Easy Day in the Alps

Miles from Home - 5309.75
Firsts / Highlights - Visited Daniele and Elisa’s family cabin for lunch
Miles Ridden - 0 miles
Vertical Feet - 0 ft.
Route - No route today
People - Lunch with Daniele, Elisa, Elisa’s father, Richard Steiner from Hotel Dory and spouses of Dutch riders.

This post is from June 19, 2009.



Unlike yesterday’s “recovery”, today was a true rest day. There was forecast of rain, but it did not come until very late. As it turns out, it would have been better to ride today since the weather for tomorrow does not look promising. It is amazing how one day of inactivity makes me feel lazy after establishing such an active routine.

In spite of my sluggish ways, it was a fun casual day. Rather than risk the weather up at 2,000 meters at Daniele’s family cabin in Stelvio National Park, we went to his father in-law’s cabin just above Bormio. He cooked us lunch with a big pan of local polenta, salami, cheeses, bread, 2 types of grilled sausages, pork chops, grilled vegetables, local wine and peach torte for desert. Just another lunch in Italy.

It occurred to me on my ride yesterday that the very same PowerBar that arrived with me in Italy is still in my saddle bag. That means that over 1,500 miles of riding has been 100% fueled by local “real” food. Not a single Gu or energy bar. That not only says something about Italian food, but also the frequency of availability. There has not been a single stretch of road between cafes that was long enough that I needed to carry food. It also says that I have been taking a slow enough pace that I don’t mind stopping to eat. I keep the PowerBar with me as an emergency backup, but who wouldn’t rather have a prosciutto panini, pizza or plate of spaghetti than a bar of extruded “stuff”?

Richard Steiner checked into the hotel last night. You might remember his name as the lead of the guide program at Hotel Dory, the very first bike hotel where I stayed in Riccione. Like Maurizio from the Lake Garda Hotel, Richard is 66 years old. He was the coach of the Swiss National Cycling Team at the Olympics in Bejing and rides 20,000 km (12,000+ miles) / year. Being Swiss, he is the reason that rides at Hotel Dory scheduled to leave at 9:30 almost never leave at 9:31.

Richard is visiting this region because he is getting ready to personally ride the Trans-Alp race next month. It is a 7-day race with 2-person teams that climbs 19,000 meters (62,000 feet) over the 7 stages. He is bringing the Dory guides to Bormio in a couple of weeks to ride 3 consecutive days that will include the ride I did 2 days ago and two others with comparable effort. Not bad for 66 years old (not bad for 26 years old).

Thank you for the responses on the “Where should Randy go Next Sweepstakes”. I am leaning toward going to Switzerland first (since I am only a few miles away from the boarder), then either Kent or Mary's suggestion for Monaco or Croatia. I have a whole lot of logistics to work out in the next couple of days.

I hope tomorrow will let me get back onto The Machine, but if not, I will try to make logistical progress toward the next chapter of the adventure.