One of the articles I read said, "the course offers something for everyone," which -- based on what I can see / already know of it means, "the course offers everyone his or her own personal version of hell."
When we arrived in the village, just outside the Porta Romana, there were a few bystanders and several policemen and volunteer traffic directors. We waited. And waited. And got an update on the location of the riders ("just a few minutes away!"). And waited. It's a good thing I had (as ever) some knitting in my purse!
Turns out, the riders were condemned to going up the 18% grade (posted, not an exaggeration, I swear) that passes conveniently by the cemetery. I haven't yet had a report on how many decided to call it quits there.
After circling the town, including a few 90-degree turns at speed, they had the dubious pleasure of going down the 15% grade to Ponte Naia. Now, I drive that way to take the kids to volleyball. Bearing in mind the recent financial troubles plaguing Italy, I leave it to you to imagine the road. If it's any assistance, Michael won't ride that road with me because he keeps bumping his head on the ceiling of the car.
Looking at the route, the course notes said that as it happens, it was actually one of the less gruelling days. Now, I love biking, and can't wait to get back out there now that the weather's better, but really? Amazing, that's all I have to say.
I have two videos for you -- one's of the two leaders; the rest of the pack was far behind. The second clip's quite a bit longer -- about 3 1/2 minutes, but there are a couple of things I'd love for you to note. Not knowing in advance, of course I didn't get perfect shots of a few of the silly things. I did give you the whole cavalcade, so you could see the extent of the support vehicles -- and towards the end, a turquoise/pale green car (I think) was going a bit fast, and ended up driving in what would have been the opposing direction lane through the turn, and around the traffic circle the wrong way! In my clip, you can't see the first part, but if you're paying attention you'll see it going around the traffic circle in the wrong direction.
A short time after that, our friendly traffic cop can be heard saying, "Piano, piano!" ("Slowly, slowly!") as the cars are coming through. Unfortunately, I didn't turn my camera in time for you to see his accompanying gestures...
Beforehand, I had no idea of what this race consisted. It turned out to be only the third day of a weeklong trip through Italy. Today's fun included crossing the mountain range -- making yesterday's course look like a walk in the park! For more information, I have this link.
Love,
Alexandra
Are you guys keeping up with the goings-on in Rome with the Conclave, etc? Just curious how that is perceived out in the little towns.
ReplyDeleteYes, of course! It was really neat seeing EVERYTHING stop in the gym lobby -- the whole gym was watching the TV coverage and talking about it. The next day we were all gabbing about it in the caffeteria.
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