Nice Saturday morning ride with the team.

Yesterday, I had a lunch that ended up going from 12:30 to after 4, so it was too dark for my planned ride.  It was a very nice lunch, however, with a couple of Emily's expat friends and a newlywed couple who were one friends son and wife.  Although I am generally a happier person when I ride, the lunch was fun, and breaking routine is good for me.  This morning I was up relatively early, and off for a ride with the team.  There were 5 of us, which is a pretty good turnout for this time of year.  It was around 38 when I left the apartment, so a little cold starting.

We rode out our normal way to Lastra, and were enveloped in a pretty cold fog quickly.  I did not know what the plan for our tour was, and was surprised when we turned to Signa, then toward Carmignano.  I asked Alessandro if Pinone was the objective and he said yes, OK?  I responded it was a favorite of mine, and I was quite happy it was selected today.  We climbed out of the fog as we approached Comeana, then climbed in nice temperatures and sun to Pinone.  I had to stop and take my shell off and change to lighter gloves - yes, it really warmed up.

We regrouped in Pinone, and Terenzio and I ended up being around 10 minutes ahead of the other 3.  We enjoyed the descent to Vitolini, and all took it easy on the slightly wet, cold roads.  I think the recent crash of Moreno is on everyone's mind in those conditions.  As the roads dried up, we turned it loose, and enjoyed the remainder of the descent to the flats around Empoli.  From there, we kind of kept our heads down and cranked it back to town.  We had to slow a few times to regroup, but really stayed together pretty well.  Really nice ride on a super day.  51.1 miles in 3:14 rolling time for an average speed of 15.8 mph with 2070 vertical feet climbed at an average temperature (sun included) of 48.

Signa, Carmignano, Pinone, Vitolini, Montelupo, Firenze by ridingwithcosimo at Garmin Connect - Details

A couple of views of the road to Pinone with two of the

team members from today ahead.  

I loved this view of the hills to the East on the climb to Pinone.  The fog and haze emphasize all the ridge lines behind us at this point.