Excellent, long Saturday morning and early afternoon ride with the team.

Up relatively early and off for a team ride.  We had a pretty large group of around 12 at the start, and stayed together to Montespertoli.  On the way, at the start of the Grillaio climb, I stopped with Lorenzo, as we were missing about half the squadra.  He called and someone had a flat, and they would be back with us soon.  I took off to catch the others who went ahead on the climb and Lorenzo waited at the bottom.  I was able to catch all but one and let everyone know what was happening, as we waited at the top of this first, little climb.  All back together, we enjoyed the descent to Ginestra, then regrouped again for the ride over to Bacciano and the climb to Montespertoli.  We stopped in Montespertoli and a few of us had cafe, then we resumed the ride.  Only 5 of 12 decided to do the long ride for the day, and the other 7 stayed on the ridge toward Artimino.

The 5 of us took a left and went on a new road for me to Certaldo.  It was a really beautiful road, and I love riding a new road.  From Certaldo, we took the smaller road to Poggibonsi, which was surprisingly nice.  As we got to Poggibonsi, discussions ensued, and we decided to take a "shortcut" to San Appiano.  We started, and the grade quickly went toward 20%.  As we were not sure about where the road went, we started to turn around, but someone asked a woman if the road went to San Appiano.  She said yes, so we did the difficult climb.  At the top of the difficult climb, the road turned to dirt, but asking another person pulling out of their driveway, he said the dirt road was only 100 to 200 meters long, so we continued.  It did return to a semblance of pavement after a couple hundred meters, but then descended at a grade, per the warning sign, of 25%.  We hooked into another road then and finished the difficult climb to San Appiano, which is around 15%.  We were a little tired by now.

After San Appiano, we rode to the Barberino road, but made a mistake by turning left, when we should have gone right for a hundred meters or so before taking a left.  Well, the first left took us back to the road between Certaldo and Poggibonsi, and we rode back to Certaldo to find the road to Fiano. Back on course, we climbed the relatively difficult climb to Fiano, then rode up and along the ridge before descending to Montespertoli.  We descended to Bacciano, and split up again, as Fillipo was pretty beat by now, and Lorenzo and I took him back on the easiest, but longest route.  Back to Ginestra, we got more water then climbed the Grillaio climb again.  Fillipo hung in there, and we were back in Lastra a Signa, then hit the flat, main road back to Firenze.  Fillipo had parked his car in Piazza Liberta, so he and I had a beer at Care Liberta, then it was a couple of blocks home.

The temperatures seemed quite hot by the end of the ride today for the first time in a while.  I think the temperatures as much as anything tired Fillipo out.  For the first time since early June, the heat made an impact on my energy level.  Remember, blog readers, that the blog is to promote by guiding business.  Please contact me for a guided ride or refer friends.  In the last week, I have had around 200 hits on the blog which is great, but it would be nice if the effort generated business.  Thanks.  Here is the garmin link for a great ride:

Signa, Ginestra, Montespertoli, Poggibonsi, Certaldo, Fiano, Signa, Firenze by ridingwithcosimo at Garmin Connect - Details

Just after the turn off from the ridge road past Montespertoli, 

these are my companions on the long tour for today, 

which turned out to be 130 plus kilometers.

The guys ahead of me on the way to Certaldo from Montespertoli.

We rode a new road for me, which was beautiful.

A beautiful little town on our "shortcut" to San Appiano.

Leif and Luca ahead of me climbing to San Appiano.

An over the head, behind me shot of Lorenzo and Fillipo around 

San Appiano.

A view across the valley from the climb to Fiano.

Lastra, Pinone, Limite, Montelupo, Firenze.

I had a nice almost 3 hour ride today, and for some reason, the garmin lost all the data after I finished while I went out for a beer.  When I returned Emily was in the middle of doing the floors, so I went for a beer, which was enjoyable.  I had looked at the data as I finished, so at least I know what it was. The ride was around 72 kilometers in around 3 hours with an average speed of 26 kph with around 550 meters of climbing.  You really get used to the garmin data, so not having it is a little difficult.  

I left through the Cascine, then out the back roads to Signa, then up to Carmignano and Pinone.  Water in Pinone with the required head dousing.  I also stopped in Carmignano for water and head dousing, which is around 1/2 way up the climb.  From Pinone, I took the first descent to Limite, which is simply a great descent.  Great road, fun.  From Limite, I took the simple way back to Montelupo, then the river road back to Lastra a Signa.  From there I was able to find the back way the team normally goes out to Lastra, and got back into town and home.  It was pretty hot out there and I would guess the average temperature at 93.  Sorry about the lost garmin data.

