Riding with Cosimo, custom cycling tours in Tuscany: Wonderful afternoon ride to the North.

I had a fun and very full day today. Emily and I took a small tour through Friends of Florence of the palazzo at Poggio Imperiale, which is now functioning as a public school. Much of the building is basically museum quality and is not used for the school. It is beautiful and I learned quite a bit about the history of the building, which is nice as I often take clients by here on rides. Now I have some real information about the building. We were waiting for the bus, and Kate called to tell us they were in the Boboli, and if we wanted we could join them. Emily had a commitment, but I did not, so I joined them for an hour and one half or so. What fun it is to spend time with them in such a great magical place. They are really changing all the time with Torrio becoming more of a "boy" all the time playing Peter Pan, and always with a stick to sword fight with. Viola, while she still enjoys roughhousing, is really into play acting scenarios which can happen in the Boboli. Add Jen and her daughter Juliet, who is Viola's age, into the mix and you have a fun time.

I got the bus home, which was it's own adventure, as a school let out right before I caught the bus, so it was truly packed with probably 25 people left behind at the bus stop. Not my favorite scenario, but I could hang in there packed like a sardine for 15 minutes. Then it was off to the COOP for grocery shopping, then home to get ready for a ride. I am planning on riding with the team tomorrow morning, so I did not want anything too long. I also did not get started until a little after 2, so anything long was not in the offing. I did a favorite 2 hour or so ride that has lots of climbing. It was a beautiful day, although quite windy, but the ride felt great. The wind really slows me down a bit, but I was not racing anyway.

Out through Le Cure, then up option #3 to San Domenico, then up to the turn off for Maiano, the descent to the start of the Vincigliata climb, then the climb itself. This is the hardest part of the ride with probably around a kilometer at 10 to 15%. I turned and took the curvy descent into Compiobbi, then hooked up with the climb through Monteloro to the Fiesole road for my final descent back into town. Really fun on a beautiful day. 26.6 miles in 2:09 rolling time for an average speed of 12.4 mph with 3199 vertical feet of climbing at an average temperature of 56.

San Domenico, Maiano, Vincigliata, Compiobbi, Monteloro, Fiesole, home. by ridingwithcosimo at Garmin Connect - Details