I started this ride in Florence primarily to spend some time with my friend Anna, the widow of an old friend from Boulder who lives in Florence. I met her just once a few years ago with her husband John and my friends Randy and Jeanne, and wanted to connect again. We spent hours sharing our sides of our shared past, sometimes complex and messy. A great visit.
Anna is a professional musician, and so it was amazing to be lying in my bed and listening to her practice Bach on her harpsichord in the next room in preparation for her next concert. She is an amazing musician.
Did I mention that Lufthansa sucks? My bike did not arrive with me, and Lufthansa showed all manner of incompetence along the way. It didn’t even leave Denver for 3 days!! I noticed from the AirTag that I had on the bike that it was still in Denver when I landed in Frankfurt and yet multiple Lufthansa people told me that the bike was actually in Frankfurt, but only the AirTag allowed me to keep pushing for an real answer. I talked to a half a dozen Lufthansa people and went down multiple false rabbit holes and then Chris talked to three people in the United States, and each one had a different story and none were correct! Lufthansa is a sad example of the current state of German incompetence! My illusion that they are efficient may be gone forever.
After three days, my bike finally did make its way to Florence, and then I had to extract it from the Florence airport. Anna drove me to the Florence airport three times! She is a saint.
The box was quite damaged, and I feared the worst.
But, when I put the bike together at Anna‘s place, it seemed to be OK. I was happy, but surprised. The tires pumped up, the brakes worked and the shifting was smooth.
However, the next morning when I left, it became apparent that there was a big problem I had not noticed. The rear rim was broken in two places. This is not easy to do. It takes great force. I needed a new wheel as soon as possible. My trip was in danger. It was dangerous to just ride it a short distance. But I found a bike shop that amazingly had the right wheel and configuration for my bike, delaying me only a couple hours from my departure. And it only cost €150 for the wheel, a new brake disc and the labor. A bargain. It looked pretty iffy if I would get what I needed, but somehow they put something together. 
And so I took off, thinking I would ride the first part of Via Degli Dei and stop about 25 miles away.
But the track proved too rocky and steep for me in my current condition and with the weight I was carrying. So I changed route and went on a road to the campground I had planned to go to. A slice of humble pie, but not so bad since it made my day much easier and the road was pretty nice and not much traffic. Maybe I am getting a bit wiser with age.
I arrived at my first camp site of the trip about 3pm, making my first day a short one in terms of time and distance. But really, I am in no hurry and I kept reminding myself of that. Each trip has its own rhythm and for me the important thing is to set off on the right foot and be comfortable with what I am trying to do. Now is not the time to be a hero. I’m almost 70 years old!
I am happy to be started! Tomorrow, I must climb about twice the elevation that I did today, but I will be able to go to bed early and should be able to leave early in the morning to beat the heat.
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