It's Wednesday, Pranzo at Boscomantico

Most of the winter riding crew from my club, Gruppo 1, is now back from vacation in Kenya. It was 0C (32F) this morning but I wasn't going to miss the club ride because on Wednesdays we always stop for lunch at Boscomantico Airport on the outskirts of Verona.

Perina, who is an old and savvy guy, determined the route today so that we would always be in the sunshine. That made it tolerable. We wound our way to Bardolino, soaked some rays next to the lake with in an espresso and then headed back to Verona.

Just before arriving to Verona we turn into the Boscomantico Airport where there is a small, family run (3 generations of family) restaurant. The airport was used by the U.S. Army after WWII into the 1960s and there are many very interesting photos on the walls of the restaurant. I often wonder how my life might have been different had I been sent here in 1966 rather than the Laotian/Cambodian border.

For lunch I had "bigoli" with small sardines. Delicious. Bigoli is a local pasta favorite. It's the opposite of thin pasta...it's a very thick round pasta. Of course, we had a primi, wine, bread, and espresso. I enjoy eating here because the grandmother makes very traditional dishes that you can't even find in restaurants (and believe me, Verona has very traditional restaurants).

After a great lunch and good conversation (all in Italian of course) we get back on our bikes and finish our ride into Verona.

Lago di Garda

It was 9C (48F) today so I joined the San Zeno group ride. They must have all taken EPO over the last few days because we were motoring after the first half hour. By the time we got back to Verona my legs were ready to fall off.

In the map above you can see Verona, in reddish, at the bottom right hand corner. We typically wind our way to the Lago on back roads arriving at Lazise or Bardolino. From there we head north along the eastern coast of the lake (the road is right along the coastline) to Garda or Torri de Benaco. At this time of the season we will do some small amount of climbing and work our way back to Verona on different roads.

In a few months we will be climbing up Monte Baldo which is the big mountain along the eastern shore. Now it's snow covered as it reaches 5,250 feet in altitude.

Spring and Summer there will be rides north of the lake into Trento and even further north to Bolzano (for an overnight stay).

To give you a sense of the size of Lago di Garda:

- it's Italy's largest lake, 230 square miles of surface area,

- a ride around the lake is approximately 112 miles,

-Bounded by three provinces: Verona, Trento and Brescia

-villages along the lake: Sirmione, Desenzano, Salò, Gardone Riviera, Toscolano-Maderno, Gargnano, Limone sul Garda, Moniga, Padenghe sul Garda and Lonato in Brescia side of the Lake, Peschiera del Garda, Lazise, Bardolino, Garda, Torri del Benaco, Brenzone, Malcesine in Verona side of the Lake, Riva del Garda, Nago-Torbole in the province of Trento.

-loaded with tourists in the summer with many, many Germans

You can see some webcams of the lake here:

http://www.checkcams.com/italy/lakegarda

The Start of the TV Cycling Season + Pantani

The first race broadcast for this year will begin this weekend when the Tour of Qatar is aired. From here on out there will start to be a steady stream of cycling coverage, a big difference from the situation in the U.S. It's great to be able to see all the one day classics, the 3 major tours, world championships, and many of the races in Italy. Even the more important granfondos are broadcast on TV.

The "big event" movie wise is the Marco Pantani story which the national network, RAI, is airing on February 5th. Rolando Ravello will play Pantani, who died of a cocaine overdose in 2004. Ravello has trained for months on the bike to prepare for the role. The producer of the film, Claudio Bonivento, said that he wanted to show the talent and the weaknesses of the climbing specialist.

Photos: top: the real Marco Pantani; bottom: Rolando Ravello on the set

Easy Spin Along the Adige

The road along the Adige River, from Verona as you head towards Parona, is closed to all traffic on Sundays. It's scenic, receives full sun, and flat so it's immensely popular for an easy spin, and for rollerbladers and runners.

Today I did several loops along the Adige and then added a small loop into Pescantina for about 1 1/2 hours of spinning easily, soaking up the rays and marveling at Monte Baldo in the distance.

In general, the weather is good enough to ride all winter. The only time I really don't like to ride is when it's cold and foggy. There are times I'm just lazy also.....

Photo: an aerial view of the "diga" (dam) where many clubs start their rides; you can also see the roadway to the right which is the one I refer to above.

Chesini Club Ride

It was a gorgeous Saturday morning, clear blue skies, strong sun and 6C (43F) at 8:30 a.m. so it was a day for riding. I decided to join the Chesini club ride today that departs at 9:30 a.m. from a dam along the Adige River in Verona.

I hadn't had a chance to ride my Pinarello since I changed saddles so I brought a wrench to make minor adjustments if needed. Even though I measured and re-measured everything at home my bones were just not in the right spot. So I pulled over to adjust things and ran into trouble. After loosening up the seat collar and moving the seatpost I just couldn't clamp it down, the bolt was just not grabbing. With time running out to make the ride I determined that the receiver for the bolt must have moved. Fooled around for a bit and finally was able to screw things down.

I had to motor to the start where I met Eros and the group. Eros is the new President of the Chesini club and is leading Saturday rides. I should add that most of my own club members that ride through the winter are off on vacation in Kenya. So, I'm picking up rides here and there in the mean time.

