2,000', 3,000', don't stop till you have 4.

My first ride in Italy accrued a total of 2,000' climbing, and the second totaled all of 3,000'. Therefore, on the 3rd ride, I decided we must do at least 4,000'. That's logical (remember, I'm simple minded). The morning skies were beginning to cloud up in Castelrotto, so we packed our bags, said goodbye, and headed south to Trento. Exiting the autostrada in Trento, we drove in the direction of the mountain we had previously selected to climb; Mt Bondone.





The weeks prior to our trip, we combed the internet for ride reports in the area. I came upon a guy's cycling blog with somewhat detailed accounts of rides in the Trento region near Lake Garda, an area with which we were familiar from previous trips.

We had wanted to start from the town of Sardagna, but didn't want to waste anymore time navigating our way there. We stumbled upon a tiny blip of a town called, Cadine, that looked like a good starting point. The next trick is to find the magical blue sign with a big "P" on it. Every town has these signs to let you know it is safe and legal to park in the designated area, and many of them are usually free. Bingo, we found it, parked and unloaded.

It's a bit of a hassle "riding out of the car"; everything you have is all crammed in the vehicle. Performing luggage gymnastics to reach your belongings requires all the agility and patience one can muster. This also means all your belongings, including the beloved laptop, will be sitting in the car while you are out cycling all day. In Hawaii, you would never do this because nothing would be left upon your return. But in Italy (outside of major cities) this really isn't much of a concern. It is still an ordeal trying to remember just where you packed your cycling gear, your camelbak, you heart rate strap, and the gu. Oh yea, where's the darn chapstick.



Finally after scrounging around and a quick assembly of the front wheels to the bikes, we were off. Not really sure where to go, we just looked for a road that went UP. Quickly we were riding through the town of Sopramonte, then hooking up with the road we wanted.




It didn't take too long to get high enough to take in the big views. We weren't sure where we were looking, but it sure was grand. We would pass large open fields dotted with random sunbathers soaking up the warm sun. Seems like they had to make quite the effort to get up here, but then again, so did we.



We learned that the Giro has come through here on occasion. Legendary climber, Charly Gaul, won the Giro in 1956 & 1959, displaying his climbing prowess on this mountain (He also won the Tour de France in 1958). All of a sudden, I began to feel quick and nimble. I was a legend in my own mind, climbing with the likes of past professionals before me.

The up side of doing daily rides of long extended climbs is the endurance you build. The down side is you get soft after a while. Over the days my speed and quickness diminish as I'm lulled into a slow rythmic pace of climbing. I rarely do any bursts or jumps because I'm thinking I need to pace myself for what's ahead. In fact, I have no idea what's ahead, thus the pacing. Back home on U.S. soil there will be plenty of time for intervals to reclaim speed, I'm on vacation right now. On, on.




We passed through Vaneze, Norge, Vason, and finally Viote. I knew this meant we were up essentially at the top. The views went on for days and were the typical dramatic vistas. How do they find these views??? Simply amazing.




We rode along the ridge in silence, the beauty was a bit overwhelming. There was so much exploring to be had, but time was running out for us today. A quick check of the Garmin would confirm if the goal for the day had been achieved. Yea, 4,000' worth of climbing! Reluctantly, we turned around to head back down.



I love the descents because you get to take the views all in without the huffing and puffing.



Another glorious climb/descent has come to an end. Our car is just as we left it waiting to take us on to the next stop. We load up the bikes as moms stroll by while their kids run ahead to the park just beside our parking spot. The town bells toll briefly drowning out the children's laughter. There's something about the sound of chiming bells that is very soothing to me. I doubt the kids even notice them.




From here it is a quick hop back on the autostrada south to the Rovererto exit. We head west through Mori and Nago and drop down to Torbole on the north shore of beautiful Lake Garda. The exceptionally clear day makes for a dramatic drive with rocky cliffs towering on either side of the valley opening up to a specatacular view of the lake.



