Cycling in Florence / Tuscany anyone been?

Good afternoon,
I'm thinking Heading out to Florence next week for 8 days with my bike, I was wondering if anyone has any tips on great routes / climbs in the area? I'm looking to up my game a little so looking for longish rides (80+miles a day) with good climbs and scenery. I've heard the roads in tuscany are really badly patched up? Or any other tips on a potential better base are also welcome!

thanks!

I went last year. http://www.strava.com/activities/1756710­01
To greve.
It was lovely. I did 40 k each time I went out, just pottering. It was hot. The roads were quiet. Scenery lovely.
Roads no worse than Kent lanes.

I had to drive down from the villa to the town, ride, drive back. As the strada bianchi was fucking mental.

I also went last year, but more Umbria way. I actually went with the family but went out most mornings for a bit of exploring. It was lovely. The roads were quiet, the drivers much more considerate than London, the weather hot, damn hot, but the coffee stops exquisite, the scenery divine and it did more for my climbing legs than I could imagine possible. Do it.

I did have one iffy bit where a descent turned into a strada bianchi when I didn't expect it to.

Yes. THE DRIVERS! Such a weird feeling to be given loads of space and time.
(I also went with family, explored in the morning, pool in the afternoon)

and now I want to go back

heading to barga, tuscany (just by Lucca) for a conference on fri. have booked bikes for a few days for the 4 hour lunch breaks (may even take a morning off talks too). anywhere I should be looking for some routes/inspiration? will have my wahoo

I think @Captain_P has been ..

Strade. Fucking. Bianchi. Might be a stretch from Lucca to get to the best bits south of Siena but if you find something similar near you... So beautiful.

yep definitely a stretch on a lunch break. will just have a look on some strava segments see what people are up to in the area I think! unless there are some other ways to work out some decent roads

There's a nice coastal run along to La Spezia I did when touring taking a back road that's parallel to the main autostrada and hugging the base of the hills. You need to watch out for tunnels going into Spezia tho as your Garmin/whatever won't fucking tell you and there's no hard shoulder to pull over and put lights on etc so I had a few squirty bum moments.

The nice thing about Lucca is that it's in a basin so lots of options for flat rides but also really close to the hills. I'm sure the Italian Championships and Giro have had routes in and around Montecatini Terme and when I was there I saw a few team cars so might be worth checking that out. I just passed through on a tour so no great knowledge about routes although I could point you in the direction of a fucking amazing pizza place I found there replete with their local sparkling red wine which was surprisingly delicious...

There's a sportive, wait come back!
The Chianti route or something?

I went a couple of years ago, it was lovely. Warm mind. I went out early most mornings did about 30 miles max, nothing savage but it's rolling.
I was in Greve. Hired a bike from ramuzzi.com according to the bidon I'm looking at.would do again.

sweet as. thank you!

I know there are some great roads around Carrara but it's a bit far north maybe

There's a cafe called Il Re Del Cappuccino in Montecatini Terme. It's had lots of pros pass through and has some memorabilia up, so might be worth a look if you're near

I am looking into going to Tuscany region late summer. Debating whether I should bring bikes or rent bikes.
Anybody have any recommendations for rental companies around Lucca? Road bikes or cx bikes preferred.

Resurrecting thread.

Need to be in Tuscany for work end of May or early June. Looking for a route for a 3-5 day ride, ideally with B&B or hotels en route. Not sure if I want road or a mix of road and gravel but any recommendations?

I know there's the Tuscany trail around that time but timings may not work for me for that.

^looking for same, except in March! Thank you