Chianti tour through the Vayable service with Sach and Sara.

I had a nice tour today with some fun clients through the guide service, Vayable.  Sach and I had emailed a number of times, as the weather was forecast to not be so good, and we discussed alternatives.  The weather ended up fine, and we missed any rain today.  We met at the Florence by Bike shop, where they rented the bikes for the tour.  We got them set up, and started out for our tour.  We took the bike path by the Viale over to the Arno, then got on the main Viale to the bridge over the arno then turned off to climb the little used road that switchbacks up to Piazzale Michaelangelo.  We stopped there for some viewing and I pointed out the sights to them, with a little history added.

We continued our tour on the Viale Michaelangelo to the turn off for Poggio Imperiale, then descended to Galluzzo.  We stopped in Galluzzo for espresso, and a break.  The kiosk in the main piazza / park there has excellent espresso, and a nice place to sit outside and enjoy life.  We then started the real climb for the day and climbed up to Pozzolatico and had another short break.  We continued our climb, and as we were getting close to the San Gersole turn, both Sach and Sara expressed that this was probably enough climbing.  That was fine, as the San Gersole road is a great little used descent, which we took through Vacciano to Grassina.  In Grassina, we opted for the Cinque Vie route, then back into the center by the Arno.  Back in the city center, I wanted to show them the Pitti Gola wine bar, a great wine bar run by some friends and great people.  On the way there, we stopped at Quattro Leone for a nice lunch, then I introduced them to Zeno at the wine bar on the way to their hotel.  I dropped them at Porta al Prato, then finished up riding home.

The weather held off for us, but is predicted to be pretty bad for the next few days.  We ended up with a very nice day and tour.  Thanks for "Riding with Cosimo" Sach and Sara.  Ciao.

Great Vayable tour with Sachim and Sara by ridingwithcosimo at Garmin Connect - Details

At Piazzale Michaelangelo with the city in the background.

Sach and Sara climbing the hill toward the San Gersole turn-off.

Sara riding toward Pozzolatico.

Sach and Sara in front of some beautiful gates just before San Gersole.