Solo ride wandering the Chianti hills.

A fun, but very late night last night.  We had a wonderful dinner with some friends here at their apartment.  All expats, but the hosts have been here for 25 years, so definite veterans.  We have known them peripherally for a bit, but are now starting to get to know them better.  Definitely nice, interesting, smart people and fun to be around.  I found out the male half of the couple, Jim, played football for Stanford with Jim Plunkett, which is cool.  He was a free safety, but looked too small to play the position to me, but perhaps that is due to my perspective of watching pro football now.  Mac, the male half of another couple at the dinner played basketball for SMU in the 60's, so I was surrounded by two guys who both were great athletes.  Because I am more active now, it was interesting that they both basically deferred to me athletically.  I have never even been close to competing at the level they both did however.  Anyway, I did not get to sleep until after 1:30, which is quite late for me, so I had no thoughts of getting up to do the team ride this morning.

It was cold this morning, around 28, so I had a big breakfast, and took my time getting ready, leaving around 11, and the temps had warmed up to around 40.  Still cold, but with the sun, it actually felt good.  Also, my ride in Chianti involved lots of ups and downs none of which were really long, so that worked for keeping my body temp pretty warm.  Also, I am getting better at dressing right for these temperatures.  Yesterday, I started out with way too much clothing, so today I took it a little lighter.  Basically a great ride in parts of Chianti that I really love.  Nice stop in San Polo for a cafe and sfolia con crema, which was my fuel for the ride.  Mostly sunny and a great ride.  51.2 km in 2:13 for an average of 23.0 kph with 775 meters climbed.  Forecast is for a week of sun with gradually warming temperatures with a high of around 60 by Thursday.  We shall see, but it would certainly make me happy.  Ciao a tutti!

The road to San Polo from Strada, a very gentle climb that I love.

I had a little break on the way up today and took this picture.

Usually, I am pushing the pace up here and almost never stop for a picture.

The stream on the way to San Polo from Strada was beautiful,

and definitely rolling.  Sometimes in summer it is little more than

a trickle.  Beautiful today.

Winter vines looking toward Grassina.

A shot of the vineyards between Capanuccia and Antella on a winter's day.

Team of 2 ride in the wind to the west, then a nice route to return.

Today, on a team ride, I put in the longest ride for me in a couple of weeks.  Between a great visit from our Son, and quite a bit of weather that was uncooperative at best, I just have not put in the kilometers.  It was pretty cold to start, around 40 F, and there were three of us at the meeting point.  I was thinking it might have been just me, as that is a little cold for road cycling.  I had close to my warmest cycling outfit on, trying a "puff ball" vest over two layers with a gore tex shell over that.  The three of us were all pretty strong riders, and we headed out to Montelupo quite fast.  We were averaging around 40 kph on this part of the ride, and eventually dropped Andrea.  We waited, and I removed the puff ball vest, as I was overheating.  I guess it is all about effort.  In Montelupo, Andrea decided to return, as part of the reason we were going so fast was a strong tail wind.  It always amazes me how you just don't notice a tail wind, you just feel strong and fast.

Davide and I continued after Montelupo toward Ceretto Guidi, but at the turn to Vitolini, we discussed a change of plan.  We had changed direction enough to understand the wind was strong, and constant going down the Arno river valley.  If we had done the planned ride, we would have to fight a strong head wind 40 plus kilometers back up the river valley to Firenze.  We decided to climb to Pinone through Vitolini.  Good decision, although for around 2/3 of the climb, we were fighting 30 to 50 kph headwinds.  On a climb, when you are going slow, it seems less bad than on the flat where it just beats you up.  A nice break in Pinone, with Davide buying cafe, as promised when he suggested the alternate route.

From Pinone, down to Carmignano, then down to Seano, a new descent for me.  I have climbed this stretch many times, but before today, had not descended there.  We were expecting to battle the headwind back into Firenze and did a little, but magically it sort of went away.  There are a number of settlements you ride through, which block the wind, and it certainly lessened in strength.  Anyway, we split the leading duties on the way back and split as we approached the Centro to go to our respective homes.  Great ride, Davide.  80.1 km in 3:03 for an average of 26.2 kph with 688 meters of climbing.  Good to get out for a longer ride.  The weather is forecast to be sunny, but a little cold, with a warming trend this week, so more long rides are also in my forecast.  Ciao.

Another quick ride wandering to the north between storms.

