Monday, September 3, 2012

Scouting ride - San Martino 9-3-12

Happy Labor Day all.  Well, Italians don't celebrate our labor day - imagine.  I think they have multiple labor days, as this country is heavily unionized.  Anyway, after more errands - a big food shopping with Emily and setting up all the details for my first multi-day group which is arriving on Saturday - I took a relatively short ride.  I had seen signs from two different roads for a town called San Martino alla Palma, and decided to find the town and ride the two roads.  They are both relatively close to Firenze, so I thought they might be possibilities for short rides for a group.  Well, no way, as both directions have climbs / descents of 15 to 17%, which is really steep and not suitable for most any group.  I had fun anyway, as a new road is always fun for me.  I keep finding new things on my Garmin cycling computer, and one display has % grade on it.  It was fun to watch this as I climbed different places.  I took off from town through Porta Romana, then turned up to ride over Bellasguardo, then connected after descending the hill to Scandicci.  I rode through Scandicci, then up the big hill past Marciano, then turned right just before the pass on the road to San Martino.  Before long, I was passing warning signs of a 16% descent, then I was in San Martino alla Palma.

I turned left to take what I hoped was the road to Vagliano, which started with another descent at 16%, then changed quickly into a climb of 15 to 17%, eventually topping out at Vagliano, where I took the road toward Roveta, which is a standard favorite of mine.  I did the climb past the turn to Roveta, topping out at Santa Maria a Marciola, then descended down the main road to Scandicci, eventually hooking up with the Viales, which took me home.  Rain was threatening at the end of the ride, but it did not start until I was back.  Another fun ride with new roads.  Around 25 miles with around 2000 feet of elevation gain.  For more information and a map of the ride, please check out this connection:

Scouting - San Martino all Palma by ridingwithcosimo at Garmin Connect - Details


I love the narrow, walled roads on Bellasguardo.


The tiny town of San Martino alla Palma.


The church on the way out of San Martino.


One of the many (three) warning signs of the steep (16%) descent.

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