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!
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