failure and glory

and on the seventh day it rained...and rained, and snowed, and hailed, and there was thunder and lightening. and did i mention it rained? after 6 days of flawless weather, the passo stelvia proved to be the lightening rod. literally. 70k to the start and then the prospect of 6000 ft. of climbing in weather that was as bad as i have ever seen. couldn't see through glasses, was dropping temperature, and we were still in the valley. the passo stelvia loomed high overhead and the portland boys bailed. ugh. yeah. we jumped in the van for a ride to the top. as did about half the group. the half that didn't looked misearable every mile. reassuring us that our choice was right. at the top, they were frostbite, shaking, ghosts. we were at least dry, although the temp at the top was 1 degree celcius. felt misearable the rest of the day. not for the cold, but for stopping. hard to swallow. right choice at the time but you always wonder...
today we had revenge. after our firs night in a new town, bormio, we rode about 40k downhill to matzo and the start of the motorolo. the motorolo is ranked the third hardest climb in europe although doing it fresh was not as bad as we thought. 12k to the top. the middle 6k average over 14%, yeah that's steep. the first and last 3k average over 10% and that seems flat compared to the middle which reaches 18-20% too many times. weather was great again today, really amazing that we had one day of rain! racing to the top, gilden showed his dominance on climbs over 10%. it is no question that that man can climb some steep shit. anything under 10% and i kill him. anything over, he kills me. period. based on the fact that we have climbed so much stuff over 10% this trip...gilden gets the portland polka dot jersey! i had a hard time writing that, but he earned it. tom, i must say, was amazing. ths guy has only been riding a year and conqueered the best the dolomites had to offer. really amazing, and i couldn't be prouder as a coach and as a friend.
as for this trip. not much to say. the best riding in the world. easy. the best staff in the world. easy. the best friends in the world. easy. wish i could share this with everyone reading this, we have already started planning our next trip...2010!
tomorrow to milan and the final time trial and maybe one more blog before i have to come home. get to come home? come home. period.
ciao!

Ah Bolzano!

bon jorno (that is misspelled beyond belief, sorry)
we are in bolzano again today, nestled in a warm valley between the dolomites and the alps. weather, muggy and high 80's. ride, easy 50k through the valley. a small road running between pear orchards about 4 bikes wide (or one bike and one big truck). all flat and easy tempo. a great way to recover the legs which surprisingly are feeling like legs again.
we've done a little shopping, eaten well, and allison as expected is visiting the ice-man. one thing about bolzano that was readily apparent - there are more beautiful women per city block than anywhere in the world. both classic italian and german / austrian blonde hair blue eyes, but they're everywhere. if i come back to italy with a date - we'll go to lake garda. if i come back with nathan - we're straight to bolzano!
as we're nestled in this valley, that means there is only one way to get out - so tomorrow is back to business. we'll climb another classic, the passo stelvia and then saturday is the motorolo. another tour stage there and the third hardest climb in europe. great. tomorrow's climb has 10k that average over 12%. i wouldn't think it was possible if we hadn't already done what we've done. still ain't gonna be easy.
rest of today is napping, watch the tour in german or italian, and have some dinner...keeping off the feet as much as possible.
ciao!

san pelligrino

and here i thought it was just a nice mineral water i get down at the QFC...
first, let me apologize in advance as i am on the third different type of keyboard this week. if you have never travelled in europe, each country seems to have a different idea about how these things should be arranged. it took me four minutes to find the '@' (that time it only took me three...) and in german keyboards (more on that in a minute) they have switched the z and the y around. ugh.
today was the hottest yet and a 'transfer day' meaning we moved from our first hotel in alleghe to bolzano. when peter 'transfers' a group, he doesn't do it the easy way. covered about 90k, the first 20 or so down into the town of chechequene and then the start of the pelligrino. 18k, the first 10 at about 4-6%, the next 5 at 12-14% and an easy little 1-2% stretch to finish up. from the top down to the town of Moena and a lunch stop and then climbed the passo castalongo (not to be confused with the campolongo we did the other day). another tough day of climbing although only about 7000 ft. or so and the reward was a 30k descent into bolzano. yes, brad, 30k straight down hill! the only time you pedaled was to go from fast to really really fast or (don't read this mom) to pass busses on the wrong side of the road.
bolzano is cool. very hip with boutiques and young people running around looking fabulous, but we are very close to germany and there is more german history here than italian. german is actually the main lanquage - i'll explain sometime how to survive in germany on two words a day and a weird keyboard. remember the 'ice man' they found about 10 years ago...well, he's here too and there is no doubt what allison will be doing tomorrow.
we, alas, have a rest day tomorrow. 50k through apple and pear orchards along a river and all FLAT! no one is complaining. friday and saturday are the biggest yet, so the rest will be valuable indeed.
here's something to think about. we are averaging about 7.5 hours of bike time a day. when many of you go to work, imagine parking your buns on a saddle instead. when you leave work, we'll have just finished riding. it's kinda amazing that dan, tom, and i are doing this mostly on spin classes and the occassional weekend ride! must have a good teacher :)
ciao!

