Fun close in ride staying out of the storm path.

The forecast was for afternoon thundershowers, and I did not get away until a little after 11, but it still looked pretty good for weather.  I set out according to plan and climbed through Bagno a Ripoli to Osteria Nuova, and turned off to descend to Antella.  Climbing the last hill to Osteria Nuova, an older man, perhaps in the spirit with the Giro going on here, was out in the street really cheering me on, clapping, etc.  It made me laugh, and it was really nice.  At Antella, I climbed up and over a nice hill on a sweet little road (see the pictures below) then descended to the main road to Cappanucia.   I then climbed up to a little pass and did a small descent to San Polo.  The clouds were totally building where I was planning on riding - the pass at Poggio alla Croce, then back through Incisa.  Time for plan B or C or whatever.  I descended from San Polo, and took the hill back up and over another little pass back to Cappanucia.

Here, I decided to access the little road and climb through Vacciano to San Gersole.  What a sweet road and climb.  I can't seem to go by the church at Vacciano these days without taking a picture.  Just past San Gersole, I hooked up with the road to Impruneta, climbed past Monte Oriolo, and turned off for the descent through Baruffi to Tavernuzze.  The roads were totally wet at the valley bottom, and with the smell and the state of the roads, the rain must have just stopped before I arrived.  I decided to do another climb, and rode up the main road toward Falciani and turned off to take the steep climb up past San Andrea in Percussina and the Machiavelli house to the main road between Spedellato and Chiesa Nuova.  I rode back through Chiesa Nuova, then down the switchbacks, super wet, to Galluzzo.  It started raining lightly on the descent and I stopped and put on the coat, and in Galluzzo, it started pouring, but only kept it up for 10 minutes or so.  I rode through Galluzzo, then climbed up to Poggio Imperiale, then descended to Viale Michaelangelo, then down the Viale and back home the standard route.

It turned out to be a great day and a super fun ride.  The summary is:  48.2 miles in 3:30 (the auto pause worked well) for an average speed of 13.8 mph with 3830 vertical feet climbed at an average temperature of 72 degrees F.  Ciao - a prossima.

Lots of variations close in to dodge a storm - mostly successful. by ridingwithcosimo at Garmin Connect - Details

A couple of pictures of the beautiful, tiny road between

Antella and Cappanucia.  What a pleasure to ride these roads.

The church at Vacciano with storm clouds in the background.

Villa Mangiacane with vineyards in the foreground.