We were happy to quickly find our Hotel, Albergo Caminetto, right smack dab in the middle of Torbole. This meant the car could be parked for the next few days, and our feet or bikes could do the traveling. A relaxing 3 min stroll along the lakefront brought us to the Hotel Grier where we sat down outside for an evening meal of fresh lake trout and grilled vegetables. The town was teeming with cyclists and tourists. We watched them all pass by as we relaxed with a view of sunset behind the mountain drapped lake and a table full of good food.




To go to my photo gallery, double click on the slideshow, or just watch the thumbnail slideshow right here.



Thinking it would be hard to fall asleep being all abuzz with today's adventure, I zonked out immediately. I needed the sleep. Tomorrow would be a big day, climbing Mt Tremalzo. We could hardly wait!
2,000', 3,000', now 4,000'; we have to do 5,000' next to keep the trend going!


If you haven't already figured it out, these reports are obviously written well after our return home to Georgia. Therefore, I am interjecting a little snippet of our first weekend of riding now that we're back. This Saturday was to be the much anticipated grassroots "race" in the Cohuttas. But thanks to a certain hurricane, most everyone was scared off and chose to do other forms of torture. Namrita and Eddie and a handful of hardcore racers allegedly did the FW, and reported it to be in great condition. I want pictures.

Raja and I received an invitation to join Larry and some of his W.O.T. teammates to ride Six Gap. Since we were already psyched up for a sufferfest, we figured this would be a great substitute. Suffer indeed. As I mentioned before about our trip, my legs were not used to steep climbing or chasing down lean mean racing machines.

Lean and mean pretty much sums up the company we were keeping this Saturday morning. Somehow we survived 81 miles of tortourous climbing, 8800' to be exact. At least it helped us decide we would not be doing the Six Gap century in 2 weeks. Been there, done that plenty of times, don't need to do it yet again. Having been off the road bike the week prior to our trip, then riding the Euro bike for another week, my body was already de-conditioned to the roadie position. My neck hurt, my shoulders hurt, and my back was screaming. I don't mind riding the road in Italy with fabulous views on a Litespeed mtn bike, but 5+ hours on a Trek 5500 without any killer views was killing my body. I'm a mountain biker to the core.




This is a nice enough view for a Georgia morning, but it was sort of a let down from what I was used to seeing. Today we were driving just outside of Ducktown, TN to the Ocoee Whitewater Center to meet a group riding the Tanasi trail system.
Southern singletrack is one thing that the rest of the world doesn't have a thing on us. There's nothing like it, and we had a blast. I was finally happy to be back home!





Last night's ice bath helped pump out the lactic acid from yesterday's Climb-a-rama. We had a ball zipping around, up and down on the beautiful trails. The best part of Tanasi is the Thunder Rock Express, a rockin' fun downhill. You gotta do it, it's a thrill a minute!!!
I feel sorry for roadies that don't get to experience the fun and camaraderie we do in mountain biking (I am a roadie too). See here just how much fun we had!



Stay tuned for more Italy reports. I have 3 more to go! Yikes!

Will Climb for Strudel

Being the simple minded person that I am, it doesn't take much to amuse me.
Put a piece of strudel on top of a mountain, and I will do what it takes to get up there to eat it! This was at the front of my mind as we began the 2nd ride of our Italian Cycling Crescendo Trip.

Day 2 greeted us with bright sunshine and blue skies. Raja was feeling much better and ready to ride. I had so much fun on yesterday's adventure, I suggested we do the same route so he could see it all for himself. We've been up to the Alpe di Siusi hiking, but this was our first time on bike. It's always a different experience on 2 wheels. I didn't mind at all having to repeat the same climb with the same views. How could you tire of this?





Plenty of helmetless Italians were out today. Colorful cycling shorts are the norm in Euroland. Most cyclists wear brightly colored kits and many are laden down with enormous backpacks. It took me a while to realize that they carry a full wardrobe in those packs. When you do these descents, you need about 10 layers of clothes to keep you warm.




Today seemed to be more crowded than yesterday. Hikers, horses, cyclists.
I'm not complaining, in fact, I love it.



