Riding with Cosimo, custom cycling tours in Tuscany: Nice surprise - an unexpected client ride in the Mugello.

I had planned a day of errands, bike cleaning, etc, with a probable late afternoon ride, but while doing an errand at the shop, I ran into a person wanting a guide for a couple of days. I was free, and with a little rearranging, I was back at the shop suited and booted ready to go in 45 minutes. The client is Jeff, from Minneapolis, and he had a couple of hours, plus or minus to ride today and tomorrow. He looked fit, had a full kit, bike shoes, etc., so I figured he was an experienced rider. I decided we could try the direction of the Mugello today, and try Chianti tomorrow. We took off by the apartment, then over to Le Cure, then up one of the back ways to San Domenico. He was riding strong, and setting a pretty good pace on this short climb.

We hooked up with the road to Fiesole, and his pace slowed a little, and I adjusted my gearing to make the new speed work. We were fine to the turn off and then enjoyed the descent to Chiesa San Martino, then started the Vincigliata climb. Jeff is from a relatively flat area, and it became apparent on this climb. He hung in there totally, but by the top of the climb, he was telling me that he only had maybe one more climb like that in him. I decided to head over to the road from Fiesole to L'Olmo, as it is a totally mellow climb. He was happy with that, and we stopped at the food truck at the junction. We enjoyed some sport drinks and some Schiaciatta, and discussed our options. Jeff opted to return to the city, as he has his family here and wants to spend most of the day with them.

We rode up and over to the junction with the descent into Pratolino, and enjoyed the descent to Pratolino where we got some water. We then descended down Via Bolognese, and when almost back into town, the skies opened up and we were lucky to be at a spot where we could pull off the road and have some shelter. We only waited around 5 minutes, and the rain pretty much stopped, and we finished the ride back to his hotel. We are tentatively set for me to pick him up tomorrow morning at 7 am at his hotel for another 2 hour ride. Fun ride today. 25.7 miles in 2:04 rolling time for an average speed of 12.7 mph with 2430 vertical feet climbed at an average temperature of 87. Thanks for "riding with cosimo", Jeff.

Surprise - client ride to Vincigliata, L'Olmo, Pratolino, Firenze by ridingwithcosimo at Garmin Connect - Details

On the Vincigliata climb