I was awake before my alarm went off. So I got up, got everything packed and went to breakfast. We were joined on the terrace by a group of sixth-graders who were on a field trip to Florence from a school in Brussels. Their teachers told us that were were multiple nationalities and that some of them were assigned specific Renaissance subject to teach the other kids in their group. Tell Timmy.
I started riding around 9:00. I was riding solo because I was doing the extended ride and I was warned that some of the East Coast riders were hammerheads. I didn’t want to compete with them especially since the route was very hilly.
I immediately got lost within the first 2 kilometers. My trusty GPS put me on an alternate route and soon I was back to the correct route. There was lots of traffic as I was leaving Florence. After several kilometers, I was on country roads enjoying the Tuscan countryside – lots of vineyards and olive trees. The weather was warm enough to ride without arm and leg warmers.
The terrain during the early portion of the ride was long, gentle rollers – no steep grades. I stopped at 30 K for cappuccino, a croissant and a banana for energy. It’s a good thing I did because the gentle rollers became steep walls. I made another wrong turn (I must not have been paying attention to my GPS) and became lost. Because I was on the wrong road, the GPS was routing me in strange directions. I finally decided to ignore it and follow the road signs to the next large town on the route. I had to retrace my route for about 5 K and do some extra climbing, but I got back to the real route and began using my queue sheet and the GPS together.
The weather was getting hot and the climbs were getting steeper and longer. I was getting hungry but I couldn’t find a bar that was open. So I broke into my stash of Mars Bars and ate one to get me through the next 20 K.
At one point, I stopped at a turn to make sure that I was going in the right direction and an Italian cyclist on a mountain bike went past me. He was going to one of the towns up ahead and made sure I was going there, too. Later I told him that I was going on to Castellina and he showed me the correct turn to get there. I was getting hungry again so I stopped for another Mars Bar. Fortunately, I had a long descent to rest. Then it was a long, medium 
difficulty climb into Castellina. At about 3 K from Castellina, I spotted a bar/restaurant and stopped for a pinnino and a cold peach tea. I also drank a pint of water.
This rest stop made the rest of the ride easier. I pulled into the hotel at 3:25, made a beeline to my room, took a shower, washed my riding clothes, turned on the Giro d’Italia and started this blog. I am in the carriage house with many of the couples in our group. My room is large and furnished with antique furniture. I have a good view if I stretch out the window. I’m about to go to the main house to see what
it looks like.
Happy Hour was outside my room, which was very handy. Tom gave a route wrap for tomorrow’s ride. The route is a lot easier than today’s ride.
We had four seating times for dinner. I teamed up with James and Betteanne Barash, Paul and Denise Eckstein and John Datsko. I had fettuccine al ragu chiatigiano con fili di pecorino and arrista di maiale alla salvia e rosemarino with confettura di cipolle e potate arrosto – noodles with wild boar and pecorino sauce and roasted pork with potatoes. They were very good.
We had a lively dinner conversation and broke up at 8:30 after John’s leg began to cramp.
It’s now 9:15 and I’m going to read for awhile and then go to sleep early.
Daily Statistics
| Miles | Max | Average | Riding Time | Elevation Gain | Weather |
| 52 | 36.4 | 10 | 5:12 | 6350 | Sunny, 60’s to high 80’s |
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