Damn the torpedoes... I mean mosquitoes.

Another beautiful day in Tuscany, another day that didn't go as planned, which is not necessarily a bad thing. I had planned on waking up early today to ride to Pisa before the Pro Women's TT but since I was up to nearly 2am dealing with this blog and trying to make my route on Garmin Connect (which is the biggest piece of shit ever. The Garmin 810 is ok, but Garmin Connect, which is the only iPad app to sync via bluetooth with the 810 is useless and so is the Garmin Connect site. I'll be making a few phones calls when I get back to the States. They're getting a piece of my mind). So, needless to say, I slept a little later than planned. With the exception of the Gran Fondi, and my trains/ plane, I'm not setting an early alarm and lacking sleep. This is vacation, people!
Instead, I planned on doing a shorter ride, 35 miles or so with, you guessed it, a lot of climbing. The first climb two miles into the ride was the Fiesole climb that is featured on the Worlds circuit. It's a nice climb and if you chase two Spanish U23 pros up the thing, it's gonna hurt, especially with tired legs. I actually managed to pass them, obviously they weren't trying very hard. At the very end where it is steepest, they picked it up big time and passed me. I tried to lift the pace, and I did for a while but I just didn't have it in me. There's a reason they are professionals. They probably just let me hang out there to make me feel good. Actually the probably could care less.
I kept on riding, my Garmin kept giving me shit and beeping and trying to reroute me. I don't understand what is up with that. When I got to the higest point in the ride, I decided to make a left instead of going straight and head back into town. It was nice descent and a welcome break for my tired legs.
The views were fantastic though. I would stop to take a picture or two, but they just don't come out. The landscape is incredible. If you want to see it, come to Toscana, what can I tell you?!

I made my way to the race finish and checked out the expo. There wasn't much of interest, but a few things made it worth all the while. First there was a bike shop on wheels (truck) that had some really nice stuff. All of the official merch, t-shirts, kit, etc is horrible. I mean, so horrible that I won't even buy it. I bought a really nice unofficial t-shirt at a local bike shop yesterday and I bought a beautiful kit from the aforementioned shop on wheels today. The Italian cycling clothing is so much cheaper here of course and the quality is second to none.

The other great part of the expo was this stand that sold Napolitano specialties, bombolini (giant zeppole filled with you choice of crema or Nutella) Sfogliatella, Lobster Tail, cannolo made from fried dough and a basic doughnut. They were all pretty cheap, looked amazing so after much deliberation, I went for the Sfoglatella. Sorry Calandra's but Italy wins. Definitely the best I've ever had. Ridiculously crispy and crunchy and a ton of ricotta inside. I think every day I go to the races I'm going to have to try another pastry. I wouldn't normally do that, but the riding here is calorically taxing and I'm on vacation. You can't get stuff this good in the US. In fact, the guy manning the stand was half American and he was thinking of moving to the US to open a stand. I think he'd do quite well at our races or wherever he went. No one can resist fried dough, especially stuff this good.

Oh, right, the bike race. So, I gave up on the finish area. Although they had a jumbo screen, commentators, and crazy Euro techno music, it was a little boring. I made my way back towards the city center and found an uncrowded spot across from the Duomo. I settled there because I figured the photos would be excellent and Pizza della Republica was probably a pain to get to and crazy crowded. I got to see the last 25 riders go by, got to yell for Eve again. She finished just off the podium in 4th, but her trade teammate and country woman Carmen Small got bronze and her other trade teammate, Eleonora Van Dijk is the new World Champion!

I then rode the course, which was really fun, back to the finish area just in time to catch the podium presentations. The Dutch had set up post a block from the finish and they were going nuts! I wonder if the Dutch will establish a "Dutch corner" on the Fiesole climb? That would be fun!
So that was my day. I'm now just sitting here, passing the time while my laundry takes a spin. Oh, look, it's done. Perfect timing. Gotta go hang it to dry then it's dinner time. I'm thinking pizza at Osteria Cento Poveri again tonight.