We were not upset to leave Montervarchi although disappointed that our last day riding seems to have arrived ever so quickly. We were approaching 2100-2200 km in how far we had ridden but we were not tired. The only thing we were fed up with were the awful pillows the Italians prefer. They are anorexically thin and hard as concrete.

The day was cool again being around 4 degrees Celsius when we left. The skies were overcast but rain had not been forecast. The first few kilometres involved weaving our way out of the city in the busy early morning traffic. By now, we were getting used to the drivers consistently crazy driving.

Today there were a series of hills to climb including a couple of steeper and longer climbs, all made slower by our luggage we were carrying.

Firstly we crossed over the Fiume Arno ( river) that flows into Venice. A much dirtier river than the ones we had seen earlier in our trip such as the Rhine and the myriad of canals.

We skirted around Terranuova Bracciolini and Pernina.

Along the hilly ride parallel with Foreste Casentinesi, Monte Falterona we passed through a multitude of villages. This one had a nice church.

We stopped at a cafe just around the corner featuring statues.

It started raining so the jackets came back on. The temperature was now a balmy 7 degrees Celsius. The following are some of the scenes.

We plodded on through Pian Di Sco, Vaggio, Borgo A Cascia, Reggello and Poggio Giubbiano – all such mouthfuls, before descending back down to Fiume Arno and outer Florence where the car drivers are even crazier, if that is at all possible.

Back in Florence it was time to clean and pack the bikes ready to head home. We again stored them in a commercial garage around 500m from our hotel. We had the same room, with the same incredible view of the Duomo.

So now it is time to reflect and prepared to head home and set new goals to kick.