Excellent client ride with Daniel from Dallas.

Daniel and I met at the apartment around 9:30, set up the lightspeed with his pedals and adjusted the seat height, and were off on our ride before 10.  The weather was pretty perfect.  The real heat of the last few days appears to have left us, which is nice.  We started off through the city and rode through the Cascine to the back way to Signa, then Lastra a Signa.  Daniel rides a fair amount in Dallas and is a dedicated cyclist, but does not ride many hills.  I picked a ride that I often do with the team that minimizes climbing but is pretty long distance wise on relatively quiet roads.  From Lastra, we rode along the river to Montelupo, and I found a new water source there by asking in the main town square. From Montelupo, we rode slightly up, then over through Samontanna, Pozzole, then easily found the road to Monterappoli.

I told Daniel this was our first real climb, and off we  went.  He struggled a little, and I waited at the top of the first pitch.  He was not used to climbing and had stayed in the big ring.  We discussed this and he switched to the small ring, then was fine.  We finished the climb and tried to find a bar in Monterappoli, but they directed us to keep riding toward Castelfiorentino.  We descended from Monterappoli, then caught the main road to Castelfiorentino, stopping on the way for a cafe and pastry.  We continued to Castelfiorentino, then climbed up to the ridge and did the beautiful ridge climb with a few descents mixed in to Montespertoli.  With the help of some locals, I found the relocated water location there and we refilled water bottles.  The weather was cooler, but still pretty hot.

From Montespertoli, we rode back by descending to Bacciano, then up to Montagnana, down to Cerbia, and up to Chiesa Nuova where we again refilled water.  By Chiesa Nuova, Daniel had pretty much had enough climbing, so we were in a good spot.  We returned by way of Galluzzo, the Cinque Vie road, and then back on the viales.  A nice day!  Ride summary is:  60 miles in 4:23 riding time for an average of 13.7 mph with 2920 vertical feet climbed at a sun affected average temperature of 89.  Nice ride, Daniel, and thanks for "Riding with Cosimo"

Great client ride with Daniel - Montelupo, Monterappoli, Castelfiorentino by ridingwithcosimo at Garmin Connect - Details

On the way to Samontanna.

In the Monterappoli area with vineyards in the background.

Climbing to Montespertoli, che bella!

Daniel on the ridge climb from Castelfiorentino to Montespertoli.