This morning, I met the team at the COOP in Gavinana for a ride. We had a good group, starting with 12 and finishing with 9. 3 dropped out somewhere on the ride to take a more relaxed pace. We went out to Bagno a Ripoli, then continued on the river road on the South side of the Arno to the bridge to Pontesieve. There we hooked up with the main road that takes you on a very gradual uphill through Rufina and stopped for a pastry and cafe in Dicomano. I had a great pastry, second day in a row that the quality level was high for my snack. From Dicomano, we stayed on the main road to Vicchio, turning off to take a small bridge to the other side of the Sieve river, then continued on the south side to the turn off to the pass at Vetta a Croci. This is a relatively long, gentle climb, and I would be surprised if today was not my personal best. A group of four took off in front of myself and Leif, and we caught one right at the top, but the other 3 really booked up the hill - they were out of sight rather quickly. From the top of the hill, we rode down to Firenze through Fiesole, a fairly standard route of mine. Upon returning to town we split off at different locations to return to our separate homes. Although it is a ride I would not normally term as great, there is something really beautiful about 9 people staying in a relatively good pace line for a couple of hours. Another fun ride. As usual, no pictures when riding with the team. More information can be accessed at the link, but the summary is: 53 miles in a rolling time of 3:17, total elapsed time of 3:48, for a speed of 16.1 mph with 2530 feet of climbing.
"Mugello Giro" con squadra by ridingwithcosimo at Garmin Connect - Details
Upon returning home, Viola and Vittorio were at the apartment with Emily while Kate was at a friend's baby shower. I had a couple of good hours with the kids, then relaxed a little before going into the centro for the official opening of Florens 2012, the project Nicco manages. There is a beautiful pubic art installation in Piazza Santa Croce, and the opening was there. It is really fun to see many people interacting with the art. It is a cross of large pieces of marble with white marble gravel on the ground. Kids climbed on the pieces, drew hand shapes with pencil on them, people sat on some blocks for pictures, a cellist played at one end, while a puppet show was going on at the other end. Really fun, and so neat to see all the people wandering, amazed at the transformation of the public space.
A return home for a nap, as Kate and I met to go to the symphony at 8:30. It was a wonderful concert, and we met up with Emily for dinner afterwards, eating around 11:15, and returning home around 12:30. What a fun, long day.
People walking in the transformed piazza, looking at and interacting with the art installation.
The view along one of the sides of the cross toward Santa Croce.
Santa Croce through a portal on a marble block on one piece of the cross.
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