Riding with Cosimo, custom cycling tours in Tuscany: Great saturday morning ride with the team.

Up early this morning to ride with the team. I had extra time and was planning on a casual warm up on the way to the meeting point, then I checked my battery for the electronic shifting, and it was in need of a charge. I have been learning about the drawbacks on the battery and the only one I know of is not keeping up with the charging schedule. I simply had not checked it lately. It is really simple to check. From a you tube video about the batteries, etc. in the shifting system, I learned that if you are in the situation I found myself in, a quick 5 to 10 minute charge will be more than enough for a 5 hour ride, but I had never tested this. I charged it for a little over 5 minutes and took off. It worked fine, so all was good.

I really pushed it to Tavernuzze, or almost all the way as I caught a group of 4 on the team on their way to the meeting spot just before Galuzzo. I did not remember to start the garmin until around 7 kilometers out, which is why I am using the descent feet for the climbing, which should be accurate. No one was biting on the suggestions for longer or truly different rides at Tavernuzze, so we took off and did the standard route to Greve then Panzano. A wonderfully beautiful morning, it was a great ride. We regrouped at the top with only Leonardo beating me up there. Terenzio basically was 5 feet ahead of me and passed me with only around 30 meters to the town square. We discussed options in Panzano, and again, no one was really biting on a longer ride or options. I knew that Leonardo was game as he asked me a few times if I wanted to go longer.

We all went back down to Greve together, then I stopped and forced a decision. 5 people returned on basically the same route we came out on, but Leonardo and I did an alternate that was my idea. I loved it. We climbed Passo de Sugame which is a great climb from Greve, long, but with nothing too steep. We then descended about 2/3 the way to Figline, then took a very fun road across to Brollo, around 5 kilometers to the road from Figline to Poggio alla Croce, another pass. Just a perfect day to be out and alive and riding. Leonardo did not push to drop me, although I know he can if he wants. We descended to San Polo and I had a cafe and we relaxed for a few minutes at a place I am really liking currently. I was wondering how old he was, so I asked, and was surprised that he was only 23. From my point of view, quite young. He is very fit and totally into cycling, so it is no surprise that he can drop me. Anyway, we enjoyed each other's company and the riding which is all that really matters. From San Polo, we took the climb up to a little pass and then descended to Capanuccia, then Grassina, where Leonardo branched off to return to his house and I went through Cinque Vie to the Viale, then home. Great ride on a pretty perfect day. 54.7 miles in 3:40 rolling time for an average speed of 14.9 mph with 4219 vertical feet of climbing at an average temperature, including the sun effect, of 49.

Con Squadra - Panzano, Greve, Sugame, Brollo, San Polo, Capanuccia by ridingwithcosimo at Garmin Connect - Details

I had never noticed this sculpture of a wine bottle before in the

town square in Panzano, obviously a wine region, and yes,

the sky really was that blue. Che Bello!