Cycling Dolomiti Friulane: 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.