Excuse me, hello, on your left, excuse me, hi, hello




Once we reached the top of the climb at the village of Compatsch, we continued along the road to take in the tremendous views. It was even more dramatic the second time around. Double click on the video clip to take a rest stop with us and enjoy the view. And yes, that is the wind you hear.



Views, views, and more views. Makes road riding pretty tolerable. If we only had this on the comet at home.





Even though the wind had made things a bit chilly, 8 degrees Celsius to be exact, we were determined to continue our quest for strudel. Raja, still on the fringes of getting over his sickness, probably did not need to be exerting himself on such a climb with cold air in his lungs. But we're talking about some killer strudel here! The show must go on! We've already gotten 2,000' out of the way.
Just 1,000' more to go.




We reached our destination: Panorama Hotel, perched on top of the world. Two slices of apfelstrudel with vanilla sauce and a cup of hot chocolate. MMMMmmmmmm.
Strudel mit view!



We bundled up to make the long descent down. I have a hard time concentrating with all these mountains distracting me.




Back at our hotel, Raja is still ready for more riding. Just a few meters down the road were some signs for biking paths. Woohoo! Let's go exploring!




This gave us ideas for more riding in the days to come. Maybe we can extend our trip to a month, no, two.
A wonderful day of climbing and eating! What more could I ask for?
A sauna perhaps? How convenient, included in our stay was use at the hotel's relaxing sauna room. Beautiful Italian tile mosaics, a cup of peppermint tea, and the whole Euro sauna experience. I think I've died and gone to heaven.

Double click the slide show to go to the gallery or just watch it right here.


PS. Check out these figs. They were huge, so juicy and delicious.
Can't find these at Kroger.


I could hardly wait for tomorrow's adventure.

Italian Cycling Crescendo

A crescendo is the perfect way to describe our Italy cycling trip. Each day was better than the day before, each ride more beautiful and epic than the previous one, until it exploded on the final day's climb up the Stelvio Pass. Although from the beginning of the trip, I never would have expected it to turn out so well.

I conveniently got sick 5 days before we flew to Munich, which kept me off the bike for 5 days. I cannot remember the last time I took that much time off. This made me extremely nervous. To put the icing on the cake, Raja got sick the day before we flew out. We were off to a roaring start.

We flew into Munich, arriving on Sunday, Sept 2nd. Hertz gave us a fantastic Mazda 6 wagon which can accommodate 2 adults, 2 bike cases, 2 suitcases, 1 small suitcase, and 2 backpacks, all with great ease. Other than its horrible turning radius and the fact that we got the smaller engine, Raja enjoys driving this car. It is our 2nd time to have one for Europe.

Somehow we made the 3 1/2 hr drive (with the help of an hour long nap at a rest stop) to our destination; the tiny picturesque town of Castelrotto, located in the Sud Tirol region of northern Italy. It is surrounded by the beautiful Dolomites and offers jaw dropping views every where you look. We scored a fantastic apartment with a killer view at the Residence Vroni.





There is nothing pleasant about an overseas flight, especially when you are sick or just getting over being sick. Raja was not doing so hot that first day. Even when you are well, you feel like death warmed over after such a long flight and NO sleep. In spite of his state, the beauty of the gorgeous afternoon gave him enough inspiration to at least drive up to the top of the Alpe di Siusi to enjoy the views before we called it a day, a loooooooooong day.





The next morning greeted us with a spectacular view of clear skies and mountains towering over the valley. Fortunate for me, my dear Raja mustered up the energy to build up my bike so that I could at least take it all in on 2 wheels. Our apt was at the base of a 5 mile climb leading up to the Alpe di Siusi area, a hiking mecca. The road closes to cars at 9am, which meant I only had to share the climb with the bus and a few authorized cars. This area is crawling with hikers and a good many cyclists that come up for the insane views. The only way up, other than by bus, foot, or bike is the gondola. My friends, Jeff and Melissa, would be in hikers heaven. I was wishing they were here.





