Chilly fall ride - L'Olmo, Doccia, Ruffina, Diacetto, Pelago, Pontesieve

The weather was finally clearing this morning, and after an errand, I was on the bike around 11.  It was cooler than I expected, but my errand involved the town bike, so I was reasonably prepared.  Last year we spent 3-1/2 months in Santa Brigida, and I rode most days, so I had a pretty good kit set up for cold riding. For me, if it is below 45 at the start, it is usually time to find something else to do.  I had a great ride today, though.  I rode out Via Faentina, and after doing the maze around Piazza della Cure, I was back on Via Faentina and climbed it all the way to L'Olmo.  I hooked up with the road that goes over to Sieci at the top of the hill, and cut off on the Santa Brigida, Fornello, Doccia road.  It is quite up and down, and with the new computer, it showed 250 meters of climbing across this road to the descent starting at the windmill.

From the windmill (molino de vento), you descend through many beautiful vineyards, and the leaves were changing everywhere.  Before the descent, I looked across the valley at some of the taller peaks / ridges, and a small amount of snow had fallen overnight.  Beautiful.  You descend to Ruffina, and then take a really great, almost perfect climb to Diacetto.  From the description, you can tell it is one of my favorite climbs - around 400 meters vertical, and never more than 10%, with little to no traffic in around 10 kilometers.  Just right.  From Diacetto, I like to descend into Pelago, then cut across to the main road back to Pontesieve, then ride by the Arno back into Firenze.  Click the link for all the information, but a quick summary is:  43.5 miles, 4400 vertical feet, rolling time of 3:45, average speed of 11.6.  Ciao.

Chilly fall ride - L'Olmo, Doccia, Ruffina, Diacetto, Pelago, Pontesieve by ridingwithcosimo at Garmin Connect - Details

Looking over the top of hill toward Santa Brigida.

A view of the vineyards and countryside from the ridge just past Fornello.

Yes, that is a snow line I would guess around 2500 vertical above Firenze.

These vineyards at the top of the climb before Diacetto were spectacular.

More vineyards with leaves changing, and the villa in the background.