40 Years Ago

The last thing on my mind 40 years ago was cycling.

I was reminiscing about life today, and praying for those soldiers that learned yesterday that their tours in Iraq and Afghanistan were being extended, and for those that learned that they had to return for yet another tour. 40 years ago there was always the possibility that your tour might be extended and I remember the horrible feelings that brought. The closer you came to your departure date the more fear you had that something bad would happen. The last thing you wanted in life was to spend even one more day there.

Photo: me, 1967, near the Laotian/Cambodian border

Gran Premio Palio di Recioto

The town of Negrar, in Valpolicella, has an annual two week long event featuring wine (especially Recioto) and food competitions. Part of the activities includes a very important "Under 23" race, the "Gran Premio Palio di Recioto". Teams come from all over the world come to tackle a very tough 92.5 mile (149 Km) course.

Recioto is a wine made from grapes that have been dried on mats after harvest. The fermentation is stopped early so that the sweetness remains. It's unique to the Valpolicella region and somewhat of an acquired taste. Well, it wasn't too hard for me to acquire it!

I did some climbing in order to enjoy some quiet back roads with beautiful views of the hills of Valpolicella in order to arrive at Negrar. Once again I returned to a spot at the end of a long, hard climb which the riders would pass through 6 times. Last year I had been invited into a home here because it was pouring rain and cold. Although yesterday was a spectacular day I was invited into the house once again to eat and drink (Recioto, of course). All of the Recioto here was from the vineyards of the people invited. It was soooooo good. They have a good system: once the riders pass everyone goes to the house to chat, drink and eat. When you hear the lead motorcycles come by you stroll out to the road and watch the racers come through. Then, back to the house for more festivities, etc.

Once the riders come through for the last time everyone heads down into Negrar to watch the finish.

Compliments to Ermanno Capelli (Unidelta Garda) who won in 4.03', an average speed of 22.86 mph (km 36.790). He joins Moser and Cunego as a winner of the Gran Premio Palio di Recioto.

Photos: of race day

Sant'Ambrogio di Valpolicella

Yesterday, on "Pasquetta" (the day after Easter), I rode to Sant'Ambrogio di Valpolicella for a raduno. Arriving there I found lots of cyclists searching for the start. To make a long story short, the event had been cancelled.

Archaeological sites dot the Valpolicella's hills with evidence of prehistoric human settlement; man first settled in the Valpolicella area 40 to 50 thousand years ago. Near Sant'Ambrogio is the Fumane Cave, known as the Solinas Refuge, with its rock paintings and the "witch-doctor's stones".

Finding the raduno cancelled my friend Massimo and I decided to ride to Lago di Garda. Under warm and sunny we had an espresso at Bardolino and then continued on to to Torre and eventually back to Verona. In all it was 5 hours of riding, grabbing some fast wheels along the way and getting some good interval training in.

Photo: hills above Sant'Ambrogio

Alessandro Bellan Wins Tour of Flanders

Tuscan Andrea Tafi was the last Italian to win the Tour of Flanders, in 2002. He has said, "Only those who are in top condition can say that the Ronde is not hard. For everyone else, it's the Way of the Cross." The description is befitting a course that is a tortuous 161 miles (259km) with many steep climbs on cobbles.

Today was the turn of 27 year old Alessandro Ballan (Lampre-Fondital) from Castelfranco Veneto to win. Ballan escaped the last 16km with Belgian Leif Hoste (Predictor-Lotto); they worked like dogs just keeping ahead of the peleton. 150 meters from the line Hoste started his sprint only to have Ballan come around him in the last few meters. What a race!

The English announcers on SKY EuroSport kept reminding viewers during the race that Italians don't like to race in the normally cold, rain, and windy conditions of the Spring Classics in Belgium. Perhaps there is something to that as the race had been been won by an Italian only 9 times since 1913. Today was a beautiful Easter Sunday in Belgium, and the sun was definitely shining on Ballan.

On the Saturday preceding race day the course is open to registered cyclists. There were 18,000 participants this year. It's something to think about as a possible trip for next year.

A Chance Encounter with Pietro Guerra

It's been a somewhat difficult week. I have had a terrible cold for four days so decided to rest from cycling. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to just relax as I had to deal with some very challenging problems related to my "permesso di soggiorno" (permit to stay). This is THE document that permits you to remain in Italy so making sure everything is in order is at the top of the priority list.

With the temperature at 73F (23C), and feeling just good enough to get a ride in, I was looking forward to a nice spin.

