Fun, early December ride - Scarperia, San Agata, Galliano, Vaglia

Kate and I went to a symphony concert last night, with Zubin Mehta conducting, which is the first time this  fall I have seen him conduct.  It was really a great concert.  I have found out that he has a house between La Romola and Cerbia, an area I ride in quite often.  We had dinner after the concert, so I was not in bed asleep until 1:30 or 2, which made for a late morning for me and a solo ride rather than getting up earlier to ride with the team.  The weather was forecast for more rain, but I actually saw some sun, and it looked pretty good.  For some reason, I had the ride I did in mind when I started.

I rode  up Via Faentina all the way to Passo Vetta della Croce, then enjoyed the fun descent though Polcanto and Faltona to the valley of the Sieve river, and turned off for the road to Scarperia before getting to Borgo San Lorenzo.  I rode to Scarperia, refilled the water bottle (the water is really cold and very good now in almost all the little mountain towns) the did the up and down contouring ride through San Agata to Galliano.  For some reason I flashed back to my college days and our fraternity parties with Harvey Wallbangers made with Galliano.  We purchased a gallon bottle for the parties, and when I was president of the house, the empty bottle came to me and it ended up with a different but still intoxicating use.

Back to the ride, from Galliano, I hook up with a main road and ride slightly downhill for around 3 k, then turn off on a tiny road that goes through Bosco de Frati to San Piero a Sieve, where you join the main road that goes back to Florence through Vaglia and Pratolino, ending up right at the apartment with a small detour required by a portion of one way on Via Bolognese.  My friend Don Cook calls the section that goes through Bosco de Frati the 401 of road riding, which if you know 401 or Don says alot about how fun and beautiful this stretch is.  Really fun ride.  Almost the minute I got off the bike, a light rain started.  Lucky me!  As always, you can check out the Garmin link for all the information on the ride, but the summary is:  46 miles in 3:26 rolling time for an average speed of 13.7 mph, with a whopping 4470 vertical feet climbed.

Fun, early December ride - Scarperia, San Agata, Galliano, Vaglia by ridingwithcosimo at Garmin Connect - Details

The scenery climbing to Passo Vetta della Croce just past L'Olmo.

Off the side of the road from the same location as above.  

With my cold weather gloves on, I am not taking the photos as I ride anymore.

I love the green valleys and rolling hills between San Agata and Galliano.

The picture above and the two following are from this area.  

Que Bella!

Wow, I am so lucky to be able to ride these roads whenever I want.