Nice two hour recovery ride.

I was up at a normal time this morning, as I told Kate yesterday that I would babysit this afternoon, and that left me a two to three hour window to ride.  The weather was supposed to be stormy in the afternoon, so it all worked out.  I picked a recovery ride of sorts, around 55 k with very little, for here, climbing.  I left on the Viales to the west, and headed out to the end of the Cascine park, then hooked up with the back roads to Signa, the Lastra a Signa.  I turned off here for the climb to the little pass, then descended to Ginestra Fiorentina.  I passed a number of riders on the pass, and that felt pretty good.  Riding with Roger for 4 days really made me realize I could push my speed up a notch or two by just putting a little extra effort into using a larger gear, then hanging with it.

From Ginestra, I rode the valley floor, stopping at San Vincenzo for a cafe, which was great, to Cerbia. I had my cafe outside, and when I was out there, another rider came up with a "Boss" bike, which looked like a top line road bike.  He knew the guys at the bar, and they came out and he showed how it has a little motor in it to aid with the difficult climbs.  Interesting.  At Cerbia, I turned right for the climb to Chiesa Nuova, and enjoyed hitting it pretty hard for me.  I had a personal best (strava), and that felt good.  From Chiesa Nuova, back over to the descent into Scandicci, then back home on the main roads to the Viale, and home.  Nice ride.  Summary is:  33.9 miles in 2:01 for an average speed of 16.7 mph with 1220 vertical feet of climbing at an average temperature of 72.  Ciao.

Two hour morning ride before babysitting by ridingwithcosimo at Garmin Connect - Details

The row of trees on the start of the final climb to Chiesa Nuova.

Some vineyards through the trees framing the climb.