A great view back to the valley from the climb between 

Carmignano and Pinone.

Climbing toward the Ombrone valley.

Climbing up the Ombrone river valley to Comeana

I like the villa on the hill in this picture, it is framed by trees.  It

does not show as well as I would like here, though.

Medium length ride in some hot weather today

Lots of paperwork this morning, a couple of email answers for September tours and catching up on invoices for other operators I work for.  Anyway, it was 12:30 by the time I was suiting up, with really beautiful weather outside, and I had plenty of time for the ride that popped into my mind.  After a good effort yesterday, I did not know how my energy level would be, but with a little less speed, all was fine.

I took off through town, then out to Ponte a Ema to access Via Carota to climb to Osteria Nuova.  Love this road.  From Osteria Nuova, it is a fast climb to San Donato, and the first water refill and head dousing.  It didn't feel that hot, but it was sunny, and the average temperature for the ride, which includes the sun's effect was 92, so the head soakings were reasonable.  From San Donato in Collina, it is a fast descent to the turn in Cellai to get on the road over to Bombone.  I love this road as well, and seem to choose this ride often when my time is limited to around 3 hours or less.  It is a pretty nice climb, then lots of ups and downs to Bombone, when you start a real descent that levels off for a few kilometers around Torri, where I took my second water and head soaking stop.  A little climb after Torri, then a big, fun descent to Rosano.

From Rosano, it is a fast, head down crank over to the main road and down past Sieci to the turn off for Monteloro.  I enjoyed the Monteloro climb, although I was not real fast, and stopped again just past Monteloro at the new fountain there.  Excellent, very cold water there which was much appreciated.  The climb is mostly over now, but there is a gradual climb for another 150 vertical meters, then a short descent to the Fiesole road.  I decided to go up from there to cut over through Olmo and down Via Faentina for the day's big descent home to Firenze.  Another fun day of riding here in Tuscany.  The garmin link is below.  Ciao.

Carota, Cellai, Bombone, Sieci, Monteloro, Olmo, Firenze by ridingwithcosimo at Garmin Connect - Details

Love this road between Cellai and Bombone.  Che Bella!

Looking to the East and Monte Secchiette just after the first 

climb from the turn in Cellai.

There are a lot of little climbs like this after you turn toward Bombone.

One of my favorite roads, tiny, interesting, and challenging.

Combining a long tour with a short meet and greet guiding job. Great day!

I had a pretty long day on the bike today after a couple of busy days off the bike Monday and Tuesday.  Today, I did a meet and greet for Dominick, and met a very nice Mother and Son at Florence by bike and guided them out to Impruneta.  We reviewed maps in Impruneta, and after showing them the water source there, I took off, as I planned a long tour after leaving them.  The weather prediction was for cloudy with light showers in the morning clearing as the day went on.  With a look at the weather, I decided to go for the long tour.  I had not done this tour in a while, and it was great today.

From Impruneta, I went around Strada, the up to Chiocchio, then down to Greve.  No stop there today, but kept it going up the climb to Panzano, where I did stop for water.  An excellent descent from Panzano to Lucarelli, then the perfect road and climb to Radda.  I kept it going to climb the ridge over to Castellina, where I again stopped for water.  A little steep climb from Castellina gets you to the ridge which you climb, then descend for quite a while to San Donato in Poggio.  Great views both directions from this high ridge but the speed you can carry keeps you on your toes.  From San Donato, the descent continues to Sambuca, then you continue down the valley, mostly flat, to a short climb to San Casciano.  I enjoyed a nice stop in San Casciano for a gelato, then headed back home via Chiesa Nuova and Scandicci.  A really great tour on a nice day, and an interesting mix of guiding for 3 hours, averaging a speed of around 12 kph, then riding for an additional 4 plus hours at an average speed closer to 26 kph.  I enjoyed it all and felt good after a few days of rest.  Ciao.  Here is the garmin link for the ride.

Meet and greet plus the classic Chianti tour by ridingwithcosimo at Garmin Connect - Details

Karen and Tim - Mother and Son - starting a 3 day self-guided

tour.  I do what is called a meet and greet, and help them get their

bikes, and guide them out of town to Impruneta, where we have 

cafe and review maps for the remainder of their journey.  Here 

they are at Piazzale Michaelangelo.