I missed not having Raja with me, but still felt like a kid in a candy shop giddy with excitement. The views were so incredible that I forgot I was climbing.....which usually involves suffering. No suffering today. It felt so good to be out enveloped with crisp cool air and surrounded by unlimited views of mountains and flowers. No more 95 degree stifling Hotlanta air which I am afraid to breathe.
The camera never left my hand. So many beautiful shots, oh, and this one, oh, and look over there, oh, oh, oh!!!



At the top, I cycled along the narrow road exploring little paths and soaking it all in like a sponge. I felt a little guilty that Raja was not with me. From this vantage point, there are still countless opportunities to climb more. The little road I was on crisscrosses a zillion different hiking paths leading to the rocky peaks towering above. A few years ago, we did one of the hikes. It was insane. I am happy to be on my bike. I don't think my feet could have handled a hike today.

Here's a tiny video of the beautiful view on the road from Compatsch to Saltria:





Without Raja the garminator along to keep the stats, I had to rely on the signs. Content with 2 hrs and 2,000' of climbing, I resisted the temptation to get a strudel without my sherpa. We would get strudel tomorrow. The descent was just as spectacular as the climb. It was a day to remember. The trip had only just begun!

More pics!

I love Mondays!

I actually look forward to Mondays, especially 11:30 a.m. on Mondays! That's when I get to pay a visit to two of my favorite friends, Janusz and Nancy. Janusz Mazon is the man responsible for keeping my beat up, tired ole body on the bike and pedaling week after week. I am not a woman of many frills and treats, but this is one luxury I allow myself in which to indulge. It is not really an indulgence, but rather a necessity.





After years of mountain biking abuse and 2 unfortunate encounters with cars, chronic pains and injuries slowly ate away at my ability to ride at the level to which I was accustom. Over the course of 10 yrs, I have been through a long list of chiropractors, orthopaedists, physical therapists, and massage therapists. Each one helped to a degree, but the injuries always returned.

Janusz has been the light at the end of the tunnel I've been searching for all these years! Even though he is Ballet Master with the Georgia Ballet, he still finds time to run a successful chiropractic practice. Having spent the better part of his life as a professional dancer; principal dancer with the Hamburg Ballet and touring extensively around the world, I figured he could relate to me as an athlete. It has made all the difference! No, this is not a commercial. I'm just a happy camper.






So every weekend, I thrash my body to the limit knowing that Janusz will work those kinked up muscles right
back into place. He's better than any massage therapist I've ever had, and I've been to many. But what really pleases me is how much I've learned from him; serious stretching that has made a huge difference, and strengthening exercises. He has armed me with knowledge to help myself, so that I can take responsibility for my body to help avoid these chronic issues that have plagued me for so long. Yea, I love Mondays!

Mondays I also get to ride recovery pace. I can do whatever I want. Today I took out the Euro bike for one last spin. I entertained myself by taking pictures with the new camera we bought for the trip and trying to find any flowers that had survived the present heatwave.







Thanks to our lovely "Comet" trail, I can ride through neighborhoods and on to the trail all the way to the mountain without a huge fear of getting hit by a car. It took my 2 accidents before they decided it was worth putting it in, but that's better than no trail.






This delightful Monday was capped off with a surprise visit from some ole cycling buddies that have moved away to Asheville. Back in town with a new baby, we got to hook up for dinner. I miss my riding buds, but we still have fantastic memories of epic rides, trips, and races. Now there's a new generation of mtn bikers on the horizon!

Karen and Marvin's new addition, lil Max.



Don and Terri's slugger, Jack.


Here's to happy Mondays!

Nimbelwill Rain Festival

This weekend was the Nimbelwill Mountain Bike Festival in North Georgia. The poker ride has always been a favorite of Raja's, so we cleared the calender for the all important event. Saturday was to be an easy 3 hr road ride so as not to burn out the legs for Sunday's festivities.

We rounded up 5 of our roadie friends for an early morning ride. I fell for the oldest trick in the book, "we're tired of hammering, just want to go easy." Yea, yea, wish I had a dime for every time I've heard that line. My legs were still heavy and not yet recovered from the week of climbing. I stuck to my guns and kept my heart rate where I wanted it, while watching the hammerheads pull away on every climb. It was still a nice ride on new roads for me, and I always enjoy these guys' company. Satisfied that we got in exactly 3 hrs for the day, I spent a good hour stretching and rolling my legs to prepare for Sunday.

