On Tuesdays, Emily normally babysits all day, and I pick up Viola from school and spend the remainder of the day with them until we return home. I usually try to clean the apartment, grocery shop, and fit in a short ride, as it is the least I could do with Emily doing the heavy lifting on the babysitting. The forecast for today was cloudy, but warm with a very slight chance of rain. The next few days were forecast to be colder and rainy. So, I decided to blow off the cleaning after returning from the grocery shopping. I headed out, and it was cloudy, but not too cold, but not warm either. After an hour or so, it started cooling off, then in another 1/2 hour the light rain started.
At this point I had ridden from the apartment through the Cascine, then through the back roads to Lastra and Lastra a Signa. I had climbed up the small pass then was starting to drop down to Ginestra Fiorentina. Looking around, I was thinking it was simply a passing shower, and continued with my plan and from Ginestra rode toward Cerbia, turning off for the climb up the ridge on the tiny back road to Montagana. Well, the light rain just kept on coming and got a little stronger with time. By the time I was descending from Montagana to Cerbia, the roads were soaked and it was a steady light but consistent rain with a temperature around 50. Not the best conditions, but actually fine. I headed home through Cerbia, Chiesa Nuova, dropped down the switchbacks to Galluzzo, then climbed to Poggio Imperiale and hit the Viales home.
Actually, I was cold and a little wet, but it was a good ride and it is always great to get out. The summary is: 37 miles in 2:44 rolling time for an average speed of 13.4 mph with 2050 vertical feet of climbing at an average temperature of 52. Check the link for more information. Ciao!
These are three views from the same spot, on the ridge to
the west of Montagana. The valley is the torrente Pesa, and the
ridge beyond is to the south of Scandicci. A little cold and rainy,
but still beautiful.
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