Great client tour with Simpson and Allan.

I met Allan and Simpson at the bike shop where they were getting bikes at 9:30, and we started our day.  The weather forecast was for pretty perfect weather - sunny and a high around 73.  How nice.  After yesterday, it was great to see totally clear skies.  We took off and made our way on mostly bike paths over to the Cascine, and took the roads through the Cascine to the end of the park and then over to the main road toward Prato.  We turned off the main road quickly and made our way out the flat route to Signa, then through Lastra a Signa.  Both Allan and Simpson were pretty fit, but not avid cyclists, so a mellow tour with not too much climbing was the plan.  This route out of town is one of the few ways to leave Florence without either climbing or riding quite busy roads.

At Signa a Lastra, we turned off and climbed to small pass toward Ginestra.  They slowed down quite a bit, but were totally fine with the climb and had lots of energy.  Great!  We descended to Ginestra, then over to San Vicenzo a Torri where we took our first real stop for cafe and pastries.  We sat outside and enjoyed the food and drink, and discussed our options.  They were fast enough that we could add on a fair amount from the standard route I use over here, and started off an quickly turned off to climb to the ridge above the valley.  This is a pretty steep climb, but short, and they were great.  We continued riding up along the ridge stopping occasionally to take in the awesome views and take some pictures.  We stopped where the road ends and decided to ride more and I was hoping for San Pancrazio, but the road from Montagnana to San Pancrazio is still closed.  We rode up and over Montagnana to Bacciano, then took the valley road back down to Ginestra.

This is a pretty road and really mellow.  We stopped again in Ginestra and had a panini and water at a totally relaxed pace.  Outside, lounging in the sun, it was great.  We took the opportunity to fill our water bottles and rode the valley up to Cerbia.  We turned and rode up the valley to Chiesa Nuova, our last real climb of the day.  It was a pretty good route for them, as they were definitely tiring by the time we got to Chiesa Nuova.  We stopped there for a gelato, at a place I had heard was good but had never stopped for.  It was excellent gelato.   Simpson is a gelato fan and I shared a few of my favorite Florence gelaterias with her.  We then rode along the ridge / down to the steep switchbacks down to Galluzzo where we again regrouped.

We hooked up with the back way over to the Cinque Vie road and continued through Cinque Vie and climbed over to Pian de Giuliari, the last climb of the day.  It is a short climb, but at the end of the day, for clients, it can be a little hard.  We descended to Piazza Ferrucci, then took the bike paths by the Viale back to Florence by Bike and returned the bikes.  Great day Allan and Simpson.  Thanks for Riding with Cosimo.  The summary is:  47.9 miles in 4:39 riding time for an average speed of 10.6 mph with 2240 vertical feet of climbing at a sun affected temperature of 78.  Excellent day.

Fun tour with Simpson and Allan by ridingwithcosimo at Garmin Connect - Details

A short stop on the way toward Signa.

Allan climbing the pass on the way to Ginestra.

The view back toward Roveta from the ridge above Ginestra.

Climbing the ridge toward Montagnana.

An action shot of Allan and Simpson climbing toward Chiesa Nuova.