final thoughts...

went low-tech towards the end of the trip, so this will be the last entry and will cover a few days...
after the motorolo, we packed it up and headed to milan. had the chance to see the final day time trial on sunday and it was pretty tight in the race - contador, the spaniard, leading ricco, the italian, by just 4 seconds so there was a lot of anticipation. the lead-up to the race was hilarious, they know how to put on a show over there but the race itself was not what it could have been. contrador dropped the hammer, beating ricco by minutes in the time trial and it never really being close. still, an amazing event and the trip of a lifetime.
the rest of our time in milan we got to sightsee finally, saw the domo (church) and the galleria (shopping) and both were amazing and that night heard the milan symphony live in the piazza domo (church plaza). wow.
i am not quite sure what else to say about this trip. it was the trip of a lifetime! i am so greatful to all of you who helped make this possible, i can't even begin to say thanks enough. know that coach was happy to have the chance to do that, and so proud of the boys i brought me. we're planning our next in 2010, start saving (and training!) now - you won't want to miss this!

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!