Passo del Giogo with the team - super fun!

I had a really nice ride with the team this morning.  One sad part is that one of the team members has decided to quit the team, and he is a person who I have become friends with.  I think it is a personality piece with another couple of team members, but I will miss Alessandro Celoan riding with us.  Ciao, Alessandro.  These things happen in groups though, and I certainly will not take any sides and simply continue to enjoy riding with the group.  Lorenzo told me on the ride, but no one else seemed concerned.  We had planned on doing the long course of the upcoming gran fondo Firenze, or so I thought, but in discussion, 3 of 5 were planning on the medium course.  We rode to Scarperia together, and stopped there to discuss the rest of the tour.  I certainly was not wedded to the long course, but made a suggestion that was accepted to continue to the top of Passo del Giogo, then return back down, then perhaps finish the medium course.

We decided this was a great plan, and all headed off up to the pass.  We broke apart pretty soon, and although Leonardo dropped me pretty good, I kept Daniele in sight almost to the top, and Luca kept me in sight almost to the top.  Really good, happy spirits at the top, and when Lorenzo came up last we all started cheering, and he dug in for a sprint to finish his climb.  It is always great to be with a group who is happy and tired after a physical exertion together.  We descended back the way we climbed, and although we took it very easy at the top where the road was wet, around 1/3 the way down the roads dried up and I let it go.  Super fun.  We took a branch off to the right and were on our way to Galliano when a couple of guys decided we should simply go straight back, which was fine.

I think we had done the medium course a couple of weeks ago, so this was great to simply head back through Vaglia.  At Pratolino, we regrouped after the last climb of the day, and people were pretty beat, in particular, Lorenzo.  So, good decision not to do the Galliano / lake part of the return ride.  The climb to Pratolino is always a little tough, as the top is pretty steep, and almost always you are at the end of a ride and getting tired.  A fast cruise back into Firenze and the ride was done.  I really enjoyed the tour today and look forward to our next outing.  I even treated myself to a cheeseburger at the local bar after the ride.  E Buono!  53.3 miles in 3:41 rolling time for an average speed of 14.4 mph with 5253 vertical feet of climbing at a sun effected temperature of 51.

Fiesole, Scarperia, Passo del Giogo, Vaglia, Firenze by ridingwithcosimo at Garmin Connect - Details

I dropped back a little for this picture of the guys starting the 

big climb of the day to Passo del Giogo.

Looking back down into the valley of the Sieve, you

can see the pea soup fog we were in down there

and climbed out of on the way to the pass.

Me, Luca, and Daniele at the top.  Lorenzo has not yet 

arrived and Leonardo is taking the photo.

Lorenzo, Luca, Leonardo, and Daniele at the Passo del Giogo.