The Classics...

First a question. If italians are so great at all these fine things, cars, wine, art and they are so none for their lovers, why can't they make a decent bed? In two trips to italy i have yet to sleep on anything more than a board? just curious, they're also really bad at toilet paper dispensers...enough of the whining.
Today was the Sella Ronda, a classic italian climb. only problem is that yesterday we climbed one of the four passes that make up the sella (campolongo) so today we altered a bit for variety. first the passo podoi, another absolute monster, 7 miles to the top and averaging about 8%. then the passo sella and the passo gardena, and then the alternate, the passo valporola. the middle two, anywhere else, would be tough climbs - at this point they're getting easy? the valporola - another monster. 14k to the top with 10-13% stretches for the final 4 miles. the best reward, yeah the views are nice too, is the descents. the roads here are in miraculously good condition and your tires stick to the road very well. i have been (don't read this mom) things on a bike i never imagined and feeling extremely comfortable the whole time. i have no computer on my bike but am sure i have hit stuff that brad would be proud of and can hang with the best riders in the group - former racers and current cat 1 guys. climbing is a different story and they're nice enough to wait for me at the top!
the weather today is the best yet. not a cloud to be seen, the temps in the 60's, the views endless and awesome.
some have wondered about dan. he's holding up extremely well for an old guy! he climbed extremely strong the first three days and was in complete control of the portland polka dot jersey but got his ass handed to him today by the coach so we'll see how things go tomorrow.
more amazing things to say, like the 4 italian words i have learned that seem to get me anything i need but it's time to put the feet up and enjoy some cold pinot grigio after another big day.
ciao!

peter thompson...

is a bastard! peter is the leader of the trip. to be fair, he has done a wonderful job. logistics have been perfect, nice place to stay, great rides. then today. we were supposed to go watch the mountain time trial. a "rest day" of sorts, mostly flat with some climbing at the end. but, the course was going to be closed earlier than expected so he decided to change the route. we started, for referrence, with the triple newbie. a not-even-named climb equivalent to three consectutive trips up newberry. then the campolongo (named for an italian porn star) came next. not bad, about like thompson in distance and grade. then, to finish, the passo furcia - or what we now refer to as the passo fuckme. unreal. 10k, 15%. brutal. first time i've gone to switchbacking up the mountain. needed it, every damn switch. at the top was a little restaurant, part of a ski lodge, and the final stretch before a 5k gravel road to finish the time trial. the portland boys decided to head back early and rode the time trial course faster than the pros! of course, we rode it backwards and down the hill, having to stop as each rider passed by in 1-3 minute increments. all the contenders passed up going up the hill. we, of course, were the stupid americans going down. quite sure we made mention on the race coverage as the helicopter kept buzzing right past us. a great day, another with no rain (3 for 3), and a huge ride tomorrow, the grupo sella, or sella ronda, a famous four peak climb here in the hood...
i have some thoughts on culture that i'll save for a future blog...mostly to do with where the italians may be lacking. yeah, they make fast cars, have pretty girls, and do a decent job on wine, but...
ciao!

day 2...OMG!

I don't even know where to start for today. So, I'll start with the big news. today was Tom's birthday (so i let him win). More on that later. We began the day with the hardest climb i have ever done. I read the boys were heading up Larch mountain, think about 3 of those consectutively and a bit steeper, average 10%+, and that's what we did. The Passo Giao was a monster. Weather was great though, we're two for two on good ride days! The van meets at the top of most climbs with food and water, a nice little break and always nice to have that kind of support. After a fantastic downhill, we began the next climb, the Passo Falzarego. Nowhere near as tough as the first. Imagine riding up Larch again, this time only once, and considering that a break...that's the kind of day it was. Another trip to the van for cookies and bananas and then another bomber downhill! Into the town of Caprile, a sharp right, and the final climb of the day - the Passo Fedaia. Steep? High? I'll just tell you we passed people skiing on the way up! first 10k not bad, the second 10k almost killed me. Average of over 12% for the final 5-6 miles, an absolute gut check, suffer fest, whatever metaphor you like. forget about the first climb, this is now the hardest thing I've ever done! But soooo worth it.
We arrived at the top (tom in the lead, coach totally bonked, happy birthday brother!) with a couple hours left before the pros got there. we had three tents, one to change into dry clothes, one with lunch, and one with the english feed of the tour so we could watch the pros do what we had just done (only a bit faster.) as they approached, we went to the road and stood in the street like all the other crazy italians and watched them ride by, so close you could push them up (and some actually asked for that!)
I have seen some cool sports moments. i've seen jordan drop 50 on the blazers at the garden, i've been to the nba finals, i was on franklin st. in downtown chapel hill when the tarheels were in the final four - but I have NEVER SEEN ANYTHING like the crowd at the giro when an italian man breaks away and destroys the field like happened today. "Sella" they were chanting as he blazed up the hill, minutes ahead of the best in the world. an italian taking the mountains of the giro, and we're there to watch. it was awesome!
Oh, and the scenery today...yeah. unreal. like really not real. like you couldn't imagine unless you were standing there unreal. I will add pictures when i return, i'm a little low tech at the moment.
miss you guys and wish you all could experience something like this sometime. and sorry about the metaphor for life crap before...this place just kinda gets to you :)
Ciao!

