A quick couple of hours to try to clear out the jet lag.

I am back from my trip to Denver to be with my Mother, who does not appear to have that much time left with us.  It was certainly a difficult trip, but I am very happy that I took the time to be with her and more or less say goodbye before the end.  She certainly could hold out longer, but her quality of life is pretty low now, and she is totally discouraged.  I don't blame her, and I would not be surprised if she goes sometime after Christmas.  I am hoping to have a week after a phone call, but you never know with something like this, so it was great to have the week plus with her.

So, back after the requisite 20 hours or so of travel, unpacked, then motivated for a ride.  The weather was pretty perfect, and is predicted to go down hill the remainder of the week.  I took off on the viales to the Poggio Imperiale climb, then down to Galluzzo.  From there, I took the Cinque Vie route around the outskirts of town to the town of Cinque Vie, where I went over to a climb through Vacciano to San Gersole.  I had climbed this once before, and it is a great climb with almost no traffic, just the way I like it.  After San Gersole, you connect to the road to Impruneta, where I climbed to the turn off to Baruffi, and enjoyed the wonderful descent down to Tavernuzze.  From Tavernuzze, I took the main roads in to town, descending on the super fun curves to Porta Romana, then through the city to the apartment.  As always, click the link for all the information, but the summary is:  22 miles in 1:44  rolling time, with 1530 vertical feet of climbing at an overall average of 12.6 mph.

A quick couple of hours to try to clear out the jet lag. by ridingwithcosimo at Garmin Connect - Details

My mother with Emily and Ben at breakfast on Saturday.

An amazing sunset on the high plains northeast of Denver.

Back in Tuscany, with a villa and a pretty line of trees on the ridge above San Gersole.

The vineyards have lost most of their leaves.  This is 

on the climb to San Gersole.