Day 2 with Fred - San Donato, Bombone, Monteloro.

I met Fred again at his hotel, and after suggesting he bring a shell, which he then returned to get, we were off.  The forecast was for showers and thunderstorms, and the route I had in mind was into the Mugello, which if it rains, it is most likely it will start there.  The route was also on the long side of Fred's time frame, so I adjusted and we went a different direction.  We started off getting through the city, then out to Ponte a Ema, then climbing up Via Carota.  What a beautiful road.  Even though I returned to town on Sunday on the same road with Fred, he still enjoyed.  We hooked up with the main road and rode up through Osteria Nuova to San Donato in Collina.  No water needed, so we continued and enjoyed the descent to Cellai, where we turned off to climb / descend / climb, etc. to Bombone. What a fun road with great scenery and for the time being, no rain.  We refilled water in Bombone, and then enjoyed the descent to Rosano, where we tried a trattoria / bar I had seen many times, almost always busy - a good sign, for a cafe.  The cafe was great and we had some large biscotti which were excellent.  Also, a comfortable place to sit inside with no extra charges.  I will return.  Well, it started raining.  We put on our shells, and went over through Pontasieve, then to Sieci.  We turned off in Sieci to climb through Monteloro, and the rain pretty much stopped.  At the turn to the road to Monteloro, Fred lost his concentration, and he and his bike were down on the pavement quickly.  He was back up quickly, we determined there was no real damage, and he was happy to continue.  I liked his decision, as things will loosen up generally, if you keep going.  He really enjoyed the climb up and through Monteloro as well, and we refilled water in Monteloro. After hooking up with the road to Fiesole, we descended through Fiesole to San Domenico, then took Via Palazzuolo back to Le Cure.  Back to the hotel on the main roads and we were done.  He was a little stiff and sore, but really quite happy with the ride.  It was our last day together and we both had fun.  He is an excellent rider and an easy client to guide.  Thanks for the business, Fred.   Check out Day 2 with Fred - Via Carota, San Donato, Cellai, Bombone, Rosano, Monteloro, Fiesole, Firenze on Strava.com! It's a 69.1 km ride I did on Tuesday, May 27, 2014. An over the head behind me shot of Fred climbing Via Carota with two runners on the way down. The beautiful road to Monteloro.  Get it, Fred! Fred climbing toward Monteloro. Here is Fred above Monteloro - enjoying the ride and the scenery.