Riding with Cosimo, custom cycling tours in Tuscany: A rainy ride and a sunny day trip to Rome.

Nice ride today after a field trip with Emily's art history class to Rome yesterday. The weather was not ideal, but with my goal of 20,000 km, I have to ride in some bad weather. Actually, it has not rained in Florence today, but when I left it was wet and threatening. Mostly the weather was simply cloudy and humid, but I did pass through 3 real live downpours, and 4 areas of dense fog. Kind of fun having it change all the time. It was nice that it did not really settle in and just rain, for I probably would have returned earlier. Enjoyed my route to the North and East today. Nice cafe and really excellent strudel in Rufina, and great water from the spring on the way to Diacetto. 73.8 km in 3:45 for an average speed of 20.2 kph with 1330 meters of climbing. 18,291 km for the year leaving 1709 for my 20k goal.

Cloudy, rainy, foggy day, but a nice ride anyway. This is

approaching Olmo.

Here are some photos of a great day yesterday with Emily and her art history class on a field trip to Rome. This is an extra for the class, and I really enjoying joining these trips. Elaine, the leader / teacher, is really great and does an excellent job of organizing the whole day with lots of interesting and fun things to see and a great lunch in the middle of the day. Fast train to and from Rome make it a very reasonable day trip. We emphasized Baroque, which I would not have said was my favorite era, but she made it come alive and showed me many things I really liked. We managed to find time for a stop at the Pantheon, which is just the best for me. I really just get chocked up when I go into the building and experience perhaps the best piece of Architectural perfection ever. Wow!!! Thanks Emily for inviting me and thanks Elaine for such a wonderful day. Here are some photos of my highlights.

I liked this little dragon / griffon on a church were we first stopped.