Great day for some climbing. Hard, but fun.

Another busy day here.   I was babysitting Torrio this morning, which with a couple of hiccups was pretty good.  I was finished a little earlier than I thought, so I stopped at the shop on the way home.  I have had a little bump feeling on my back tire lately, and when inspecting it, it appears ok, but the little bump was definitely there.  I decided on some new tires, front and rear, and even purchased the ones I really like, not the least expensive ones.  So, new Continentals on the bike.  Of course, this took some additional time, and Emily and I had a lecture to attend at 5:30. so my time was limited.

A couple of weeks ago, Luca, from the team was telling me about a climb he does when he wants a difficult work out.  I decided to give it a try today, as the last time I had it in mind, it started raining just at the decision point.  I climbed to San Domenico, then to the turn around 1/2 way up to Fiesole, then descended to the Vincigliata climb, one of my favorites.  Usually, when I finish the Vincigliata climb, I know I had done the hardest climb of the day, as it has a good long piece toward the beginning which averages around 12%.  Today, it was just the warm up.  I rode over to the Fiesole / Olmo road, but turned off immediately to do the Montefanna climb.  I am pretty sure I descended this road once in the past, but had never climbed it.  At any rate, it had been at least 10 years since I had been on the road.

A really nice road, basically no traffic, but it was hard, as Luca had told me.  Looking at the Strava information, it shows a stretch of about 1/2 km at around 22%, which seems right to me after riding it.  It was hard, but it was what I was after.  After finishing the climb, you descend to the Monteloro road, around 2 k after Monteloro.  I finished the climb to the Olmo road, the rode over toward Bivigliano, but cut off to climb Montesenario.  I did not do the little spur at the very top, as time was not allowing, but another difficult climb.  I descended to Bivigliano, then headed back to Pratolino through Viliano and Casellina.  I headed back to Firenze on Via Bolognese, and branched off at Via Bruni to miss the end part in the city.  Great ride, hard with lots of climbing, but a nice day and lots of fun.  28.6 miles in 2:26 rolling time for an average speed of 11.7 mph with 3584 vertical feet climbed at an average temperature of 56.

San Domenico, Vincigliata, Montefanna, Montesenario, Pratolino, Firenze by ridingwithcosimo at Garmin Connect - Details

A view across a valley to the west on the climb to Montefanna.

Yes, the climb up to Montefanna was steep.  The Strava site

showed one section at 22%, and the Strava site usually is more

conservative than the Garmin read out.