March 2 :: Florence-Rome, Italy

March 2 :: Florence-Rome, Italy :: 32km / 406km total

The final 32km down into Florence was a piece of cake, and we arrived at our hotel too early in the day to check in. After an hour of bike disassembly the bikes were in the boxes, ready for the flights home. Our bike journey in Tuscany was over. After final pics, we went up to the hotel and began various preparationson usage of the 2 bonus days that good weather and strong legs have earned us! Graham and Liz went to Rome for 2 days... a blitz of all the famous sites, and a great time. Dad went home a day early. Nancy, Tim, and Kenton further explored Florence. All, now ready to come home.

March 1 :: Greve in Chianti, Italy

March 1 :: Greve in Chianti, Italy :: 28km / 374km total

A short, easy Saturday ride today into Greve... we were unable to book into our Florence hotel (where our bike boxes are), so cut our final 60km day into two short days. Even with a big 3.5km climb our average rolling speed was over 18km/h, and our group knocked away the distance like it was nothing. Quite a different group of pedallers than 9 days ago! Arriving in Greve we found ourselves amidst a busy market, making for some afternoon entertainment.

We had our final group dinner and recounted the various adventures of the previous 9 days. I pulled out some cycling awards for the group, given as follows:

Yellow jersey (yellow comb): for the strongest rider, in Tour de France tradition: Kenton
Pink jersey (pink comb): Giro d'Italia champion, being that we are in Italy: Tim
Most aggressive rider/best descender (notebook for taking names of people passed): Dad
Lantern Rouge (red comb): rider most often at the back of the pack: Graham
White jersey (sparkle pen): best rookie: Nancy
Bonhomie de Tour (sheep pen): best attitude and optimism: Liz
King of the Mountain (chocolate goodies): best climber: everyone, for conquering the tough hills of Tuscany!

A great dinner, and preparations for the final, easy 32km downhill tomorrow morning into Florence. Liz and I will probably be in Rome tomorrow night, and the blog will continue from there.