The first of 5 days of guided riding with friends from CB.

It's been a fun and interesting day.  Emily and I were up early to go to the immigration Questura to renew our Permessi de Soggiorno.  It went pretty well, and we had to do another couple of steps, as they are renewing for 2 years.  We had one simple thing to do, just pay an additional fee for the second year, but the other appears to be more complicated.  Emily and I need to talk, as she was working on this today, as I took Keith and Jodi out for a ride.

We returned from our efforts around 10:15, and Keith, Jodi, and I suited up and got started.  They are renting my two extra bikes for a couple of weeks, and they worked well.  No problems, which is a relief.  I spent a few hours cleaning, lubing, etc., on Saturday, but was not 100% sure they would be perfect, but they seemed to be.  We started by going through Piazza della Cure, then up one of my back routed to San Domenico, then continuing to climb toward Fiesole.  We stopped at the Maiano turn off, and I inquired how they were feeling, and how long a day they wanted.  At this first decision point, they decided for more, and we descended through Maiano to the Chiesa de San Martino, then climbed up past Vincigliata to the road over toward Fiesole.  Although this climb ramps up to around 15% in places, there was no complaining, only expressions of joy.  Sweet.  As we hooked up with the road above Fiesole, we again had a decision point.  Longer and more climbing, or head back a circuitous route.  Again, the decision was for longer and more climbing.

We climbed up the very nice and mellow climb to L'Olmo, and again decided for more and headed over the slightly climbing, contouring road to Bivigliano.  We took a good break, and found a water source to replenish our bottles.  We continued through Bivigliano then took the turn off to go through Viliano and Casellina to the road to Pratolino, where we descended to.  From Pratolino, we continued the descent to Pian de San Bartolo, and again, decided for longer and more climbing which took us over to Cercina.  We climbed to the church above Cercina, took another long break, then took my favorite of the 4 descent options, then navigated traffic through town to return home.

Summary is:  32.1 miles in 3:04 rolling time for an average speed of 10.5 mph with 3810 vertical feet of climbing at a perfect average temperature of 74 degrees.  As always, check the garmin link for more information.  Ciao.

Ups and downs with Keith and Jodi - the first of 5 days of touring. by ridingwithcosimo at Garmin Connect - Details

Keith climbing to a switchback on the Vincigliata road.

Jodi continuing the climb after the switchback.

A head of me on the way to the Fiesole / L'Olmo road.

A nice shot on the way to L'Olmo with Fiesole in the background.