After I left Karen and Tim in Impruneta, I decided to do what I

call the classic Chianti tour, to Radda, Castellina, and back to

Florence.  This picture is on the climb to Radda from Lucarelli.

The views after climbing above Castellina are wonderful.

The weather just got better and better as the day went on.

Wonderful team tour with 4 passes

I admit, I was thinking I needed more time off after 13 days in a row on the bike in Lucca, but with the meeting point 5 minutes from the apartment and a relatively civilized meeting time of 8 am, I thought, go for it.  I am certainly glad I did.  I love the tour, and I planned on cutting it a little short, with everyone going for the long tour with the exception of one, I went for the long tour.  I love this tour, and it certainly is becoming one of my favorites for a long tour.

We met at Piazza Liberta, then rode through the city and outlying cities to Calenzano, where we rode through the center then started the climb to Croci a Calenzano.  It is a nice, relatively fast climb, and Luca and Davide preceded me to the top by a minute or so.  I did have them in sight all the way.  We all regrouped there, and all 8 of us proceeded down to Barberino de Mugello, where we started the second and probably the hardest climb of the day.  The first piece of road is one of my favorites, around 6 kilometers of constant grade of around 5%, twisty, with very little traffic.  You join the main road, Via Bolognese, and then have around 8 kilometers averaging around 8% to the top.

We regrouped at the top, and had cafe at the bar at the pass, whose proprietor was a Giro d'Italia racer in the late 30's.  He is rarely there, but his family still runs the bar and restaurant.  There is a nice picture of him passing water bottles to Bartoli on the Passo della Futa, where the bar is, in I think the 1938 Giro.  Kind of cool, the cycling history here.  A great descent on the most direct route to Firenzuola, then we climbed up to Passo Giogo.  The scenery in the valley that Firenzuola sits is really nice, and the climb is fine.  I think we were all getting a little tired by now, which made this probably the hardest climb of the day.

We descended to Scarperia, where we refilled water, then decided to return by the fastest, shortest, although not the easiest route, through Pratolino.  Great descent, and a reasonable climb.  We regrouped at the top of the climb, then descended into Florence, the route going right to my apartment, where I peeled off with a grazie ragazzi, a prossima!  Great team tour today.  I loved it.

Calenzano, Barberino, Futa, Firenzuola, Giogo, Pratolino, Firenze by ridingwithcosimo at Garmin Connect - Details

The team starting the first climb of the day, to Croci a Calenzano.

While some of the guys took staged group shots, I went for a couple

of candid shots at the top of Passo della Futa, after the biggest climb

of the day, and our second of four.

Well, maybe not totally candid, as Leif clowns around in front 

of the memorial to Gaston Nencini. 

Most of the guys at the top of the Passo Giogo, probably the hardest

effort of the day, and the 3rd of the 4 passes.

La Lima, Pruneta, Pescia for my last Lucca based ride.

A great last ride in the Lucca area today, as our mini vacation here ends tomorrow.  It has been really great both staying here in the peace and quiet, and riding a wonderful location with lots of new riding and big mountains.  I took the regular route out through Ponte a Moriano to Bagni di Lucca, then up to La Lima for my first break of the day.  It is a very gradual climb, and I managed to average a solo speed of around 27.8 kph, which is fast for me.  After a banana in La Lima, and a map check, I took off for Pruneta.  It is a nice 600 meter vertical climb in around 10 kilometers so it averages around 6%, which is great.  Beautiful road, great views, beautiful little towns, what more could you ask for.

At Pruneta, I again checked the map, although I had been through here with Don and Kay a few years ago.  On the way a few team cars with obvious pro riders were spotted, although they were going the opposite direction from me.  On the descent from Pruneta, I saw a couple of pro riders (my assumption) each with guys on motorcycles pacing them.  I think you have to be a pro to have a personal pacer, but who knows.  From Pruneta, you have a really long descent down a ridge at a very gradual grade for around 10 kilometers, then you have a switchbacking, steeper descent for another 10 plus kilometers, before the last 4 kilometers of gradual descent into Pescia.  Just a blast riding down here.  Great road, great views, great choice for my last ride here.  From Pescia, it is a head down crank back home of around 20 k which took me to my local bar for a much appreciated last post ride beer.

The riding has been just great here, and I will have it as an option for clients, and hopefully will return here myself for more riding in the future.  For now, I need a day or two off the bike, as this makes 13 days in a row of riding.  Tough life!

