BIKE RIDE FROM MONTALCINO THROUGH CRETE SENESI

Visiting the southern province of the Siena Province offers several great bike rides and one of them is to ride through the heart of the Crete Senesi.  This landscape presents many of the iconic photos of Tuscany.  The ride is a nice one day route to add to your vacation and gives you a great chance to visit several lesser known attractions in the area. 

ROUTE NUT AND BOLTS

• START POINT: Montalcino
• END POINT: Montalcino
• LENGTH: 62 km
• DIFFICULTY: Moderate

CHECKPOINTS: Montalcino - Buonconvento - Abbey Monte Oliveto - Asciano - Crete Senesi - San Giovanni d'Asso - Torrenieri - Montalcino

ROUTE PROFILE: The route is has a moderate profile and a compac 50/34 front gear ratio and a 11/28 rear cassette would be best.  The longer climbs are less than 5% average but there are 3 to 4 short walls ranging from 100 to 300 meters long that has grades above 12%.  

CLIMB INFORMATION

SPECIAL NOTES: 

There are plenty of short stops along this route and places to refill water bottles.  The three main areas to ensure you have full water is between:  1. Bounconvento to Asciano. 2. Asciano to Torrenieri  3. Torrenieri to Montalciano.  

At the 14 km point  you ride into Bounconvento from there to the turn toward Asciano/Abbey Monte Oliveto is on a busy road.

If you are a Foodie a good place for a meal is San Giovanni d'Asso which is known for it's truffles 

Once past the Torrenieri at the 54 km mark you will need to enter a main road and ride about 600 meters taking the first exit.  There is a wide margin but if there is no traffic it is best to ride the main road to the left of the white line.  Otherwise you risk getting a flat tire.