Private family tour for FBB - great day!

I had a private tour for Florence by Bike today.  Very nice couple and daughter from Sun Valley Idaho.  I had a number of things in common with Tom, the dad.  He skied a lot, but almost exclusively in the backcountry.  We had been to a number of the same backcountry huts in Canada.  Sun Valley is at the end of a road, like Crested Butte.  There is almost always a headwind on the return from a road ride.  His children are 3 years apart with an older daughter, who was with us, and a younger son, who stayed at home.  He did a lot of mountain biking in the summer.  I think the list could go on, but it was interesting.  We met at the shop, got everyone set up on "race" bikes, and were off.  They expressed an interest in seeing Chianti, so we went south.  With the two options of climbing to Impruneta, they choose my favorite, the way through Vacciano.

Our only real problem all day was at Piazzale Michaelangelo where Lisa's cleat on her shoe was so loose she could not disengage the pedal.  I had her take off the shoe, and Tom and I played around with everything for 1/2 hour or so, before the shoe was loose and the cleat off the shoe and disengaged with the pedal.  At this point, it was simply replacing the cleat on the shoe, although in a different location, as the screw hole was stripped, then tightening both cleats to the shoes.  We were on the road quickly after that, and they were all strong riders, good athletes, and fun to take for a tour.

Nice break in Impruneta, where we saw Don and Kay on their way to Radda and Poggibonsi today.  Cafe, OJ, pastries, panini, and we were back on the road.  We decided on a longer tour at this point, so we went down toward Falciani, then up past Luiano to the road by Mercatale.  Minds were changed by now, and instead of heading to Montefiridolfi, we went over to San Casciano.  Good gelato there, then a nice mellow pace back to the shop.  I did take Tom down the road to Scandicci at speed, as he was pretty much with me all day and both of us would wait for Lisa and Madalyn.  Again, very nice family and a fun group to take on a tour.  Thanks for "Riding with Cosimo".  59.9 kilometers in 3:32 with 824 meters of climbing.  Ciao!

Tom, almost at the picture spot, close to our last real break.

Here they come on the road to San Casciano.

Lisa and Madalyn on the way to San Casciano.