How do you say "full-throttle" in Italian?

This day began in the wee hours, when we made the collective decision to wake up at 3am. Any later and we'd risk missing our morning flight out of Milan. After a two hour disco nap, the chorus of three iPhone alarms got us to our feet, and it stung. Bad. We were rolling within 5 minutes. Leadfoot Lundwall took the wheel, with Alex as co-pilot, and Ed went back to sleep (bastard!).

Terminal velocity is the point at which an object reaches maximum speed. If there were ever a time for such an experiment, it was now. Jeff got the Pilote there immediately and pegged it out for 5 hours straight. In the final navigation into Ternate, the Garmin GPS saved the day and delivered us to Guidici right on time. But our saga was just beginning...

Milan Malpensa was 30 minutes away, and we had an hour. Here's what would follow: for speed- Jeff drove the Pilote with the Avis reps seated in the back, we hit traffic, it got worse, we assumed we'd miss the flight, then we started moving, then we stopped, then we moved, then we arrived 15 minutes before takeoff. We were dropped off at the wrong end of the terminal so Alex ran the length to start check-in, Jeff and Ed sherpa'd all bags across the terminal, Jeff and Ed had to redistribute baggage items to make the weight limit, security lines were long, we thought we wouldn't make it... but our Grand Tour 2009 luck streak was still with us. We made it.

Arriving at JFK on Memorial Day, it hit us that summer had begun- offsetting the post-adventure blues. In a taxi to the city, we talked about The Grand Tour 2010 plan for Spain.














Arrivederci Italia.

Bartender's Choice

For our final day, we had planned in advance to give ourselves a free morning (codename: Bartender's Choice). But as we stumbled out of the Pilote there was only one thing on our minds- a final ride! We suited up and rode north of Siena for another Chianti loop. The weather was perfect and the pace, more leisurely, because we didn't want the ride to end. Returning to the Pilote, Jeff took up true Bartender's Choice duties and emerged with vodka lemonades for all. We toasted to 200+ miles of some of the best riding we had ever known: from the Como lake region, to the alps, the Mediterranean, Tuscany, and Chianti. Returning to Central Park loops would never be the same. We then had lunch headed into town for a lazy Sunday afternoon.














Siena was hot and the locals embraced the lazy Sunday concept to the maximum. Only a few bars, restaurants, and gelaterias were open. Slowing our pace to a crawl, we found an amazing bar terrace overlooking Il Campo, and secured three of the four seats. Jeff called Lacey (see photo) and we chatted with a fellow tourist in Italy for a nut convention. As in almonds and pistachios.



We went to Il Pomodorino for dinner and it rocked. There was a table of seriously studly white-haired Italian stallions next to us, aged 70+, in ascots and linen blazers. Hopefully that will be us in 30 years.

Arriving back at Colleverde for drinks, the reality of our Milan departure began to sink in, fast. And it set up the kamikaze morning that would follow.

The dead end in heaven

Leaving our money $pot in Firenze, the unofficial parking attendant hassled us for a few extra Euros until he threw his hands up in the air and waved us through. Gotta love the Italian melodrama. We steered south for Siena and made good time- following signs on arrival to the local campground for a water fill-up and electric charge. Little did we know, we had stumbled into the most posh camp ground we’d ever seen: newly renovated, with a great restaurant, bar, café, pool, laundry facilities, and our first hot showers in 8 days. Such luxuries would wait until after our ride- a 47 mile loop through beautiful rolling hills, vines, olive trees, and Tuscan villages of Castellina in Chianti and Radda in Chianti. Our free tourist maps misled us down a 15% grade which we quickly realized was the wrong direction. Hoping to avoid the climb back up, we took a left onto an amazing country road to connect back to the regional road. The 20%+ grade pushed our heart rates to redline status and delivered us to a family’s garden gathering and a dead end. The fumbling Italian exchange went something like this, “Direction Siena?... No.” We had ascended to heaven- and it was a dead end. Turning back we bit the bullet on the 15% grade and finished the ride with a high tempo paceline push into Siena. With 20 minutes to spare, we bought a happy hour bucket of beers and hit the pool for a dip. We bused into town and hit il Campo and saw awesome Jenny Holzer projections at the Duomo. Settling into dinner with low blood sugar, we ordered big and blew it out. Italy enthusiasts will tell you it’s impossible to find a bad meal in the country. So far, so true.

