Fun ride with rain on and off.

I really was planning on a walk today, as yesterday in the real rain, it was quite wet and wasn't begging for repetition.  This morning we actually saw the sun, the roads dried up partially, and I decided, go for it.  Well, as soon as I started more moisture came in, but it wasn't much more than isolated sprinkles.  At times it was steady light rain, but that was not the majority of time.  It seems that if it is not steady it is fine to be out there.  I really enjoyed today's ride.  Super green, birds singing, no real sun, but no hard rain either.  

I rode out through Piazza della Cure, then up Via Faentina to Pian de Mugnone.  I climbed to Fiesole from Pian de Mugnone, then continued up to the turn off toward Compiobbi.  I continued past the Vincigliata road to the descent toward Settignano.  I cut off to the right 2/3 the way down, which brings you right to the start of the Vincigliata climb.  This is a really cool descent, the road becomes smaller as you go, but I saw no traffic today, so it was like a bike path just for me and a few pedestrians.  I climbed up through Vincigliata to the road back over to Fiesole, then headed down through Fiesole, taking one of the options off the main road in San Domenico.  There are a number of possibilities even after you start this descent, and I tried a new one today.  It was a pretty rough road surface, at times steep, and ended up on a steeply descending piece of old cobbles, wet and looking slippery.  Probably not the route I will use in the future.  There are probably 6 different ways down from San Domenico though, which allows some exploration.  

I loved getting out and was not discouraged by the weather.  A Raduno tomorrow with the team.  We will see how many people show up, in particular if the weather is marginal.  I will probably go anyway, as today's ride got me stoked regardless of the weather.  Click the link for all the information, but the summary is:  19 miles in 1:38 rolling time for an average of 11.6 mph with 2400 vertical feet of climbing at an average temperature of 56.  Sweet to be out.  Ciao. 

Up, down, up, down - Pian de Mugnone, Fiesole, Settignano, Vincigliata, etc by ridingwithcosimo at Garmin Connect - Details

A couple of pictures just below Fiesole on the climb from Pian de Mugnone.  

First, the large block masonry caught my eye.  These masons were not 

beginners.  Then, the road going into a switchback looked cool.