Saturday morning ride - rainy and no other team members.

The emails said we were meeting at Tavernuzze at 8:30, and I planned on going, as the raduno is Monday, and we have plans that do not include riding for tomorrow, and I wanted to get out.   So, when I awoke it was super cloudy, but had not started raining yet.  I did all my morning stuff and got out of the apartment at the right time, and just as I left and hit the streets, it started raining.  It was pretty light, so I just kept on going.  I was in Tavernuzze about 5 minutes early, and waited until 10 minutes after 8:30, and no one showed up.  Not really a surprise, as it was raining lightly and the prediction is for rain all day.  Andrea stopped by to say hi on his way into town for work, and I took off by myself with a few options in mind.

Ten minutes or so after I started the rain got very light, perhaps sporadic, and I decided to ride up through Luiano toward San Casciano.  By the time I finished the climb, the rain had stopped and it looked pretty good, depending on which direction you looked.  So, I expanded the ride by descending, then climbing to Montefiridolfi.  The weather still looked ok, so I took a left at Montefiridolfi and rode across the ridge to the descent toward Sambuca.  When I hit the valley, it still looked ok, and I thought I should climb to San Pancrazio from the valley floor, an option about 8 kilometers back toward San Casciano.  By the time I was at the junction, it had started to rain lightly, and the San Pancrazio ridge looked very dark and foreboding.  I decided to skip the extra loop at this time and climbed to San Casciano.  As I climbed, the rain became more steady, and eventually turned into a real down pour.  From San Casciano, I headed over through Spedelleto to Chiesa Nuova, just cranking with my head down, as it was really raining.

I took the turn to drop to Scandicci, and the rain pretty much stopped my the time I reached Scandicci.  I rode home through Scandicci to the Viale, and made it home on super wet roads, but with no more rain.  Even with a 1/2 hour downpour, it was great to get out and ride.  I read a post on facebook about why someone loves riding, which basically said it always made them happy, and that fits me pretty well.  It is just good to get out and be on the bike.  It was not too cold, so the weather was tolerable.  The summary is:  40 miles in 2:57 rolling time for an average of 13.6 mph with 2400 vertical climbed at an average temperature of 56.  Ciao.

Where was the team? I enjoyed a rainy ride solo. by ridingwithcosimo at Garmin Connect - Details

Yes, it was pretty dark and stormy.  Both of these pictures are at the beginning

of the descent toward Sambuca from the Montefiridolfi ridge.