The Gruppo 1 ride was small (it's Easter weekend and Italians take a long weekend as Monday is a holiday...."Pasquetta"). A few KMs from Verona we hooked up with another small ride and joined forces. We were riding along when one of my friends says, pointing to a rider, "Do you know who that is?". Well, it was Pietro Guerra from Verona. I knew the name as Pietro won a silver medal in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, was World Champion in the 100km team time trial in 1968, and won the Italian Pursuit Championships in 1970 and 1971. In stage racing Pietro won one stage in the Tour de France in 1971, and a stage of the 1968 Vuelta a Espana. The teams he rode with as a professional:

1974
Bianchi (ITA)
1973
Bianchi (ITA)
1972
Salvarani (ITA)
1971
Salvarani (ITA)
1970
Salvarani (ITA)
1969
Salvarani (ITA)
1968
Salvarani (ITA)
1967
Salamini (ITA)
1966
Salamini (ITA)

Also of interest is that Pietro won those Italian Pursuit Championships on a bike built by the almost mythical Mario Confente.

Pietro and I chatted quite a bit on the ride. Quite the entertaining morning. On the roads of Verona province you never know who you might meet.

Photo: Pietro Guerra in the early 1970s.

Raduno start, Porta Palio, Verona

Verona is a fortified city, with 2,000 years of construction of fortifications throughout the city. The urban town wall has a length of nine kilometres and takes up almost 250 acres (100 hectares) with its towers, curtains, bastions, earthworks and ditches. Outside the city town wall there are thirty-one forts, nineteen of which still exist.

Historically speaking, the first town wall in Verona was built by the Romans (Ist-IIIrd centuries) and during the period of the medieval communes (XIIth-XIIIth centuries). Cangrande I of the Scala family added a hill city wall which was later included in following fortification works.

The Venetian period saw a radical transformation of the pre-existing defences during the XVth and XVIth centuries. It was between 1520 and 1578 that Michele Sanmicheli built the three monumental urban gates “Porta Nuova” (1535), “Porta San Zeno” (1538-40) and “Porta Palio” (1547-57).

An excellent website to learn more about the fortifications of Verona is http://www.veronafortificata.it

One of the many differences between the cycling cultures of the U.S.A. and Italy is that in Italy when there is a club ride, or participation in any kind of event, everyone wears their club kits.

Photos: Gruppo 1 at Porta Palio raduno; you can see a part of the wall fortification in the background of the first photo.

Gruppo 1 Cycling Week 2007: Puglia Region

The annual one week cycling tour later this year will be to Puglia in southern Italy, the region often referred to as the "heel" of Italy. Still considered a relatively undiscovered region of Italy, visitors come to enjoy the Mediterranean weather and wholesome food.

Our cycling journey will begin in Matera. From there we will head southeast to ride the coastal road along the Golfo di Taranto. We will ride the entire coastline, reaching the southern most point at Capo Santa Maria di Leuca before turning north to ride along the Straight of Otranto. Once we reach Fasano we will turn inland and head west, back to Matera. Cycling distance will be approximately 475-500 miles.

from http://www.trullipuglia.com/:

Sometimes known as Apulia, Puglia is a land of lush olive trees, vineyards, rich brown and red soils, mild wet winters and hot dry summers, and of friendly, open people, with ready smiles.

Puglia’s history is a complex weave of colonisation, invasion and a continual struggle for independence and the Greeks, Romans, Turks, Saracens and Spanish have all laid claim to parts of Puglia through it’s history.

Puglia historically produced much of Italy’s pasta, and today it still produces over half of it's olive oil. It's rich fruity red wines, particularly those from its Salento region are also becoming popular. Lunch is something to be enjoyed and lasts from between 1pm and 4:30pm.

The architecture of Puglia is at once simple, yet stunning and the old quarters provide many insights into the different civilisations that have influenced their architecture. Roman, Greco and Messapian features are often seen side by side and Cisternino is particularly pretty. From a distance, many of the towns appear as beautiful ‘walled’ villages. Many of the houses are painted white to reflect the hot summer sun and indeed Ostuni, located between Bari and Brindisi, is also known as the ‘White City’.

Puglia is the home of the Trulli, simple yet beautiful limestone dwellings with conical roofs, many dating back to the 15th century. Highly sought after by both local residents and well to do outsiders, they have almost a fairy tale quality about them.

Puglia, like much of southern Italy, has in the past been considered a poor relation to the more northerly regions such as Tuscany. It’s cuisine, the now delightful Trulli, and even the distinctive style of furniture, known as Arte Povera, all originate from the need to make do with little material wealth. Today however, the picture is very different and the many trendy stores and boutiques tucked away inside most towns and villages attest to the growing wealth of the region.

Photos: Puglia (we will be cycling the dark green), the "heel" of Italy; white houses of Ostuni; The "Trulli" houses