Happy Birthday Mr. Tim! What a way to celebrate- cycling to Florence in the sun! Check us out before we left today. I seemed more interested in the route than posing- unlike someone I know. It’s a short and sweet blog today- I hope you enjoy it!

The ride started off with a tasty downhill. For once, Tim reaped the benefits of somebody else’s hill climb. Check out the photos of the valley below- awesome!

Once we reached the bottom of the hill we found ourselves on a busier road. The state of the tarmac was woeful so we had to be on our mettle. The sun was blazing now so it was perfect conditions for cycling. Check out the photos of the road below.

We started to climb uphill but it wasn’t too steep. My legs and hip were feeling tired from yesterday’s ride so I wasn’t bombing along. As we approached Florence, the map pointed us in the direction of small road that led to our campsite. This road, over a small hill, turned out to be a brilliant short cut. The road was narrow and deserted. We cycled slowly, taking in the views between the olive trees of Florence in the distance. This was one of my favourite roads- it really felt like we were in Italy. The fields of crops on the hills were in pristine conditions- unfortunately my camera doesn’t do them justice (see below).

We made it to the campsite after 1hr 30mins (see data below). There were a few sneaky hills in the campsite so we were kept on our toes until the very end. We’ll be heading to Florence this evening to celebrate Tim’s birthday. Nothing to wild though- a bit of pizza and an early night!