Sieci raduno - lots of fun and good riding.

Up early again this morning for another ride with the team.  I usually don't do two days in a row on the weekend with the team, as riding with them usually pushes me pretty hard.  I am out of town next weekend, Emily, Kate, and the kids are out of town now, and I am feeling pretty strong now, and need to enjoy it while it lasts.  We me on the east side of Florence, and rode out to Sieci to check in together. Somehow, we just missed the start, so we were among the last to sign in.  No problem.  We started out toward Pontesieve, but turned off to cross the Arno close to Rosano, then rode back to Bagno a Ripoli.

At Bagno a Ripoli, we joined the climb to San Donato in Collina, a pretty standard climb for me.  Most of the other people on the team had not ridden this much, if at all, though.  We regrouped at the top, then enjoyed the descent, with a small climb to Pallazzuolo, to the turn off toward the river bridge.  We crossed the river, and continued on the main road on the other side before turning off for Mattassino.  We stayed with the course toward Pian di Sco, but at one junction signs were pointing both directions.  We followed the signs we thought were correct, but alas, we made a mistake.  I for one, was pretty certain we were following the correct signs until it became obvious I was wrong.  Apparently, multiple events were going on with very similar courses.

When we got to Reggello, we could not find the Controllo, but with some asking, and looking, we found it back toward Pian di Sco.  Anyway, no harm, no foul.  We all, with the exception of Alberto, who had not had the patience for our looking around, handed in our control cards there.  We had a cafe in a nice bar in Reggello, then started down toward the river.  A great descent, then back to the same bridge we had crossed over the Arno, earlier in the day.  We rode over to Rignano, then did the short, but quite difficult climb to Bombone, which Chris had at 19% for a long stretch.  The Italians tell me that Bombone means "splief", so take that for what it is worth.  From Bombone, we returned to Rosano, enjoying that excellent descent, then back across the bridge, and back to Sieci.

A nice trophy, as we were second in participation, some food, then return home on the main roads.  Another fun day with the team.  It is truly my pleasure to be a part of the cycling scene and culture here.  It is really fun.  The ride summary is:  68 miles in 4:10 rolling time for an average speed of 16.3 mph, with 3830 vertical feet of climbing at a very nice average temperature of 72.  Wonderful.

Sportiva Sieci raduno - fun! by ridingwithcosimo at Garmin Connect - Details

Chris and Leif at the "controllo", where you give 

the person a card to show you did the long course.

A view of Reggello after the controllo.

Leif, Alessandro, Chris, and Alberto at the finish with the trophy.