We arrived Sunday morning bright and early, ready to map out a strategy for getting the most "punches" for our poker hand. Roger managed to get a map early on and poured over the punch locations to plan our our route. He knows every one of these trails; mark one, advantage for us.



We started at 9:30 and had 4 hrs to get as many punches as possible (8 total possible). Of course, the wild card punch was at the top of the long delightful climb up Winding Stair. After a quick diversion to get a punch on NoTell, we started the lovely climb up, up, up. Things were going along swimmingly. We reached the top, punched away (well, Mike was so excited about being the first up that he forgot to punch his card), then turned around to descend back down.


I was flying down the road, when all of a sudden, Mr.Bee decides to make a bulls eye between my legs, to my.....AAAAhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!


Ouch! Thanks alot, Mr. Bee!!!! I almost ripped my shorts off, but I remembered Mike was behind me, so I thought better of it. I popped an Allegra in my mouth, and tried not to focus on the PAIN! I can't emphasize strongly enough how much I believe in immunotherapy. Being in my 4th year of getting monthly shots, I no longer have to be afraid of getting stung. I used to be allergic to all stinging insects, and had to carry an epi pen. But I no longer have the reactions since I have been getting the shots. So, if you are allergic, go to your allergist and get started!

Our plan continued to work out great, with Raja leading the way. We got punch #3, #4, and were on our way to #5. At this rate, we're going to get 7 for sure. Then, KaBoom, Crash, Bolt of Lightening, drops of rain. Hmmm. A passing thunderstorm to cool us off? After 10 minutes of rain pelting down harder and harder, it became evident that our plans were going to change. The trails turned quickly to mud, slippery, ice slick mud. Glasses became useless, eyes became useless, brakes were useless, THIS is useless!

We found punch #5, barely, and continued bravely on with valiant thoughts of no surrender. Secretly we were all thinking something else. As we approached the climb/descent leading us to punch #6, Raja spoke up, voicing our thoughts. We ditched our efforts and headed back to camp. But as we neared the camp, it was obvious that it wasn't raining near the last punch. We had enough time to make the Black Falls punch before the 4 hr deadline. All was not in vain!

3 hrs 8 min, and only 27 miles, a bee sting, 10 lbs of mud, and soaked to the bone.
You gotta love mountain biking! I can only think of one Nimblewill Festival that I've done where I didn't ride in the rain. Either '95 or '96. The year I also won a mountain bike! This year I got a decent hand, and won a Yakima bike rack, and Raja scored a bike computer!

Do not adjust your screen:
That's Mike, in the above picture, riding in the rain before it
really started coming down!

Euro bike shakedown

With less than 2 weeks before our Italy trip, it is crucial that I get the "Euro bike" in riding order. Raja has transformed my hardtail from a singlespeed to a gearie with 1.25 slicks. This will enable me to ride some of the gravel roads on our routes as well as the pavement. But we will also be able to switch out the tires to fatty treads for a day of mountain biking if we wish.

Last night I took the Litespeed to ride on the Vinings recovery ride. Expecting to be lugging around a bag of cement, I was pleasantly surprised at the ease I had riding it in the pack. Raja had removed some of the spacers to lower the stem, putting me in a more comfortable position. Last night was the final test, and I think I'm ready to give Italy a go on my "Euro bike."

Just got in an early morning ride in order to beat the heat. Started out at 7:30 tackling the hills in the neighborhoods, then met up with Kev and Robin at the mountain. Legs were still a bit tired from last night, but I managed to pull out 5 repeats. Although they weren't at as hard an effort as normal, I still got in a good workout of 2 1/2 hrs. I should have been riding the Litespeed, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. How could I pass up a 17lb road bike for hill repeats up Kennesaw mountain? I need to weigh the Litespeed, or better yet, maybe I'd rather not know.
(Edit: found out it weighs in at 26 lbs. Ouch.)