Abbreviated ride and late lunch with Kate.

I enjoyed some flexibility today.  Around 20 minutes after I got started, Kate called and asked me to lunch, as she had some special "nudi" which is the filling for something like ravioli without the pasta. These nudi were spiced with white truffles, and Kate described them as eating tasty clouds.  Loved the pranzo and the description.  So, I obviously said I would come to lunch and took around 1/3 of the planned route out of my ride today.  The weather was nice, cool, and breezy, but finally not what I would call windy.  A couple of times the breeze was quite noticeable, but it was not constant enough or strong enough to be discouraging.  Really nice to not have to fight the wind.  It is rarely windy here, but 4 days in a row with pretty strong winds had me on the ropes.

Basically, I cut out Pistoiese to Seano, then the climb to Carmignano, descending to Signa, and went directly from the end of the Cascine, where I received the call, to Signa.  I enjoyed a nice light tailwind up Grilliao, then climbed / descended through Marliano to Vigliano.  A really nice climb to Santa Maria a Marcialla is next on simply a beautiful road.  Excellent descent to Scandicci on around 1/2 new pavement brings you back to the city, where I rode to Kate's for the aforementioned nudi.  So nice to finish a ride without the grating fatigue of the wind!  48.8 kilometers in 2:10 averaging 22.5 kph with 514 meters climbed.

View to the south on the way toward Roveta.

I liked the view of the church through the trees.  Definitely,

better in person.

Pretty villa on the hill through the winter vineyards.