Great ride with some rain with Andrew from the team.

I woke up early this morning to do a team ride, and even though the forecast was for rain, and it rained quite a bit yesterday, the roads were drying out and it was cloudy, but not raining.  I decided to start my morning routine and go for it.  A couple of minutes before I left, it started sprinkling lightly, but I was ready, so I went.  I did not expect anyone to show at the meeting place, but Andrew, a team member from Australia, whom I had only ridden with a couple of times before showed up.  It was sprinkling lightly, and we decided to go.  I was the designated guide, so we went my route.  We went out to Lastra a Signa, then up and over the little pass to Ginestra Fiorentina.  From Ginestra, we went out the valley road to Bacciano, then up to Montagnana, where we decided to extend the tour by going to San Pancrazio.   Upon arrival in San Pancrazio, it started to rain and the sky did not look good.  We put on coats and rode down to Ponterotto in a shower.  It pretty much stopped for the climb to San Casciano, and the sky was looking pretty good there.  We road over on the ridge to Chiesa Nuova, and my coat was drying and I was hopeful that the strong shower we got on the way to Ponterotto was it for the real rain.  Alas, we descended into Scandicci, and the sky was quite dark and it started raining, which only got harder as we crossed into Firenze.  We parted ways and I just put my head down and powered home in a strong rain.  No pictures today, as when wearing a shell it is not very accessible, and we kept a pretty strong pace, and the grey skies are not the best for photos.  Great ride all the same, and if you are going to get hit by rain, what better time than 10 or 15 minutes from home.  Ciao. Check out Lastra, Ginestra, Bacciano, Montagnana, San Pancrazio, San Casciano, Scandicci, Firenze, with Andy on Strava.com! It's a 74.6 km ride I did on Saturday, May 3, 2014.