Alex (edited by Ed)

Addendum by Ed
Alex is understating our camping site (Camping Colleverde)…it’s the “Ritz Carlton” of camping sites! It’s only fitting we have a hilltop view of Siena after our Mediterranean view in Sestri Levante and 100m parking spot from the Firenze finish line. Alex’s post about 15% grade is no joke…as Ed emphatically screamed out 15% grade and Jeff responded with “yeah so…we’re going downhill!” Ed prayed to Roman Gods that we don’t have to turn around and climb back the damn hill…well you know what happened.

Fast forward to Siena and our search for a dining spot…as many may know Ed doesn’t do well when he’s tired or hungry. Needless to say, he started to have a “hissy-fit” (then hussy-fit to a sissy-fit) because he was tired and hungry. Damn those Italian loafers! Well, Jeff came thru and found us a ristorante and Ed was happy as a “clam”.

Firenze, Fu Man Chu and commitment

A beautiful day in Firenze…after waking, I decided to change my PStyle a bit with some custom facial hair. Afterwards we ate, shopped and regrouped for internet time and then lunch. Along the way, something miraculous happened…Ed bought drawer-pulls for his cabinets. If you have not been to Ed’s apartment, you will not understand the significance of this act (a future comment on this post from Ed will explain, I am sure). The finish in Firenze proved to be a sh*tshow so we opted for the roll-out to mingle with the riders and team support. Cavendish won the stage (Columbia/HighRoad was stoked) and we got a shot of Levi, Lance and Lance’s bike. After a short walk, we chilled on the “front lawn” with cocktails, reflected on the week-to-date and went for a stroll. Wine bar and local’s spot completed our day, but once again the party came to us and we were off to the local formaggio club, “Central Park”. Ed opted out again so Alex and I cut the line and got reduced admission, “oh, you are not Italian, come with me”. See video for the JV event, we lasted less than an hour.

Jeff


Addendum by Ed
The drawer-pulls are beautiful...with an "epic" story to them. BTW, I ran out of blue tape...finally.

Cinque Terre, ITT, and Play-Doh

With 130+ miles and 10,000 vertical feet of climbing in our legs, we figured we’d take a rest day. That was the idea, anyway.

After a breakfast of champions, we set out for a walk between the neighboring towns of Corneglia and Veranezza. “Cinque Terre” refers to five hillside towns originally connected by mule tracks. It’s a beautiful UNESCO world heritage site situated in a pristine, coastal national park. The single-track path winds up and down the cliffs with stone steps, making for a rigorous hike- especially in the midday heat. Jeff led the charge and the views were spectacular; as we descended into Veranezza the Giro d’Italia helicopters flew over to announce the first arriving riders up the hill on the Individual Time Trial (ITT) course. A pizza lunch on the water fueled us up for the train ride to Riomaggiore and the walk/bus ride up to the ITT finish line. On arrival we saw David Millar of Team Garmin/ Slipstream, who posted the leading time for the morning. Alex capitalized on the photo op and admitted to feeling star-struck for the following hour. Approaching the finish, we saw the racers come through- checked out their bikes, and listened in on interviews with the press. At the finish, riders were coming through every couple of minutes- with expectations building for the top-ranked final starters. Levi, Lance, Di Luca, and Menchov blazed through the finish- with Menchov winning the stage. Jeff captured stellar video footage soon to be posted on YouTube. Post-race, we found our way into the press area for the podium presentations. Menchov was accompanied by the famous podium girls as he sprayed champagne over the crowd.

Walking down to the Pilote, we had been on our feet for 7 hours in the heat. So much for our rest day. Water-bottle showers refreshed us for the drive to Firenze. Getting there was easy, parking the Pilote in the bustling city was another thing. Alex walked a navigational tightrope with Ed patiently steering us through the action and heckles from Jeff in the peanut gallery. The parking effort paid off in another great stroke of luck. We scored a great spot in a park along the Arno- close to the city center and even closer to the stage finish of the following day. Antonio, the resident (and far from legitimate) parking attendant asked for three beers and 10 Euros for the night. We agreed. Sporting blazers and strolling into town, Team Pilote hit Piccadilly Pizza at 11:30 pm before checking out Go Slowly bar. Ed got VIP treatment and everything short of a retinal scan from a cute girl with a clipboard. He walked away with a fluorescent yellow Play-doh hand imprint that we’re still trying to make sense of…

Passing the US Consul General on our way back to the Pilote, we pledged our allegiance to the United States of America.

