What is this about Saliscendi?

First off, I want to send a big shout out and thank you to Mike Maney from rule5ive.com for posting about my blog. For those of you who don't know, rule5ive is a local blog written by Bucks Cycling's (FB group) Mike Maney, with contributions from other cyclists local to the Bucks/ Hunterdon County area. It's a great site, really well put together. They do some great "user polls" about local climbs, descents, roads, food stops, etc. Also, I'm very excited about their new feature, which allows cyclists to post to a form right from their smartphones about changes in road condition, road closures, bridge closures/ failures, whatever. It's a great tool to serve our local cycling community and I hope everyone puts it to use!
That said, I am hopeful that I'll have so new followers and I'd like to address what this whole thing is about. Yes, I'm traveling through Italy for the second time with my bike. No, I'm not touring. I brought my bike in a Pika Packworks bag and I just find apartments to rent for a week or two and cycle from my "home-base", just like I would at home. I've cycled in Firezne (Florence) and throughout Toscana, Orvieto and surrounding Umbria, Lombardia around Lago di Como, Roma and Lazio, and on this trip I'm now in Verabania on Lago Maggiore (Piemonte). Next stop is Parma (Emilia Romagna). I'm checking off each Italian region one by one. One day I hope to get to them all.
So, Saliscendi, what the hell does that mean?! Well, Sali, meaning up and scendi, meaning down. It's a common expression amongst Italian cyclists about how there isn't a flat road in this whole damn country. It's not true, but Italy sure is hilly as evidenced by the Giro every May. When I was looking for a name for this blog a year ago, I liked the term and I added "su" meaning "on" and Bianchi, because I ride a celeste Bianchi. There you have it, Saliscendi su Bianchi.

For those bike tech nerds out there (I'm one of them) here's a little info about the bike I'm riding:
Frame: 2008 Bianchi 928 T-Cube (last tube-to-tube carbon frames made by Bianchi in Italy)
Gruppo: Campagnolo Chorus 10s with upgraded Centaur new style Ergo levers)
Wheels: Campagnolo Shamal Ultra 2-Way Fit (but I'm currently running them with Conti GP4000s tires fitted with latex tubes, I'm on a break from Tubeless sealant)
Gearing: 53/39 with a 12/27 Sometimes I wish for a little more, but I use the 27 sparingly as a reserve and I've made it up some nasty climbs
GPS: Garmin 810 with Open Source European Maps

Anyway, that's it. Again, thanks to Rule5ive and everyone who is following my cycling and eating adventures. I'm off to dinner!