Fun solo ride to the south - 4 climbs, 4 descents.

I finished some left over work from yesterday this morning, and decided not to meet with the team which would have meant getting up at 5, and had a ride on my own.  I had the last piece in mind from the beginning, as I have not ridden it in a while.  I put together some fun routes with many climbs to get to the last piece.  What a joy it is to have the opportunity to get to know the area well.  I started out up the viale past Piazzale Michaelangelo, then up to Poggio Imperiale.  On the way out, I realized I had forgotten to fill my water bottle, not too smart on a hot day, so I decided to take a short detour to the park on the south side of Galluzzo.  I filled the water there, and too the Cinque Vie road to the town, then hooked up with the climb to San Gersole through Vacciano, one of my favorites.

I rode up toward Impruneta from San Gersole, turning off for the super fun descent through Barufi to just north of Tavernuzze.  I had around 10 k of good spinning out the Tavernuzze road toward Greve, and turned off to take the climb through Luiano to Mercatale.  Another favorite.  I rode over through San Casciano and Spedellatto to Chiesa Nuova, where I turned to descend to Cerbia.  Fun descent, as I almost always climb here.  From Cerbia, I went down the valley road to Ginestra Fiorentina, where I climbed through La Luna to the Marliano turn off.  I took the turn off and enjoyed the climb / descent / climb through Marliano to Vagliano.  I turned here to climb to Santa Maria a Marciaola.  The part from Ginestra to Santa Maria was the piece I had in mind starting.  It did not dissapoint - what a fun ride and climb.  I descended through Scandicci then back into Firenze.

Pretty hot weather today, but 4 water bottle fills and 3 total head dousings kept it cool enough.  56.8 miles in 3:55 for an average speed of 14.5 mph with 3665 vertical feet climbed at an average temperature of 92.

Solo to the south - many ups and downs by ridingwithcosimo at Garmin Connect - Details

A couple of views on the way up through Luiano.