Here is the garmin link for this ride:

Bagni di Lucca, La Lima, Pruneta, Pescia, Lucca. by ridingwithcosimo at Garmin Connect - Details

The stream from the Serchio to La Lima had me thinking about

fly fishing, as this picture shows.  The streams around here are 

the first to make me think about getting a line wet.

Petiglio, on the climb from La Lima to Pruneta.  Che bella!

The church in Pruneta, pretty much at the top of my biggest

climb of the day.  A long ride slightly descending along a ridge

with a great descent to Pescia awaits.

On the descent from Pruneta, Vallero had this great bell tower

with a view of the valley below.  Around 1/2 the descent remaining.

A view of one of the many hill towns above Pescia on the descent 

from Pruneta.

Great short tour with the grandchildren visiting all day.

A short tour today, limit of 1-1/2 hours, as we had the grandchildren all day and I escaped for a little while they watched the first movie of the afternoon.  We really had a super nice day with the nicotini, swam a couple of times in the pool, played some soccer, and generally had a wonderful day.  Viola is really swimming now which is great to see.  Torrio is his super energetic self, although that seems to be calming down, which is welcome.  I had a short window to ride, and felt good enough with the area that I linked a couple of favorites and had an excellent tour.  I started by climbing to Mastiano, then descending to Aquilea then Ponte a Moriano for the first sweet portion of the ride.  Just and excellent, beautiful road and scenery.  I rode up the Ponte a Moriano road, a relatively main road to the turn for the Brancoli villages, then cut off toward Pieve a Brancoli, which gives you a little more climbing before an awesome descent.  I really loved the descent when I did it before, and today was even better.  From the base of the descent, back home on the main roads for an excellent short tour.  The garmin link:

Mastiano, Aquilea, PIeve di Brancoli, Return by ridingwithcosimo at Garmin Connect - Details

Looking back toward the Morianese area from the road just 

past Mastiano.  I love this area so close to where we are staying.

What a beautiful little church on the descent from Pieve di Brancoli.

Super fun ride linking routes and climbing Passo Luchese for the first time.

Just a truly wonderful ride today.  The day I went to Forte dei Marmi, I noticed a group of cyclists coming onto the Cammiore road from a road with a sign saying Passo Luchese.  I checked it out on the map, and wanted to ride it before I left.  Tomorrow we have the grandchildren most of the day, so today was a good day for a slightly longer ride.  The forecast was for 20 to 30% chance of showers, so I saved the long ride I still want to do for Friday.  I am starting to get to know the area pretty well, and was able today to link a number of great roads for a super nice tour.  One of the special things about Tuscany is the number of options which can be linked.  What takes some effort, time, and hopefully knowledge is linking them together to create a truly nice tour.  I believe I did that today.

I started by taking the little climb, which starts just below the house to Arsina, then down to the road to Cammiore.  I stayed on the Cammiore road almost to the top of it's climb then found the road to Passo Luchese.  From the start, it was a great climb.  The road surface was almost perfect, and there was almost no traffic.  At times it was difficult, but the total vertical for the climb was around 450 meters, which is also about perfect.  From the top there is a totally sweet descent that takes you to the road to climb to Pescaglia.  I climbed this last week, and enjoyed the climb again today.  From here is was mostly a repeat, although a second time on a route gives me confidence to go faster and no anxiety about route finding in an area where I am new.  There is much more climbing above Pescaglia than I recalled, although it also is a fine road and climb.  From there, it is mostly a descent to a valley / canyon that descends through Fabbriche di Vallico, then down to the main road from Castelnuovo to Lucca.

With my building knowledge of the area, I was only on the main road for around 4 kilometers, then turned off to take the road on the other side of the Serchio back to Ponte a Moriano.  Around 5 or 10 k from Ponte a Moriano, a couple passed me, basically flying, and my initial thought was simply, wow, go, and I said as much in Italian to them.  But, with a strong burst, I caught them and enjoyed the average of 45 to 50 k for much of the way to Ponte a Moriano, where I turned off to take a very nice detour back home.  Another truly beautiful road, that climbs, but never steeply, for around 80 vertical meters, then descends to take you back to within 1 kilometer of my beer stop, basically less than 1/2 k from home.  A relaxing post ride beer, then up the last hill and home.  Great, fun ride today.  Here is the garmin link:

Arsina, Passo de Lucchese, Pescaglia, Focchia, Fabbriche, home by ridingwithcosimo at Garmin Connect - Details

Gombitelli, on the way up to Passo Luchese.

