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.

Local team season starts with Raduno San Quirico.

The local team season started today with the year's first raduno.  Raduno's are a semi competitive event, where teams get points based on number of participants and distances ridden.  We ended up with a trophy, but I have no idea where in the standings we were.  It was really fun, and on the way to the first real climb of the day through Luiano, it was great to hang with the lead group and really crank it out through Tavernuzze past Falciani with a group of around 70.  With that many, we really do own the road.  Of course, the first climb breaks up the group, and as I am mostly a climber, I stayed pretty close to the lead, passing around 30 people on the way up.  At the top, at the turn off for Montefiridolfi, we regrouped with the rest of our team members, so being with the lead group was over, but fun while it lasted.  There were 3 from the team in the lead group, which is good for us.

We regrouped again in Montefiridolfi, then again in Tavernelle and Marcialla, where the control point for the long course was.  We were fighting a fair amount of wind again, but to this point is was pretty contained by being in the woods or was mostly a tail wind.  Well, after marcialla, it really started kicking us around.  Either a very strong head or side wind, both were very difficult.  When it was a side wind, trees would give you a great little break, but as soon as you were in the open the gusts would hit you and you literally were moved 4 feet to the side while simply hoping to hang on to the bike.  This being the 4th day in a row with quite strong winds, I am ready to say enough.  Riding home after the pasta party with Luca, we stopped at a traffic light and a gust hit us, again almost knocking you over.  I said, at least I know that there will be no wind in the apartment.

Great course, beautiful views, and for the first time this year, riding with hundreds of people in a wonderful event.  Fun to be a part of it.  While at the nice pasta party at the end, where you also received a bottle of sparkling wine, a couple of guys got a picture sent to their phones from a team member who was doing the granfondo associated with the pro race strada blanche in the Siena area.  A picture of Andrea Volpi with Cancellara looking like pals.  Great picture.  I am ready for a nap (ripostina in Italian as my teammates told me when I said I would go home and sleep), as the wind also seems to really tire me out.  97.0 kilometers in 4:07 to average 23.6 kph with 1408 meters climbed.  Great start to the season!

A couple pictures while waiting to regroup in Montefiridolfi, at 

the decision point for long or short course.  6 of us decided on the

long course, including Agnese, pictured here.  She was to only female

to do the long course.  Bravi Agnese!

Riding by Leonardo da Vinci's birthplace in lots of wind.

When I returned home today, I asked Emily if she could see a print on my bottom, as I certainly felt like the wind kicked my but on the way back today.  I really had a nice ride, but the wind, for the third day in a row, was strong, and around 100 kilometers solo in the wind took it's toll on me.  On the way out, it was a strong side wind, and at times a tail wind, so it was ok.  Much of the way out is sheltered from the North by buildings, which nullified the side wind.  Still, when it came through you had to really hold on to the bike, as the wind just moves you sideways on the bike.  So, no time to relax today.  On the climb up to San Baronto from the north side, I had a definite tail wind, which is always sweet, it makes you feel like a hero.  I had in mind finding a road we rode last summer in a granfondo, above Vinci and over to Vitolini.  It was pretty easy to find, as it goes by the house Leonardo da Vinci was born in, which is well marked.

It is a super beautiful road, and sheltered enough that the wind wasn't too bad.  My time with a tail wind was over now.  I really enjoyed the ride there, then hooked up with the road to Pinone just below Vitolini.  This is a nice climb, and I could tell what the wind was going to do to me on this stretch.  It winds in and out of many, many drainages, so around 1/3 of the climb was into a very strong headwind.  After Pinone, with a couple of exceptions, the wind just beat me up.  By the time I was back to the city, when the road was finally surrounded by buildings, I was pretty beat up.  Still, a very nice ride, and with the exception of the last 1/2 hour or so, I kept a good attitude about the wind. It really keeps the skies clear, the views are awesome, and you can even rationalize it as adding to your workout and challenge.  For me, it wears on me mentally, regardless of the direction.  Tomorrow is our first raduno of the year, and I am really hoping the winds will be much less strong.  That is the forecast, but they were forecast to be less strong today, and if anything they were stronger.  I would guess a steady 20 mph with gusts to 40.  98.2 kilometers in 4:25 rolling time to average 22.2 kph with 1288 meters climbed.

Big views and clear skies, the good part about riding in the wind.

The house where Leonatdo (da Vinci) was born, which I passed by on my ride today.

First FBB tour of 2015

I had a nice tour with a French couple today who are now living in Belgium.  The tour was done for Florence by Bike, and originally it was booked as our standard "Chianti tour".  A couple of things happened to change this from the standard.  First, Monteoriolo where we usually have lunch, etc. at a beautiful villa was not open yet for this, and second, Delphine, the female half of the couple was not at all sure she wanted to go out, let alone for the whole day.  A compromise was arranged before I even knew about it.  Jim really wanted to cycle in the countryside, and Delphine would go along happily if it was for 1/2 day, not the whole day.

So, it ended up more like one of my custom tours than the regular FBB tour.  We did do the normal route out to Piazzale Michaelangelo to start, although today it was interesting as the viale was closed just after crossing the Arno.  My route did not change, but traffic was different than normal.  Great pictures at the Piazzale, then up to Poggio Imperiale then down to Galluzzo for cafe and a break.  By now, Delphine was very happy they were doing this, which was a change from the start.  Basically, 10 minutes into the ride, she was great with the excursion.  We rode up from Galluzzo to the turn off for San Gersole, and discussed the options.  I had checked with Marika to see if it was fine if the bikes came back later in the afternoon, which was fine.  At this point, however, Delphine definitely wanted to return, so we did a loop through San Gersole, Vacciano, and Cinque Vie.  Everyone was totally happy as we returned, and Delphine was particularly happy about the length saying it was just perfect.  Marika and Andrea at the shop were a little surprised at how happy they both were, as Delphine was definitely just going along with everything at the start, and they were assuming a difficult day for me.