Things started easily enough but soon we were motoring to Lago di Garda. Arriving there we did some small climbs and then Eros went to the front and pulled us along really fast. I was working pretty good, he was soooooo relaxed; if he's a V8 I must have the watts of a lawnmower motor. Sigh. We didn't stop for espresso (I'm addicted) so it was a quick return to Verona for a total of a 3 hour ride.

Photo is of Lago di Garda; the boats are in the small bay at Bardolino (where the wine of the same name comes from). Actually, now is a great time to ride to the lake as there isn't much traffic. In July and August it is very busy at the lake with lots of traffic. Summer the rides will head north into the Lessinia mountains or east to Soave (more wine county) and the hills there. Cooler, less traffic.

More Mont Ventoux Photos

Including one of me with Eros and of the Tom Simpson memorial.

Journey to Mont Ventoux, France

This trip was organized by Eris Poli, who lives here in Verona, and won the Mont Ventoux stage in 1994. Here is a brief story of that day:

"Eros Poli is best remembered for his 1994 Tour de France stage 15 win of Mont Ventoux after a 106 mile solo escape. Eros, at 6 feet 4 inches and 187 pounds, was not a prospect to win one of the most difficult and famous climbs in the Tour de France. He escaped, however, from the peloton very early on and, under conditions of searing heat, arrived at the base of Mont Ventoux with a 22 minute lead. Steadily, the chase pack of climbers began taking back time. Arriving at the final 300 meters of the climb where the grade is 11% the lead had dwindled to 4 minutes. Eros survived Mont Ventoux and then hammered the descent to arrive in Carpentras to an incredible win by 3 minutes and 39 seconds ahead of Pantani and Virenque. His escape and victory earned him the nickname “Monsieur Ventoux”.

We departed from Verona on Friday, June 23rd, 2006. Nice, long distance, bus with an enclosed bike trailer being towed behind it. Along the way to Orange, France, which is where our hotel was, we watched a two hour video of the original TV broadcast when Eros Poli won the Mont Ventoux stage. It was very exciting to watch as the peleton kept creeping up on him all the way to the finish line. The TV announcer kept repeating that it was insane for Eros to attempt such a suicidal breakaway. It also gave us an idea what we were in for.

From our hotel, and my window, I could see Mont Ventoux and the observatory (which is really the TV-RADIO tower/facility). Now, I know why they call it THE GIANT OF PROVENCE.....it just looms over everything. It looks white at the top, as if it were snow, but it's actually white rock. At the evening dinner Eros gave us each a specially designed jersey had had made for the trip which we were all to wear it on the climb.

Saturday morning we departed for Bedoin with our bikes still in tow. Bedoin is the nearest village to the start of the climb. We unloaded our bikes and some locals from a French cycling club rode to say hello to Eros and to take us on a warm up ride around Bedoin before getting on the road to that goes to Mont Ventoux.

We ride through Bedoin (pretty town) and get onto THE road. The first 6 km are fairly easy with a slight incline, pretty views of the countryside. After 6 KM the road turns left and then BANG, you start into a wooded section and the road goes to 10%. It stays at about 10%, with some sections down to 8%, for the next 15KM!!!! There are stone markers along the side of the rode indicating the % of steepness. Even though it was wooded it felt like there was no oxygen, and hot hot hot. Unlike in Italy, there are no switchbacks...the road is always right there in front of you...unrelenting...up up up.

Then you come out of the woods and you can see the observatory; the top of the mountain is completely barren, it looks like a moon-scape. Bare, bare, bare. Now there is no shade. Thankfully, there was a nice breeze (rather than the high winds which are so common) but the sun was really strong. It's 6 km of this and two switchbacks before you reach the top. Along the way you pass the memorial to Tom Simpson (who died here on July 13, 1967 from a combination of alcohol and heat exhaustion; he fell down, asked spectators to put him back on the bike which he rode to within a half mile of the summit before collapsing dead, still clipped into his pedals).

The top section of the climb is less steep than the wooded section, 6-8%, but there is that 11% pitch at the end. The lower section took its toll, and now with the sun and heat on the barren top section, lots of people are off their bikes and walking at this point. None from our group. I get to the top!! Rode the whole thing. 2 hours 15 minutes of continuous climbing. I could have gone a little faster but not knowing exactly how hard it would be I kept some energy in reserve. At the top there were some Frenchmen selling some sugar coated jellies and I bought several handfuls which I devoured. Took some photographs; the elevation is 1900 meters so the views were spectacular and we had a clear day.

We then rode down and just before you hit the wooded section there is a restaurant, the Chalet Reynard. We all had a celebratory beer and relaxed in the sunshine. Then we were back on our bikes. Eros warned us to be careful as you can really gain speed through the wooded section (remember: no switchbacks and now it's a 10% downhill) and your speed can reach 100km per hour! We all make it back to the starting point safely. Loaded the bikes and returned to the hotel where a poolside buffet awaited us. Everyone relaxed around the pool and talked about the day.

Sunday was the long trip back to Verona.

I really enjoyed this adventure!

Eros is organizing a long weekend for this summer to climb Alpe d Huez, Galibier and Telegraphe and another climb I can't recall at the moment. A good goal to get in form for.