Passo Lucese, my plan for the day.  A truly great road and fun climb

with just the right amount of vertical.  At times hard, but mostly

just an amazing road with a near perfect surface and almost 

no traffic.  

A pretty church on the hillside looking back from just 

above Pescaglia.

This small church is in a kind of park like setting, with very little

around it, around 10 kilometers above Fabbriche di Vallico.

Short-ish ride relatively close to home - Mastiano, Valdottavio, Fiano, San Martino.

Emily had some friends coming, so we agreed that it would be good if I was home by 12:30.  That was fine, and I had a nice 2 plus hour ride.  I rode out through Mastiano, on this super pretty road that starts quite close to where we are staying.  I had hoped to find a road that the map said would hook me up to the next valley over and Domezzano, which I have ridden through before, but the road was either dirt or did not exist.  I am thinking it must be dirt.  I kept looking for an option, and found a road that climbed to an old church ruin.  I started up this road, but it soon became obvious that it dead ended at the church, and with limited time, I turned around and rode down through Aquiela to the road on this side of the Serchio.  I rode the old road there until it ended, and had to hook up with the main "highway" road.  Only around 1 kilometer on the main road, and I turned off for Valdottavio, and climbed the valley to the road that climbed up and over to Fiano.

I had ridden this a couple of times the opposite direction, and it is kind of amazing how different the road seems in a different direction.  While climbing, you look around more, and while descending you have to concentrate on the road and what is coming up next.  Multiple, fun switchbacks on the descent from Fiano.  Back to San Martino in Freddana, then back home as fast as possible on the Cammiore road.  Really nice ride, and I think as close as I will get to a rest day, as I have limited time here.  Ciao.

With guests arriving, a short close in ride - 2 plus hours by ridingwithcosimo at Garmin Connect - Details

Mastiano, around 10 minutes from the house on a super

pretty road.  Lucky to be here.

Just another beautiful, tiny road to ride in Tuscany.  

Rolling down into Fiano, for the first time, there is a nice view of

the church and bell tower.  I have climbed through here a couple

of times before - nice change today.

Pescia, Dieci Castelli, and return. Great day!

Even though I was feeling the need for a day off, the weather is just perfect now, and is predicted to be worse later, so I was out again.  I rode the "Dieci Castelli" route above Pescia today.  Friends who visit often in April always spend at least a week in Pescia and love the riding there.  I spent four days riding with them there 2-1/2 years ago, and enjoyed it and remembered this route in particular.  So, I rode this very scenic and fun route today.  I started by taking a better route to Pescia than the one I returned from Collodi on the other day, which was nice.  Still a busy road, but fine.  I found Pescia and the route easily, remembering the basic route from the past, along with doing some map studying the night before.

The route for the 10 castles is really nice.  The biggest climb is to the first of the towns you really pass very close to, San Quirico.  After that, the roads climb slightly, but never very steep the remainder of the way.  I enjoyed the roads, and it was interesting to see reality versus memory.  I had recalled the roads in places being "tiny", and they were small at times, with two cars having trouble to pass.  But I ride much smaller roads all the time now, so they did not seem so small.  I descended from Lanciole, as I recalled this descent as super fun.  It was long, and quite nice, and I enjoyed it the second time.  Back in Pescia, I looked for the gelateria we had frequented on my last trip there, and alas, it was gone and a bar was in it's place.  Oh well.  I rode back to San Quirico di Moriano, and had an end of the ride beer at Pio's.  Another great day riding here from outside of Lucca.

Here is the garmin link for the ride:

Pescia and Dieci Castelli, return. by ridingwithcosimo at Garmin Connect - Details

Approaching San Quirico, one of the first of the 10 towns 

with Castles.  

Approaching another of the deice castelli, these really small, 

beautiful towns on this riding route.

Pontito, one of the last of the 10 "castle" towns.

Pretty, perched up on the hillside.

Had to have a fountain picture, and this one is unique.  Water

from two different drainages are available on either side of this

fountain, with faces spouting water out of their mouths.

Lanciole, the last of the 10 towns.  What a fun day.

Day 8 exploring - an attempt at Passo Giovo, but the dirt and rocky road turned me around.

