Riding with Cosimo, custom cycling tours in Tuscany: A wonderful ride in perfect weather for late December

I worked on a little bit of logistics / emails / etc. for my upcoming trip to Denver this morning, but was able to get out on the bike by a little after 11, and was good for a relatively long ride. Emily and I were taking care of the kids most of the day, but she stepped up and did almost all of it. I will be over there before Torrio wakes from his nap to help for the remainder of the day. Thanks, Emily. The weather was just perfect. It became totally clear and sunny by 10:30 or so, with the temperature climbing to around 50. I think it probably averaged around 55 for the ride, which is really nice. Short fingered gloves and a silk weight t-shirt under a long sleeved riding jersey, which seemed like very little clothing after most of my recent rides. I did wear a very light vest for all the descents, which worked well.

I rode out of town on the Viales to the route to Bagno a Ripoli, then climbed the big hill through Osteria Nuova to San Donato in Collina. I had a small snack on top and shot a couple of pictures. Such a pretty day! I descended through Troghi, Cellai, Pallazzolo, and turned off for the bridge across the Arno around the outlet stores. I rode on the South East side of the Arno to San Ellero, then climbed through Donnini, which had the steepest pitch of the day, to Tosi, where I started my descent back down to Pelago, where there are a couple of small climbs before you descend and hook up to the main road and continue your descent into Pontesieve. From Pontesieve, I follow the river road back to town, cutting off to take the most direct route home.

The Garmin site is down for maintenance, so I am guessing on a summary: 73 kilometers in around 3:20 rolling time, with close to 900 vertical meters of climbing, a super nice day so my estimate is the average temperature was around 53. Ciao.