Riding with Cosimo, custom cycling tours in Tuscany: New roads by Lago di Bilancino, return to Calenzano

This morning I was on the road around 10:15 (you would think I could get going earlier when it is this hot outside, but alas, I enjoy a relaxing breakfast). I rode up Via Bolognese and recharged water at the top of the climb in Pratolino. Yesterday, when looking for water I found a new source in Pratolino, with a bench and shade, which will become by standby now, as the water is good. From Pratolino, I descended through Vaglia, Tagliaferro, and turned just before San Piero a Sieve. Actually, the turn keeps you on Via Bolognese, and this is where the new roads started for me. A little ways past the turn off, there was a road to Trebbio and San Giovanni, which helped me now where I was on the map. My plan took me lower, by the lake, Lago di Bilancino, but the road to Trebbio is simply a detour through some hills, which might be a good future exploration. I found the road by the lake and rode it around, up, down, curving in and out, along the length of the lake, approximately 7 kilometers. The road was a little wide for me and the surface was closer to large chip and seal than the normal Italian surface. If I try this area again, I will try the detour through Trebbio.

This road ends in a junction with a relatively main road to Calenzano or Prato. It is a very gradual climb with a few spots that close in on 10%, but mostly very civilized climbing. It tops out at Croci di Calenzano, then descends through Carraia to Calenzano, and eventually to the road I was on yesterday. When you are almost down, there is a turn off for Legri, which appears to hook into a road that would go all the way back to Via Bolognese, which will be a future exploration. From Calenzano back to Firenze, it was easier today, but it is basically a relatively flat 12 to 15 kilometers in cities / suburbs, but reasonable riding. All in all, a good ride, and it opened up some ideas for future explorations. I mostly like the tiny back roads around here, which are quite plentiful, and none of these roads were of that variety. That said, it was a very nice route, up and over one pass, by a beautiful lake, then up and over another pass. Around 68 kilometers in a relatively quick 2 hours 51 minutes of riding time.

I stopped to let a slow moving truck with traffic behind it get well ahead of me on the descent to Vaglia, and took this shot of the countryside on the hills above, toward Bivigliano.