Lucca day 2 - Pescaglia, Fabbrica di Vallico, San Quirico di Moriano.

My plan was for a shorter ride today, and it turned out a little longer than I thought, but I am learning to understand the relative scales on the maps.  Emily has two friends visiting, and the plan was to pick them at the train station, then get a late start.  Well, they got on the wrong train, so they were quite late, and I went out after we found out.  We checked out the local restaurant / bar for cafe and pastry, and it was great.  So, I had a plan to explore some smaller, closer roads, that would maybe take me over toward Castelnuovo di Garfagnana.

I started out on the road to Camaiore, and turned off after around 10 to 15 kilometers on the road to Pescaglia.  The road to Camaiore is pretty busy, but after the turn off, it was just the kind of road that I love.  Small, lots of curves, and after a little bit, it climbs or descends, but is rarely flat.  I made it up to Pescaglia, and with the help of a local mom out with her child, found the water source.  It was kind of fun, as there were 6 older women obviously discussing life, and the norm here is to see older men doing that.  The women were interested in the bike, water, me, and my planned tour.  Lots of cautionary advice.

The road climbed strongly after the town, but surprised me by topping out before I thought it would.  The map showed secondary / tertiary roads and I was not sure what I would fine.  It turned out it was easy with good signs, and easy to follow.  Lots of good water sources and simply a beautiful ride.  I hooked up with the main road around Barga, and followed it back to Lucca the same way as yesterday.  Great ride and fun to be riding new roads.  Who knows what tomorrow will bring.

Day 2 Lucca - Pescaglia, Fabbrica de Vallico, San Quirico di Moriano by ridingwithcosimo at Garmin Connect - Details

Another beautiful road in the Tuscan countryside.  Quite a ways 

from my normal spot, but it is amazing how many great roads 

there are here to ride.  

The church and bell tower in Loppeglia on the way 

to Pescaglia.

Some big peaks in the background - they certainly looked closer in person,

and a pretty, small mountain village descending toward Fabbrica di Vallico.

A beautiful bridge coming in to Fabbrica di Vallico.