1 down...

Did our first ride in the dolomites today. After arriving in Alleghe from Lago di Garda, we met up with the tour group (about 30 people in all), had some lunch, built up bikes, and took a 30 mile spin around the neighborhood. All in all, climbed about 2500 feet and had a descent that brad would love and roland would hate. the weather so far is holding but it looks like that could change at any minute. we'll see. tomorrow we watch the tour go through and the town we are in is littered with team cars and buses. as we rode through, the townspeople must have thought we were somebody, they all stopped and starred...sorry folks. we came to alleghe via the passo san pelligrino, which we will ride in a few days. it's scary. scary as hell. think about logie trail x 10, tight switchbacks, 18%, and it doesn't stop... the big problem is that we apparently do about 6 climbs tougher. can't be possible.
can't begin to describe this area. we're on a little lake with the marmalado formation looming overhead. it is shear rock faces jutting up thousands of feet over where we are. snow covered and magnificant, keep thinking it can't get any better...and it does.

3, 2, 1...

3 bottles of wine. A white with lunch, a rose' on the terrace in the early evening, a rossi for dinner in gagnano. this town is incredible, sitting on lago garda at the base of the mountains. strolled in in the evening, expecting nothing really and found the most beautiful place i have ever seen. a wonderful piazza (plaza) nestled down on the waterfront with cafes and restaurants everywhere. people milling about, enjoying wine tastings, shopping, the scenery. orange trees everywhere, and lemon. the highest growing lemon trees anywhere in the world says allison! a small metaphor for life, just keep poking around and you never know what you might find. i could stay here forever.
2 pizzas. they are unlike any you have ever had (save dan's backyard). thin, uncut, light on toppings, and delicious. maybe even healthy? not like the shit we have at home which seems to be a contest on who can stuff the most toppings onto something - these are simple and fantastic.
1 gelato. best ice cream in the world. fersh italian gelato is amazing, especially when made from those same high growing lemon trees!
an amazing way to start the trip, dan and allison are great company and this places takes care of the rest. off to find alleghe and the tour group, a bike, tom and anna marie, and start getting to work...
Ciao!

arrive' a italia!

well folks, we made it! after 13 hours in the air, 2 plus hours sitting on runways, and only enough time for one guiness at newark airport, we have hit italian soil. landing in milan, passing customs, grabbing rental car...all easy. finding way to hotel on the shores of lake garda at the base of dolomites, also easy. thanks to alison's great driving and meticulous planning we have arrived in the town of gardone and the hotel europa. sitting on the patio looking up at the dolomites, one thought keeps passing through my head. "those are a hell of a lot bigger than skyline!" along the way we stopped in the town of salo for pizza and pinot grigio, there is nothing like it when you're here. salo was the stronghold of the facist regime after WWII, at least that's what i remember alison saying. if you don't know al, i am traveling with the walking edition of the encyclopedia britannica. a tireless wealth of information - some useful :)
we stay here tonight and then make our way to alleghe in the morning, through the town of trento - roland can tell you there are some decent wines from that area although we're quite a ways north from tuscany \ chianti. tomorrow we ride an "introduction to the dolomites". only 32 miles. not bad. oh, and 2600 feet of climbing. welcome to italy my friends! the weather in ominous but we're prepared mentally and with all the gear money can buy, so bring it! can't wait to make that first climb...

test run for technilogically challenged

hey everyone,
welcome to coach's first blog! as i prepare for this trip, i think about how the tsunamis made this possible. not only do i get to make a living doing something i absolutely love...but you guys paid for this!
here is a link to the trip itinerary, you can look through and see what we're up to. i am not too worried about the mileage or the climbing, really just days 1-8 that scare the hell out of me! but, as in all athletic pursuits, I'm just doing this for the t-shirt so we'll see how it goes!
hope you enjoy checking in. i will try to update with text and pictures as often as possible.
ciao ciao!
http://www.thomsonbiketours.com/trips/Giro-Italia-trip-01/trip_itinerary.html