The Worlds Have Begun!

The World Championships started yesterday with the Trade Team Trial. Contrary to every other event, the TTT is ridden by trade teams as opposed to national teams. A national TTT would be cool in theory, but impossible to coordinate. It's not like you just take a bunch of guys or girls and say, "ok go do a TTT." It is a very precise discipline that requires a lot of exerience and practice...at least to do well. And well they did. In both events, men's and women's, the defending champions won again. Both Specialized-Lululemon and OmegaPharma-QuickStep averaged over 50k/hr. That's insane!! If you want a race report, check it out on VeloNews or CyclingNews. Basically it was a great event.
The TTT is an exciting event to watch. Every few minutes, you get to see another team go by, and by watching in the technical city center part of the corse, I was able to see them going just a little slower that 50k/hr. I saw the tail end of the women's race, got to yell for Eve Stevens when she came by and then made my way around the corse for a bit, looking for a bite to eat. In Italy, on a Sunday morning, things are closed. Actually a lot of stuff is closed all day Sunday, even in touristy areas. It must just be tradition or they actually go to church, unlike Catholics in the US, haha. Anyway, I finally found a Forno (bakery) that was open and the thing that looked most intriguing as a snack were mini stoglatella. Except they weren't filled with ricotta and candied citron, one was filled with crema and the other.... Nutella!

Ok, back to the bike racing. I went back to Piazza della Republica to wait for the men's race. I overheard a few people speaking English and they clearly were there for the bike race. They knew cycling. So, I went over and said hello. The group consisted of an older American couple from where? Philly! And a Canadian girl, who I'd quickly find out was a serious cycling fan. She had been traveling all over the world, not just Europe, and for the last six months she's been chasing pro bike races, from the Spring Classics, fourteen stages of the Tour, the Canadian GPs, Eneco Tour, several stages of the Vuelta, and more. She's a huge Garmin fan, but though her travels she gotten to know and be recognized by a handful of riders on pretty much every World Tour team. I don't think I've ever run into someone who knew so much about pro cycling. I'm seriously jealous of her life! She's an incredibly vocal fan and it's clear the riders appreciate her continued support. If we need someone to replace Phil and Paul, they should give her a call. After all, she did an excellent job of commentating for the crowd in our area. Check out her blog here. It's truly amazing.

So, the little but loud English speaking crowd we had on this tight turn made watching the race so much fun! The most intense part was after OPQS passed by, as defending champs they were the final team. As most of the crowd dispersed, back to their tourist destinations, we instantly went to the live feed and Twitter to see who won it. Finally the Tweet came through that OPQS had beat Orica-GreenEdge by 0.81 of a second. Incredible day!
_______________________________________________________________________________________

Today, I was planning on taking the train to Padova to check out Expobici, the big Italian cycling trade show. However, every train was sold out until 1pm. I didn't think it was worth traveling trains for 3+ hrs and spending over $130 to go to a trade show for the last three hours on the last of three days. Another thing for another day. Maybe if they move Interbike away from Vegas (they probably won't) I'll go there one year.

Instead, I spent the morning doing some chores, restocking my fridge at the Mercato Centrale, Conad (grocery) and my favorite place in Firenze, Vecchio Forno. I have to say, I'm really taking to the Pane Toscana, aka Pane Senzalevato, aka that saltless bread. It's actually good when it's well made and you're ready for it.

After that, it was such a beautiful day I decided some of the hills were calling. I definitely wasn't totally recovered from the Granfondo (I went very deep on Saturday, tha's for sure) but I decided a 50ish mile ride would be ideal. The ride was great! Only a road or two were busier, one of those roads must have had twenty tile factories on it, and thus a bunch of 18-wheelers, presumably picking up and delivering tile. My mid-way point was Montespertoli, Citta del Vino. I didn't stop for any wine, but the climb up there was excellent and you could see the vineyards for miles. Toscana is certainly a beautiful and hilly place. And as a rule of thumb, if it has Monte in the name, there's going to be a good climb getting up there.

Today's ride was marked by a few "short-cut" roads and wrong turns that resulted in some surprises. The first was a single-lane descent, twisting through stone walls that turned out to a -20% section that had the original paving block from the BC era. Had to turn around for that one. Another point of interest was this beautiful quiet climb that turned to Strate Bianche. I was ok with that until it deteriorated so much and got so steep that I had to contemplate continuing. I stopped at one point to let a car go past, and decided it was best to turn back and take the main road (the one with the tile factories). But the scenery was worth the unnessecary 500ft of climbing.

Despite having the Garmin, I can't tell you how many times I got lost today and had to reroute. But if I wanted to know every road and every hill, I could have stayed home. All in all, it wasn't the ride I initially was going for but it turned out great none the less.

Tomorrow, I am going to try to get up early and ride an easy 55 miles along the Arno out to Pisa. I'll take the train back in time to catch the pro women's Individual Time Trial.

One final observation for today (something I knew all too well already). Italian mosquitoes must have an incredible diet!

PS, I'm streaming JT's 20/20 Experience Part 2 right now. It's sick!! Check it out.

Also I'm starting to use this new app to write the blog. The photos should work out better but the font might be a little funky on this post.