Riding with Cosimo, custom cycling tours in Tuscany: Meet and greet to Impruneta, the Testelepre solo.

I am deciding that I like the meet and greet service I am doing for Dominick. It doesn't pay much, but nothing does here, and after a few hours with the clients, I am in a nice position to construct a good tour in the Chianti area. It is also rewarding to take a nice couple, like Kim and Karl today to Impruneta, calm any anxiety they have about a self guided tour in a foreign country, and send them off happy, wishing them well. It was cloudy and started raining by the time I left the apartment, but the forecast was for improving weather, and it happened. We left the shop by 9:40, and the rain had stopped. By the time we were at Piazzale Michaelangelo for the first photo stop, it was sunny. Nice. We continued up the main way to Impruneta, stopping for a cafe and review of the maps and route possibilities. A nice couple from Northern Virginia, she was a little nervous, and he was confident and fine. Between the two of them, I am sure they will be fine. I told them which signs to follow, and they picked the medium difficulty route, which is quite pretty and really easier to follow.

I took of the same way, but immediately dropped them, wanting to get a good tour in and return home. I climbed up through Chiocchio to Spedaluzze, then descended to the Greve valley. I climbed through Greve to Panzano, then went a little past Panzano to the Testelepre road. I only ride this 5 or 6 times a year, so I was looking forward to it. It is an up and down road along the ridge to the southwest of Greve, at times quite steep both climbing and descending. Great views, a challenge, and a nice ride today. I cruised into Mercatale, then rode over through San Casciano and descended to the road to Tavernuzze in the valley. This is also a little different than normal and fun today. A good crank in from Tavernuzze, and I decided for some reason it would be fun to go through the Centro. The piazzas were quite crowded, but I made it through with little trouble, only needing to dismount once. The typical tourist in the Centro can go any direction at almost any time making the passage through there a challenge. I must have enjoyed it, it was my choice.

Great ride on what turned into a very nice day. Here is the garmin link for all the information about the ride:

Meet and Greet to Impruneta, then Panzano, Testalepre by ridingwithcosimo at Garmin Connect - Details

Although it was raining when we met at the shop to get Karl and Kim set up for their three day

adventure, the rain stopped and it cleared by the time we stopped at Piazzale Michaelangelo.

They loved the city view and explored a little. Nice couple to help start a self guided tour.