Nicola had sent me a message to see if we could ride together either Wednesday or Thursday afternoon.  Checking the weather, it seemed like Wednesday would be better, and as I write this Thursday morning, while it is pretty much dark and pouring rain, it seems we made the right decision.  Still, as we started, it was sprinkling rain, but pretty much stopped for almost all the ride.  I kept us close going up and down a couple of times, of course on different routes to the church above Cercina.  If the rain had returned in earnest, we had the option to bail, and if we had done a different type of loop, we would have been committed.  We both had fun.  Nicola is fun to take out, as she is strong, and always seems to like, enthusiastically, the small out of the way roads I take her on.  We had a fun ride, and we  both needed to be back in a couple of hours, which was good, as the rain started up again less than 5 minutes before we returned.  A good ride, 37.2 kilometers in 2:00 for an average of 18.5 kph (slow, again) with 828 meters climbed.

Before meeting Nicola, I had an extra hour plus, so I started on the process of working on the Eroica bike.  It was fun, but this is going to take some time and loving effort.  I was quite impressed that everything worked when I checked the bike out, than I started with the process of taking some parts off, one at a time, and trying to remove the rust and shine up the chrome.  I started with light steel wool, but soon used google to find out other methods.  I saw a video of a person recommending using aluminum foil, which actually works quite well.  It will take time, probably lots of it, but I think I can make it look pretty awesome.  We shall see.  I will post some pictures as the process goes along.  I checked the sign up process for the race, and I cannot sign up until Monday the 9th of February.  There are travel packages with hotel, etc. that you can get earlier, but I do not want to go to that expense.  Hopefully I will get in, but the restoration will be fun either way.  Ciao.

I often seem to take a picture of this bell tower and church at the top of the 

climb above Cercina.  I guess it just speaks to me architecturally.  This picture

actually makes one believe that it was a nice day, but alas, other than this moment

it was quite cloudy, with sprinkles when we started, and rain starting when 

we returned.

Nicola getting ready for our first descent from the area by the church.

Piazza de Duomo and Vincigliata / Fiesole.

Emily and I were up early and accompanied Ben in the taxi to the airport and waited while he checked in to send him off with tearful hugs as he went to security.  It was really wonderful having him here for almost 2 weeks, but in many ways, it was exhausting for me.  I am very used to riding a lot, and am probably relatively addicted to it, so with a fraction of my normal riding time, it was at times a struggle to maintain my normal attitude.  Also, we enjoyed many meals out, eating lots and lots of excellent food, a fair amount of wine, and that catches up with me these days.  So, after we saw him off and returned home, the weather was cold with showers, so Emily and I went into the center to use the remainder of the 24 hour ticket that they had bought yesterday to climb to the top of the Duomo cupola.  We were able to see Santa Reparata and the Baptistery, as you can see below.  I also was able to replace my bedside clock that Vittorio had sort of destroyed while visiting 4 or 5 days ago.

It has been getting kind of cold, and I was pretty chilled after my last ride.  Today, I decided on a shorter ride and kept to roads that were a little lower down, but was still able to get in quite a bit of climbing while staying close to home.  I also suited up in my warmest clothes, and if anything, I was a little overheated.  I enjoyed the ride up to San Domenico, over through Maiano to the Vincigliata climb, then down to Florence through Fiesole.  21.2 kilometers in 1:10 to average a slow 18.2 kph with 514 meters of climbing.  Good to be back on the bike.

The amazing mosaic on the ceiling of the Baptistery here in Florence.  Stories encircle the ceiling and the baptistery font is directly below the center.  It is covered now, but you can easily imagine it when it was filled with water for the baptisms.  We also visited the excavated remains of Santa Reparata under the Duomo.  I don't think I have been there in over 10 years, and it is fantastic now.  Lots of didactics, models, videos, etc. to explain where Santa Reparata was, the Roman building that preceded it, and when and how it was demolished as the current structure of the Duomo was built. Really interesting and just a great job of presentation.

Sunday, very chilly ride up Montesenrio.

The weather eased up yesterday, and Emily, Ben, and I spent the morning walking through the Cascine, the biggest park by far in Florence.  I think it is around 4 kilometers long and around 600 meters wide.  After we returned, I got ready to ride, but with the time what it was, I changed my route and decided to climb Montesenario.  It was chilly, but in the sun, it felt pretty warm and good.  The chill was quite nice for the climb, but as I approached the summit, the temperatures had dropped significantly.  I had decided to wear my middle weight gloves, and would have been much better off wearing the warmest ones.  To say the least, it was a little cold on the way down.  Still fun to get out, and I always feel good when I am done.  A huge dinner at Kate and Nicco's and time with the kids completed a very nice day.

Friday we had a nice day in Lucca, and I got a wonderful gift of a 1974 

bianchi racing bike from Kate and her employer Massimo.  Massimo 

has owned this since it was new, and thinks he has the "racing" bars 

and toe clip / straps that came with it.  I was super surprised that everything 

was functional.  After I got it home, the tires are even holding 100 psi.

