Sunday ride - San Donato, Tosi, Pelago

I had a nice ride yesterday, although not what I had planned.  I had check out a meeting place for a multi-group ride on Saturday, but as I was getting ready on Sunday morning, I started to suit up, the last thing I do, I noticed it had started raining and it was pretty dark, and I did not want to start the day with a 1/2 hour ride in the rain to the meeting place, followed by a 4 to 5 hour ride from there.  We were up pretty late again the night before, so I went back to bed.  When I woke up, the rain had stopped, and the weather looked OK.  So, after a slow start, I was off for a ride around 10:30.

I rode out the Viale to the road to Bagno a Ripoli, then did the relatively long climb to San Donato in Collina.  From there, I took one of my favorite descents down through Troghi, Cellai, Pallazuolo, turning off in Burchio on the road on the west side of the river.  I rode to the bridge, crossed, then went on the river road to Sant'Ellero.  I had ridden this part of the road probably only once or twice in the last 12 years, so it felt new to me.  A nice ride.  From Sant'Ellero, I started the part of the ride which I had targeted for today.  I climbed to Donnini, which was steeper than I remembered, mostly around 10%, with some places at 5%, but some at 12%.  At Donnini, I took the road up to Tosi, which again was steeper than I recalled, the first half in particular, which averaged in the 9 to 10% range.  After the first half was the portion I recalled, which averaged around 3 to 4%, which is a sweet climb in a relatively fast gear.

At Tosi, I was basically at the top of the climb, then descended through Paterno, and had a short climb to Pelago.  At Pelago, you kind of contour (climbing and descending a little) for a while, then finish the real descent joining the main road about 3 kilometers before Pontesieve, descending to Pontesieve.  From Pontesieve, I took the regular road home, and was relatively tired when I returned.  I had done lots of climbing lately, some quite steep, but my body was feeling good about it.  Today, my body said it is time for a day off tomorrow, which I am now taking.  For some reason, the Garmin site is not wanting to share the link with the details, but the totals for the ride are:  46 miles in 3 hours 20 minutes of rolling time, with 3345 feet of elevation gain and descent.  Another great ride around Firenze.  Ciao!

Riding up into Pallazuolo, with the church steeple just showing.

This is the road on the west side of the river, two bridges are approaching,

the train tracks first, then the highway.

Approaching a small town on the east side of the river, with a beautiful villa on the right.

Here, the large villa on the hill struck me.  Sorry if you can barely see it.  

Another beautiful villa on the climb to Tosi from Donnini.