Mountain bike ride on the Montalbano ridge

The itinerary starts from Casalguidi. We travel along the Montalbano provincial road towards Cantagrillo and we pass in front of the sports area dedicated to Franco Ballerini, the former technical commissioner of the national cycling team who died prematurely in 2010. Arrived in Ponte Stella, we cross firstly the industrial area and then the countryside of Serravalle Pistoiese. We pass in front of a monument dedicated to the memory of Silvano Fedi and his companions Giuseppe Giulietti and Brunello Biagini, in the place where they suffered a Nazi ambush and Fedi and Giulietti died on 29 July 1944.

After a kilometer, we enter the dirt road that will take us to the hill of the medieval village of Vinacciano, then towards Le ville, passing by the Serravalle quarries. After a few we will be on the ridge, where we can see Padule of Fucecchio, the medieval village of Monsummano Alto and the Pistoian plain.

Continuing further along the ridge, we arrive at the Croce of Belvedere, a place of pilgrimage. We descend towards the locality of the Popes and, after a few ups and downs, we find ourselves in a beech forest in the area named Casalvento. Here we make a small loop among the local farmhouses, and then we take the spectacular descent into the woods to return to Casalguidi.

Itinerary by Simone Querci, ASD Freebike Casalguidi 2.0