. They are well worth a visit for the murals on the buildings and the various historic churches and musical instrument museum. The climb is fairly pleasant with little hairpins to break up the long straight roads which had to the south west before a final climb to the villages.

Conditions

Hot. Climb was reasonably pleasant in the afternoon as there is some shade once out of Omegna. Roads in Omegna are badly potholed.

Route