Lots of pictures today, so I will keep the description to a minimum.  I studied the maps pretty well, and everything suggested that the road to Passo Giovo then over to the main Abetone road would be a pretty major road and paved reasonably all the way.  It was a beautiful road, but around 15 kilometers up the road the surface got quite rough, but still paved.  Just after the Rifugio, it turned to dirt.  Still planning the pass, the dirt turned quite rocky, and I stopped and checked my map.  It certainly appeared I only had around a kilometer or two to the pass, but after that, another 6 to 8 kilometers over to the road below Abetone.  So, I turned around, but still enjoyed the exploration.  I guess the way you find these things out is by giving them a try.  It is a beautiful area, but now I know why the only riders I saw as I descended asked how far it was to the Rifugio.  All in all, still learning the area.

Attempt at Passo Giovo - rough dirt road stopped me a little short. by ridingwithcosimo at Garmin Connect - Details

Climbing up the valley, the big mountains start to show themselves

in the distance.

I found this beautiful water source that two women appear to have

set up and take care of.  There names are in stone plaques, and there

are flowers planted around the fountain.  

I certainly climbed and climbed, and at this point I could see

the sea in the distance.  What a beautiful, clear day.

Another fountain, perhaps even prettier, another couple hundred

vertical meters above the last one.  The big mountains are close now,

as were my hopes for the pass.

A couple kilometers after the last water fountain, I came to this

Rifugio, where they were open and serving lunch.  I declined, as 

I was still planning on the pass and the loop through Abetone.

Around 200 meters past the Rifugio, the road turned to dirt, then 

quite rocky dirt.  The picture below is of a beautiful little hillside

town around 500 vertical meters below where I got to.  

On the way back, the famous bridge of the devil.  I have no 

idea why it is named this.  It is a popular spot for visitors,

and someone always seems to be walking on the old bridge.

A very nice little detour on the way back toward Mastiano, brings

one up a little climb of around 100 meters, with this beautiful 

church above on the hill.  Che bella!

To the beach and back with lots of exploration - day 7 in Lucca.

Today was my 7th day riding from San Quirico di Moriano, and it was still easy to find new roads and routes.  I decided that with a stormy weather forecast for the late afternoon, which actually came to pass, I would ride to the beach and back and sort of minimize the climbing for the day.  However, I started from the house with the hill to Arsina, which I tried the other day and is a good way to connect to the road to Cammiore, but it does add 150 vertical meters, so I guess I did want to climb.  I took the main road to Cammiore, which is really quite a nice ride, with a little pass before Cammiore, which was fun.  I also saw a road to a Passo Luchesse, which I checked on the map, and will do another day.  From Cammiore, it was straight main roads to the beach road at Lido di Cammiore.  Still fine riding, but with a destination in mind.  On the road parallel to the beach, there was an incredible amount of traffic, and at lights or any stop, there were 50 to 100 cars backed up.  Luckily on a bike you can get around almost all of this.  I kept with it to the Bagno Giovanni, where we spent so much time in July with Kate and the kids.  I wanted to take a picture of the bike at the gate for the kids, and made this the turn around point on my ride.

I rode up to Pietra Santa, then found the road that goes through Massarosa back to Lucca.  However, I had scouted a turn off before Massarosa that took me up into the hills between the two roads, and enjoyed the ride up, then down a sweet road to the Cammiore road.  I had checked the map many times, and there were a few roads that took me back toward the Massarosa road, and I turned off on the first one, again enjoying a climb and a really nice descent on a road with multiple, linked switchbacks, which was fun.  Before I was back to the road, I turned off to go toward Pieve San Stefano, where I had ridden a few days ago.  I enjoyed the climb, then turned off before the top and ended up on a road that took me almost to the bridge to Lucca.  From there, it was back to my beer stop on familiar roads, a nice relaxing beer, then home.  I am loving all the riding available here.  I think tomorrow back to Abetone on a different road.  We shall see.

Cammaiore, Forte dei Marmi, Pietra Santa, return with exploration by ridingwithcosimo at Garmin Connect - Details

Although the picture didn't really capture it, there was an amazing

amount of traffic on the road from Lido di Cammiore to Forte dei Marmi.

Very different than when we were spending 3 days a week there in

July, when I already thought it was getting crowded.

The gate at Bagno Giovanni, where Kate, Nicco, and Kids spend their

beach time in July, and Emily and I join a few days a week was my

destination point on the ride today.  Time to get away from the 

coast road and the accompanying traffic.

Back climbing in the hills on tiny roads, just what I like.  I did 

a couple of detours that basically took me over and back, then over again 

a particular hills that separates two main roads that were my basic 

route today.  Fun exploration.