All was good, though, and we rode back to the shop through the Centro, which they were both quite happy with.  Definitely a different speed and length than what has become the norm for me after the last of my clients in October.  The people I took out in November and December were cyclists who were experienced and relatively fast.  Good to be back out taking clients around the beautiful countryside here.  It was very windy for the entire tour, which actually has me quite tired on my return.  28,7 kilometers in 2:24 rolling time averaging 11.9 kph with 512 meters climbed.   Great job, Delphine and Jim, and thanks for, "Riding with Cosimo".

Here are a few pictures of Jim and Delphine during our tour today.

The wind was a challenge, but it made for crystal clear skies and

great views.  

Quick ride in the wind close to home to the north.

Rain yesterday, real wind today, this morning pretty serious, so a good time to play catch up.  Yesterday I wrote and priced 3 tour examples for a person who manages 4 villas in the area.  Today, I finally finished the route revisions for Dominick's self guided tours, which was at least twice as hard as I expected.  It is all good for me, though.  After finishing the revision work, I wanted to get out and the wind had died down to a reasonable 20 mph or so.  Earlier today, I read some online information that it was blowing a pretty steady 40 mph and gusting to 60, not a good time to be out on the bike.  I really enjoyed my short tour today, though, as being in the woods and on walled roads kept the wind at bay around 60% of the time.  A standard short ride for me, up through Le Cure then a back way to San Domenico, up and over through Maiano, then the Vincigliata climb.  Sweet climb, in the woods, and really quite pleasant today.  Down through Fiesole, as the Pian de Mugnone road was closed to clean up downed trees from the wind.  Great to be able to get out!  20.3 kilometers in 1:06 averaging 18.4 kph with 531 meters climbed.

Some of the wind carnage.  It was pretty well cleaned up even on 

this backroad above Vincigliata.  Big root ball and trunk on the left

just outside of the picture.  

One of the few calm moments on the ride, above on the

way from Vincigliata to Fiesole.

A busy day with a short ride in the middle.

Pretty super busy day today.  Up to meet the person who organized the tours for the shop to drive with her on a new standard tour.  A beautiful villa / palazzo just outside of San Casciano that offers wine tastings, tours, and a light lunch.  Sounds perfect for the clients, even if it is a little harder getting there.  Add a principe still living in the palazzo and you have what we think is the American tourists dream.  I really like the tour we have done in the past, and the person at Monteoriolo is simply wonderful as a hostess and cook.  But, Marika, the person at the shop, believes that they loose 2/3 of the possible clients by not having a "wine tasting".  I assume she is right, and the new location is very nice, but the people who have gone on the tours in the past have loved Eleonora at Monteoriolo.

A couple of hours at home, then off to a meeting with a commercialista, to review what we need to do to become official residents here.  It appears to us both that it is working well enough here that we will stay for a while, so, we need to get more official.  The joys of more Italian bureaucracy await us.  We will have to pay taxes, but nothing seems onerous.  And after we get all this done we can become part of the public health system, which was recently rated #2 in the world.  The money saved on being part of the health system will probably offset all the taxes paid, but we shall see.

In between meetings, I snuck out for a wonderful ride to the north close to town and the apartment.  It is one of my standard short rides, but I love it.  Today was simply the best weather of the year, and I would guess the high was around 65F.  The prediction for tomorrow is a high of 45 with a fair amount of rain, so I am glad I got out.  23.7 kilometers in 1:07 to average 21.1 kph with 489 meters of climbing.   Oh, and the Banff film festival movie is here tonight, so I will feel a little like my old Crested Butte self when we go tonight.  Ciao a tutti!

A view back toward the Arno valley from the road to Cercina.

Easily the warmest day of the year, but 20F coolie and rain predicted tomorrow.

I am so lucky to have such a beautiful road and place to ride less

than one hour from the apartment.  Just another beautiful cycling road

here in Tuscany, on a quick one hour ride.

3-1/2 hour recovery ride? Nice tour in a cloudy Chianti.

I probably should have done a recovery ride today, but tomorrow it is supposed to be rainy, and I have 3 to 5 hours of office work to get done.  So, I found the energy for a very nice 3-1/2 hour ride today.  I had not done this particular ride in 4 months or so, and it is one of my favorite routes.  I did take it pretty easy on the pace today, as in the past I have been able to do this ride in 3 hours 5 minutes at my fastest.  It was kind of nice to purposely not push the pace and felt good.  When I did push it up a hill, my legs definitely felt yesterday's effort.  Still great to get out, and good timing as well, as it started spitting rain within 20 minutes of my return.  An excellent cafe normale (read espresso) in Strada.  I found this bar with Art and Richard last fall, and had not been back.  The bar at Dudda was super crowded, which would have been my normal stop on this ride.  But the bar in Strada is nice, the cafe was great and I had a bombolone ciocciolata which was also nice and needed for some energy to finish up the day.  74.7 kilometers in 3:25 to average 21/8 kph with 1075 meters climbed.  I don't know if this can count as recovery, but I will call it that.  Ciao a tutti!

My first time stopping here to take a photo of this beautiful 

property.  I think the buildings are beautiful and the wonderful

color of the stone simply works for me.

Such a beautiful road on the climb to La Panca.

The view back to the East approaching La Panca.

La Panca ahead.  It is pretty much downhill from here home.