Short tour of the Mugello.

I am now in the process of becoming a Vayable "Insider".  This means I help people plan trips to Florence through a guide service I am listed in called Vayable.  This is a new service for them, and I just completed the training piece yesterday and had a request for a trip this morning.  I put together a possible itinerary for someone this morning and sent it off.  We shall see what happens next.  My efforts to this point are not paid for, but the next step will mean some pay.  I found it more fun than I thought and am kind of looking forward to doing it in the future.  I have to do a profile with picture, etc. after I finish this blog, then I am done for the day.  After putting in the effort to do the possible itinerary, which certainly takes longer the first few times, I thought a break would get me fresher before I did the profile, so I decided on a short-ish ride.

The ride I picked was super fun, and the last time I rode it, it took a little over 2-1/2 hours, which was about right.  I climbed up Via Bolognese for the second day in a row, then changed routes in Pratolino, where I continued climbing to the turn off for Caselline.  I am getting used to the Via Bolognese climb, as I don't really even notice the steep part where a year ago I had to summon energy for the effort.  I was past the steep part both today and yesterday without really noticing it.  The small road over through Caselline and Viliano is really nice, with both descents and climbs.  I connected with the road from Bivigliano to Vaglia, and enjoyed one of the really nice, steep descents close to home.  Super fun.  In Vaglia, I hooked back up with Via Bolognese and rode down toward San Piero, but turned off toward Faltona before San Piero.

I powered across to Faltona, and then enjoyed the climb up to Croce alla Vetta.  I was thinking that I would take it easy on the climb, but it just does not seem to happen.  The bottom 1/2 of the climb is pretty mellow, big ring stuff, and I just crank when I am in the big ring.  Once I get the rhythm going, I
just keep it going even when the climb gets steeper.  Anyway, I was pretty quick up to the pass - no Personal Record, but pretty fast.  I really enjoyed the descent to Fiesole, then down the uphill of the World Championship course back into Firenze.  You can really get it going on the road down from Fiesole with all the new pavement.  I even had to pass a bus on the way down.  Ride summary:  36.9 miles in 2:26 for an average speed of 15.1 mph with 3190 vertical feet of climbing at an average temperature of 85.  Ciao.
Piccolo giro de Mugello by ridingwithcosimo at Garmin Connect - Details

The camping area west of Bivigliano winding down for the summer.

There is a piece of the descent where around 4 switchbacks connect.

This is my attempt to capture the beginning of this stretch.

The mountains toward Passo della Futa from the road to the Olmo climb.