I had a very nice team tour this morning, riding to the sea in Viareggio. I had done team rides to Cecina, at the sea a couple of times, but had never ridden this route before. This is a very nice route and significantly easier than the Cecina route through Volterra. Basically, we worked our way on relatively flat terrain down the Arno river valley / basin to the sea. A couple of good climbs in there, so it kept us on our toes. A couple of nice stops for cafe / pastries / panini. One after Ceretto Guidi and the other after Lucca. Both were needed by all. Pretty nice weather, but a little cool. Still, I removed layers after the first cafe stop. We had a nice and good sized group of 9 for the whole ride, which is more than the usual for the seaside tours. I think I am the only one of the 9 who has been with the team for more than 2 years, so things definitely change with time. It is always fun to do an event like this with a group, and Italians seem to be just super friendly and happy to be riding, even when the ride whips them. So, a great, fun ride for me. 117.8 kilometers in 4:24 to average 26.7 kph with 634 meters climbed.
Pasquetta (little Easter) dinner tonight at Kate and Nicco's, so the busyness and celebration continues. Pasquetta is a big holiday here, although I certainly had never heard of it in the US. I am not religious, though, so that may have something to do with it. Super early client ride tomorrow morning then guests arrive on Wednesday. Ciao a tutti!
Our first cafe / bar stop after Ceretto Guidi.
Almost everyone got in this view at the top of the last climb
between Lucca and Viareggio.
The gang from the team (except me, taking the photo) at the beach in Viareggio.
A beautiful beach view at the end (almost) of the days ride
in Viareggio. Nice but cool early April day.
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