Nice-Rome; Detour via Strade Bianche

prb007

I'm in the early stages of planning our bi-annual jaunt (mates, mates of mates, workmates etc - about 20 signed up thus far).
JoGLE in 2011, E2E France in 2013 (Cherbourg-Nice), Nice-Rome in 2015.
Planning to detour through Tuscany (went there on a tandem tour with SWMBO about 12 years ago and looking forward immensely to returning) and would like a scenic detour via the 'Strade Bianche' in this region.

Day 7 (of 9) will look like this... http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=kcgwkjurqopxjmum ; Fiesole, just outside Florence to Siena.

Not necessarily looking for a 40 mile off-road slog-fest, but rather a 10 or 15k scenic excursion onto the white stuff...
Anyone on here had any experience of touring in this area and got any recommendations around Radda or Gaiole, perhaps??

Cheers, in advance...Pete

andymiller

Your best bet is *probably* bits of the Eroica 'percorso permanente' - the course of the race of the same name, but signposted so you can do it at any time of the year. You are already planning to go to Gaiole-in-Chianti which is the start/finish point of the route.

More information here:

http://italy-cycling-guide.info/toscana ... ted-route/

But whether it's going to meet the requirement of an easy scenic detour I don't know. I'm assuming that you guys are as fit as the proverbial butcher's dogs, but you've already picked a fairly tough route without adding the strade bianche into the mix.

There's more information on my site that you might find useful for planning your route. You're always welcome to drop me a line via the contact form on the site.

prb007

Andy - cheers will check it all out.
Mixed-ability group, ages 35/55, roadies, MTB'ers, trithletes.
You assume too much; unles your butcher's dog is on his last legs!

andymiller

Oh I was going to say: I don't know about the route you've chosen out of Firenze, but I've generally found it to be a real pain to get into or out of - for some reason all of the roads I've taken were narrow with high stone walls on either side.

The one route I've found that works is via Bagno a Ripoli - check the Heart of Toscana route for more details.

prb007

Molto grazie

andymiller

BTW - it's a little further south, but there's a nice 7-kilometre stretch of strada bianca (the SP88) south of Pienza that takes you to the La Foce estate. You could extend it with a climb up the iconic (and much photographed) road on the hill opposite.

More details here:

http://italy-cycling-guide.info/toscana ... toscana-5/

prb007

andymiller...revived as suggested...trip is definitely on, final numbers are 18 riding plus support van driver.
Checked out that route out of Florence via Bagno a Ripoli and the obvious way out and South is via the Via Marco Polo, but the bridge over the Arno looks like a busy bugger, so will prob take a bridge further West, this way... http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=qiqwrvcjqlgebfko
Will study the Eroica map you linked to, with the probability that we will detour via Gaiole and some Strade Bianchi/Eroica segments, therafter, hence the relatively low mileage planned for that day!