Alex

Cinque Terre and the girl on a bike

With the mountains behind us, we headed to the Mediterranean coast for some sun and "flat" roads. After much debate, we decided to skip Portofino and head straight to Sestri Levanti for an overnight stay. Continuing with our incredible luck of finding amazing parking spots…our parking spot was right along the boardwalk by the water! Talk about a million dollar view, it couldn’t be any better than to wake up in the morning to an "ocean view"! Our stay at Sestri Levanti was short but packed a punch – amazing dinner at Osteria Mattana (where we decided to stay because we liked the black chalkboard menu), Ed’s first dip in the Mediterranean, finding free wi-fi and posting our blog on a side street in the middle of the night, oh and the girl on a bike!

Onto Cinque Terre after breakfast! We decided not to ride the full course of the Individual Time Trial (ITT), and just do a loop of Manarola to Levanto and back. Our parking luck continued as we found yet again another incredible spot in Manarola! Manarola is a charming town within Cinque Terre and perfect launching spot for our ride and ITT viewing. After our al fresco lunch, we suited up for our “epic” ride – to see what it’s like to ride the ITT course (ok, just the second half) and how we compare to the pros. It's safe to say I should stick to my day job…the course was as hard as Sestriere climb (if not harder) but the views of Cinque Terre and the coast were “epic”!

Ed

Sestriere

Got up ‘early’ at 9am and had a few coffees, moved the rig to a better spot and had a fantastic breakfast before our decent to Cesana (we took the old road) and turned around for what would be the last big climb for the tour riders today before reaching Pinarello. It was a beautiful day and the climb was fine…Alex decided he hadn’t enough so he went back down the front to do it again. Ed got to check out his first caravan and after Alex returned we had a nice coffee with Pietro from Como Cycles, a friend Alex had made before arriving Italy. We watched the tour approach the hill we had all just climbed and left the bar to watch the climbers summit, then back to the bar to watch the end of the race, which was dramatic.

Jeff

Briançon, Col du Lauteret, Sestriere

No love on the Pilote facilities today…but not for lack of trying, we were able to dump our grey/black water but not get water or power. We geared up on food, had a nice lunch by a rushing river and headed out for the Col du Lauteret…a 19km ride up 2000m ending where Alex and I launched our final accent to Le Galibier. We took 1:15 to summit but only :26 to descend the course…needless to say we were MUCH better equipped this year than we were 5 yrs ago. Tea and crepes at the summit were fantastic. Back to the rig and off to Sestriere where we found a pizzeria and a flat place to park (a premium when in campervans). Ed got drunk at dinner and snorted some scotch…see attached video.

Jeff

Ed's Bag Found/Milan Circuit Race/Italian-French Boarder

Our day began in the shadow of ASSItalia Global Headquarters. Our challenge was to make it to Malpensa by 12 noon to collect Ed’s bag. We rolled in at 11:45 and Ed emerged minutes later with the missing duffel. Retuning to ASSItalia in Milan, we headed for town via 10 Corso Como. Yes, it’s as good as people say it is. Walking toward the Duomo, Jeff noticed the Giro traffic marshalls and sure enough the peloton rolled through three minutes later- with none other than Lance Armstrong leading the pack. He was riding his Shepard Fairey Livestrong frame- super sweet. We caught the race again three blocks later- then in front of the castle, where the Italians lined up to show their support. After a quick tour of the castle grounds, we walked toward the Duomo- stopped for a world-class photo-op, and sat for a lunch in Galleria Vittorio. Then it was underground on the metro to Piazza Venezia for the finish of the circuit race. Jeff sprinted like a lunatic through the metro stop to get across the course and dial in an unbeatable spot to watch the race pass and lead into the final 300m. Team Columbia lead out Mark Cavendish for the win. Walking back to the Pilote we stopped for a pizza slice then set off for the French Alps. Alex did driving honors in the mountain pass across the Italian/French border and we parked in upper Briancon. Club Pilote was going off- featuring a DJ Kicks soundtrack and open bar. Then our neighbor, Douggie Downer, pounded on the door and said in a thick French accent, “Musique… stop.” Night over- and Ed (despite recovering his bag) is still wearing his underwear from four days ago. Yes… the Pilote could use an air freshener.

