Monte Serra

Driving from Firenze to Pisa I noticed some nice mountains not far from the coast.  I thought I'd ride back east till I reached them.  I rode down to Stagno and headed east on SS67 bis "Arnaccio."  Eventually I reached some foothill towns and the road to Calci, whose signs showed a climb  to Monte Serra at 880 meters.  I headed upward fairly steeply along a cascading stream through the village until eventually the houses stopped and there were only big trees.  This is a beautiful shady climb that reminded me of Friuli.  At a saddle you can start descending down the other side toward Buti or continue up to the RAI antenna farm.  I headed upward, finally on a narrow shady lane to the top.   Couldn't see much here because of all the trees, but a bit lower down are great views to the south and west.

After I rejoined the pedemontane I got lost a bit and rode maybe 10 or 20 km out of the way back down to SS67bis.  Not bad, though I was tired when I reached our lodging.  If you visit the area don't miss this climb.

Sea of sunflowers along SS67bis

Hay rolls; Monte Serra in background

River Arno meandering along the pedemontane

The antenna farm high above

A very tall tower

The pianura to west

Close up of Calci; island in distance is Elba

View south of conch valley with olive groves and vineyards

Metrics of the climb