Panoramica

Miles from Home - 5370.1 miles
Firsts / Highlights - Last day riding Lake Garda. First topless sunbathers.
Miles Ridden - 57.33 miles
Vertical Feet - 2,806 ft
Route - View Today's Route Here.
People - Yesterday’s theme was Colorado cyclists, today’s theme was ski industry connections.
Roger & Helen – Basalt, CO
Gary & Brenda – Whistler, BC – property managers
John – Whistler, BC – Intrawest employee. Former partner in Whistler Heli-ski, now guide
Mike – Whistler, BC
Maurizo & Alberto – Guides



This post is from May 20, 2009.

I just finished my final ride at the Garda Bike Hotel. It has been fun riding with the Aussies, Fins, Coloradans, Canadians and the Italian guides, but it is time to move on and sample something new. Next stop is Siena as a base camp for exploring Tuscany. There are no bike hotels in the area, so I am going to be on my own to explore solo. I plan to get a hotel in Siena for a week, but not stay there every night. I think this will be my chance to do some light touring where I strap a change of clothes and a credit card onto The Machine and head into the countryside. I don’t have a route set yet, but I do have some towns I would like to see.

I think I am going to stay at this hotel an extra day tomorrow to get some planning done while I still have an Internet connection. I need to plan my touring route and the following week when Brad Frazier arrives for a whirlwind visit.



Today was a much easier ride than yesterday. Less distance, less climbing and less pace. There was still a bit of fatigue in my legs, but after the first climb, I felt all right. The ride was called Panoramica due to the well-earned views of the lake.

Maurizio is amazing. Sixty-five years old and does this every day without a break. He said today that he rode 1,000 kms last week. Not only is he doing those distances week after week, he is nearly always on the front doing the most difficult riding into the wind. He speaks about as much English as I do Italian, so there isn’t a lot of conversation. He just speaks Italian as if I understand, even though he knows I don’t. Occasionally I get the drift. The English phrase that he uses over and over is, “come on, come on, come on”. It isn’t so much encouragement as a command. It means, “be decisive – get through the intersection”, or, “close the gap”. He has recently added, “come on, baby” when there is no safety element to his command.

I probably will not be making any posts for the next couple of days, but my itinerary (in the right hand column of the blog) will be updated as my plans solidify.