It's ALL about the bike.

Nearly every day I go out and ride here, someone comes up to me and asks me about my bike. If they don't ask me about my bike, they ask me about cycling. If I weren't on the bike, I don't think anyone would talk to me. It's all about the bike. Having a beautiful Italian bike definitely attracts some attention. Many people are surprised, when they ask me about my bike, that I am American. Ironically, most of the Italians I've seen are riding non-Italian bikes with Shimano or Sram components. Coming to Italy is like a homecoming for my bike.

That fraternization that exists between cyclists, and peoples' loosened inhibitions to talk to strangers while on vacation, has lead to nearly every conversation I've had over the last few days. And it's a great thing! Everyone who knows me, knows I love to talk about bicycles. That conversation eventually turns to talking about Italy, food and cooking, and then you can't get me to shut up. This week isn't really turning out to be a week of solidarity after all, which I am very glad for.

Today, I rode down to Bellagio to the ferry to check out another side of the lake. The Madonna del Ghisallo is my Federal Twist over here. Pretty much every ride I have to go down it from where I'm staying, which means pretty much every ride I've got to go up it. For those of you reading who are not my family, or cyclists in the Hunterdon/Bucks area, Federal Twist is the climb up to my house, which is one of the most dreaded climbs around, often avoided by many hill-fearing cyclists, that hits 18% (just a hint, if you're one of those hill-fearing cyclist, maybe don't come to Italy. It's only slightly hilly here). The Madonna del Ghisallo is just a bit harder, at 10km long, 14% at the steepest, extended sections over 9% (yeah I know, 9% doesn't sound that bad but 9% for a few miles is hard). There is a little reprieve in the middle between the towns of Guello and Cevenna, but then there is another set of switchbacks and a steep kicker up to the finish in front of the "bike church". It's not insanely hard, but once you get to know it, you try to go faster and using my "granny gear" 39/27 is not an option. My bike will shift to it, I just don't want to. ---Oh, by the way, Dad, I saw this house for sale at the top of the Ghisallo. A villa that needs a little work... well we still can't afford I bet, but then the Ghisallo can become my new Federal Twist. ---

Anyway, I digress. Today I rode to another big lake out here, Lake Lugano, which borders up on Switzerland. I got very close to the Swiss border, but my route didn't take me there. I had met a very nice British cyclists who is fortunate enough to own a house outside of Menaggio. He told me that I'd best not ride the road that I was planning to ride, as it is the main road from this area to Lugano, Switzerland and the tourist traffic would be bad. I diverted to a previous route that I remembered, which had a bit more climbing. I'm glad I did. I had to do a bit of exploring and following the Garmin as I went but it was worth the extra climbing and adventure, since the scenery was great overlooking the lakes. Once down to the Lake Lugano, I was able to settle into my route, which brought me up a Cat 2 climb and back down to Lake Como. The climb was certainly hard enough and the decent was one of the best I've done. The road was immaculate and throwing the bike back and forth on the fast curves and around switchbacks is the best feeling ever, even if it was a bit cold coming down.
I learned from my new British friend a few things about the weather here. Depending on what side of the lake you're on, you get the forecast from different sources. On his side, you connect to Lugano but on my side you connect to Lecco. Also, it's not normally this cold and grey this time of year. This, he said, is November weather and he wasn't all too happy about it. I can't say I am either. The scenery would be more visible if it weren't so cloudy and I wouldn't have to carry so much clothing, both on my body and in my jersey pockets if it were warmer. But I'm thoroughly enjoying my time here so I can't complain, especially knowing that next week I'll be back to abundant sunshine down in Umbria.
But, I think if I could live here for a while, I could become a quite able climber and really have some fun crushing these climbs if I knew them better. You just can't go all out if you don't know what's ahead of you. The top of climbs here can either dilly dally around on the ridge, or they can turn into absolute walls. If you go hard on the gradual parts (7% stuff) and then it hits 15% or more for a while, you're going to cry, especially not knowing when it will finally end. That's what I'm beginning to love about the Ghisallo climb. I'm getting to know it. I know when I get to those switchbacks, pass the Hotel Mirabeau, onto the steep final ramps up the Museum, I can flick it down a gear and sprint over the top, and then coast 300 meters to my hotel.
Aside from that, I met a very nice couple from Colorado, who just arrived in Bellagio today. I spent some time talking with them about cycling, Italy, food, etc and ended up sitting down for a plate of pasta with them. They had been in Provence before coming here, where he rented a bike and climbed Mont Ventoux. How cool is that? Hopefully he can find a bike to rent here and we hope to meet up on the Ghisallo climb on Sunday, provided that the weather isn't terrible, which I hope for my shoes' sake and the racers', who have to climb the Muro de Sormano, sake that it doesn't rain.
I think predicting the weather here in mountains, with all the lakes around must be a complete crapshoot. My weather app is far too liberal with the temperature. If it was 59 when I left this morning and hit 61, then I must be insane, because it was freezing. The Italian weather site I found said a low of 45 and a high of 55. That's more like it. Not exactly my ideal weather, but like I said, I'm on vacation. No complaining allowed on vacation. I do enough of that at home.