Alex

Ride around Lake Como, Madonna de Ghisallo and Milano

I woke up at 11am and the parking lot had turned into a Russian bazaar…weird.
We rallied for the ride and headed North around the West side of Lake Como. Amazing, see photos. We rode to Menaggio just in time to catch the ferry to Bellagio and had an amazing lunch at Hotel de Lac but I almost lost it when we left to pay our respects to the church, Madonna a Ghisallo…a church dedicated to cyclists. The ride was 14% up…was was not ready for that. Alex was feeling good and charged while Ed and I struggled (me more than Ed). It was worth the trip and we found our way back via a local (Ed’s GPS failed). Before we left Como we watched the sun set and jumped in the lake for a quick rinse, to the amusement of some locals. Off to Milan to find a place to park and find a restaurant recommended by a friend, Alla Cucina Delle Langhe on the shopping street, Corso Como. Alex performed some acrobatic diving maneuvers (hopping curbs and backing into 4 lane traffic). We finally parked close to Stazione Girabaldi…and happened to be two blocks from the restaurant. What luck! We had some drinks and dinner al fresco…not sure about Ed’s Salisbury Steak but Alex and I split a great rigatoni pomodoro and a “chef salad”. We loved the courtyard at 10 Corso Como and later we lied to Marcella for some ice and had some night caps at the rig.
Did I mention Ed is wearing the same clothes?

Jeff

Milan/Como/Stage Dive

If you have not been to Malpensa (Milan’s international airport), it sucks as airports go…but whatever, it was nice to be met by Greta (and Davido) with our rented campervan our new home for the week (here for to know as “Pilote”) The only thing you need to know about The Pilote is that is bigger than previous Pilotes, by a lot…that sounds good but it is really a hassle when it comes to parking and navigating streets. Previous versions were small enough to pass in auto parks, but not this rig...
We make it to Lake Como by 2pm and set off in search of food and meet Shannon from Long Beach, CA (but has lived 15+ years abroad). We dine at Fred, a new joint in Como center and have what might be the best Panini’s I have ever eaten.
I head back to the rig b/c I am fading…I get some zzzz but am waked by the Politzia, I have to move the rig (we are in a car park). We find another location and set up for the night.
We had an amazing dinner at Pizzeria Messicano and head back to The Pilote to get a good nights sleep…it is not long before we realize that our parking lot if filling up with kids walking to what sounds like a club right next to our parking lot. Ed is fading so Alex; and I go to investigate…”After all, the party came to us” says Alex. He also describes the scene best as being both “tantalized and overwhelmed” by the formagio (cheese) at the club, “Como Fashion Club”. We met Sean, the bartender, who almost cried when we told him we were from NYC, and then he proceeded to give Alex and me free shots (Alex gives his to me). Sounds better than it was, Sean was making some nasty stuff…”why do you want Jack Daniels? (unnamed whiskey) is so much better?”
Alex was smart to leave early (2am) but I had more to give so stayed on…it gets a bit foggy but I vaguely remember a stage dive and I have some cuts and bruises.

Jeff

Check-in Fiasco

In an attempt to avoid being seen with me and Alex, and make use of his nifty soft-sided (and presumably covert) bike bag, Ed decides to pick a different bag-check line at JFK.
As it turns out, Alex and I checked in without hassle or fee (even though Jeff’s bag was 56lbs). Ed, on the other hand, was getting banged for $150 for overweight sports equipment…he fought the charge and went to talk to a supervisor, Alex and i went to Duty Free (3x1 ltr bottles of Jack w/ messenger bag for $72!)
So we meet up with Ed at the bar, he got out of the fee…but fast forward to arrival, his bike shows but not his bag…as I write this on 5/16 @9pm, he is wearing the same shirt.:-)

Jeff

Team Pilote 2009 Giro D'Italia Itinerary