Now, I need to be lucky in the lottery to get a spot in the Eroica.

The first real snow I have seen this year on the steps to the church at

Montesenario.  Snow started appearing on the side of the road about 

400 vertical meters above Florence.  Montesenario is around 850

vertical meters above town.

Looking north at Montesenario.  More people up there than I have

ever seen before.  A fair amount of snow on the north facing side.

Trip to Lucca and a nice Saturday late morning ride.

I had enough time today for a real ride, and was out a little over 2 hours, which is my longest ride in a week.  I am used to much more riding, but it is really nice having our son, Ben, visit, and it is worth not being on the bike so much to spend time with him.  I have really gotten used to a fair amount of time in the saddle though, and I do miss it.  Looking at the weather from the apartment, I changed my route choice as my planned direction looked rainy.  The forecast is for more rain this afternoon anyway.  I ended up going out through Ponte a Ema, up Via Carota, through San Donato in Collina, Cellai, Bombone, Rosano, Sieci then home.  I really like this ride and it was nice today.   The ride was 54.1 kilometers in 2:20 for an average of 23.1 kph with 705 meters of climbing.  It seems that it will take me a little time to get back in form with even a couple of weeks of little riding at a slow pace.  I needed to back off, though, so I am believing this will be good for me in the long run.  My first real competitive event is in the middle of April, but after that there are around 4 in 8 weeks.  So, it will be a good time to get it going early next week.

Yesterday, Ben, Emily and I went to Lucca for the day.  This is in front of the Duomo there on a grey and cold day.  We had a very nice time though, and met Kate for lunch.  After lunch, we visited Massimo's house, which was beautiful, and I picked up the bike that Massimo, who is Kate's boss, offered to me and I will use in the Eroica, if I am selected in the lottery.  I have to enter the lottery for a spot soon.  Until a few weeks ago, when the rules changed, I was automatically eligible based on my over 60 age.  They just changed the exemption to over 65, and now I have a bike to use.  It needs a little work, although not too much.  I was totally surprised that everything is working.  I will post another time with pictures, etc. of the Eroica bike, a 1974 Bianchi race bike.  Sweeeeeeeet!

The light struck me as beautiful on the way up Via Carota, so I stopped to take this picture.  

I think it was worth the stop.

 A peak a boo shot through the olive groves to a beautiful villa on the climb up Via Carota.

5 days of activity in one post, with not much involving cycling.

It has been a while, but I am catching up this afternoon.  With Ben visiting, I am simply not riding much, but enjoying the time together as a family.  Sunday, I got a ride in late afternoon, then this morning before the weather really went bad and we all met for lunch, I got another hour ride in.  As I often say, it simply makes me happy to ride.  I forgot to reset the garmin between rides, so the statistics came in together.  So, 2 shorts rides which together equalled 46 kilometers in 2:06 for an average of 21.9 kph with 1086 meters of climbing.  The pictures show some of the other fun going on this week.  

On Sunday, I met Kate and the kids in the wonderful Boboli gardens,

then Emily and Ben joined us after an hour or so.  Kate and I were spotting

and helping Viola and Vittorio climb this tree in particular.  Fun, and

good climbing, kids.

Monday, Emily, Ben, and I went to Rome for the day.  On the train

before 7am, then a private tour guide for the collaseium, the forum,

and Capitoline hill.  It was supposed to be a group tour, but we were 

the only people, so we lucked out.  Great guide, and fun tour.  I love the

Roman antiquities, even if I cannot seem to spell colloseium correctly.

After lunch, we made our way over to the Vatican, and were able 

to get into Saint Peter's as it was getting dark.  Truly amazing scale

to this church, although a little over the top for me.  This picture was

from when we were leaving to make our way back to the train.

Beautiful structure and perfect light.

After a whole day Tuesday meeting and helping students get settled for a 

semester abroad with a local company who sets this up for many American

Universities, on Wednesday, Kate, Ben, and I spent the day having a hiking

adventure outside of Santa Brigida, where Emily and I lived when we first 

moved here over 3 years ago.  I explored and found a wonderful trail system then,

and although I had only been back a couple times since we moved to the city, I

happily remembered the system well enough to have a great day with Ben and

Kate hiking the area.  The system is centered around "Burraie, which were structures

dug into the ground where people made and stored butter in the early 1900's.

Another fun day and the last, for now, of the beautiful weather.

Kate and Ben at the Santuario Madonna del Sasso.

Kate and Ben in front of my favorite Burraie, the Bacio Burraie.