Stage 13: Ferrara to Asolo

I've been so distracted with the Tour of California that I woke up this morning not realizing that today is the Asolo Stage! I have biked here, down from the town--not up a 7% grade to Monte Grappa, as the riders did today, but I've been here. And I've biked here just at this time of year.

A strange thing I remembered yesterday--climbing up the 2-mile hill that wound back and forth to Asolo and as I got slower I could see that wild strawberries were growing out of the stone walls on the right--and they looked ripe. Of course I was up on the pedals just trying to drag myself up the hill and worried that when we were done with this climb, Stoney was going to kill me. It had been our longest day--50 miles, and it was in the middle of a heat wave. But by the end of the day, following our directions on paper inside a plastic sleeve attached to our handlebars, we knew how long a kilometer was in the flats, just by feel.

Before we got to the climb up to Asolo we made our way towards the foothills of the Dolomites through fields, some ploughed, some green, some full of yellow and red wildflowers. On that day we noticed there are field planted with neat rows of young trees--they must be there to break the wind, but they looked surreal. We came across old men on bikes going to churches and weddings in suits. It was Sunday and it was May, and apparently there are many weddings in the Veneto in May.

We'd visited the Villa Emo, a villa designed by Palladio in the mid-1500s, and it's pretty much the first time in house archeticture where you see the modern house--no fortifications, no slits through which to pour hot oil and melted lead. Just a house--but it's based on ancient Roman architectural element, so the main part looks a bit like a temple, but inside the proportions are so comfortable. The frescoes inside are ridiculously beautiful, so it's not that this place isn't an extravagent country house, it's just that we could imagine hanging out there and having a great time. You can visit many Palladian villas in the Veneto. This area was the part of Italy most often ruled by Venice. I say most often because in times past, Venice, Florence and Milan would pass these towns back and forth during times of war.

During this time period the wealthy families of the Veneto built villas in the countryside so they could get out of Venice during the pestilent summer. Now tourists flock to Venice in the summer. So do the mosquitoes. It's much better in the early spring--after the big floods--and the late fall.

Today, have some prosecco. The Bortolomiol bottle above shows the traditional bell-shaped bottle for Prosecco, but you can almost never find that bottle here in the states. If you find a bottle like that, buy it. For the uninitiated, Prosecco is a naturally sparkling Italian wine. It's dry and delicious. Should not be too sweet. Get the Brut-style, which is like champagne, except, in my opinion, is much better!

Or have a spritz--a coctail made with one of 3 possible kinds of bitters, and prosecco, and maybe a splash of club soda, and a slice of orange--blood orange, if you can find it. The 3 bitters are, from sweetest to most bitter: Aperol, Campari, and Cynar. These are all kind of like the bitterness of orange peel, except Cynar is made with Artichokes! All are an acquired taste, but once you acquire it, that bitterness is very refreshing on a hot day. And we had lots of hot days in the Veneto.

Stoney and I did a wine tasting in the Valdobbiadene area, which is one of the two areas where real prosecco is made, and we were greatly surprised to be trying 6 varieties of prosecco that all tasted quite different. They had filled one of each bottle with earth from the region that the grapes were from, and even the color of the earth was different. Those fields of prosecco grapes climbing up cliffs, row upon row upon row.

At every breakfast in the Veneto they had meats and cheeses, and the best cured meat was the speck, which is the leanest and smokiest part of the prosciutto ham. It's called speck, a Germanic word, because it's basically an Austro-Hungarian style of cured ham. It's a great morning pick-me-up before a long day in the saddle.Once Venice lost its Mojo sometime in the 18th century, its territories were often conquered by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and so in this area, the higher you get into the mountains, the more folks speak a kind of local German. There is also a small area around Cortina (fancy ski resort) where people speak a language called Ladin. Ladin is supposed to be the closest surviving language related to Latin. This area had a pass used by the Romans to get into Germania, and they left this language behind, and then this area was cut off from the rest of the world effectively for thousands of years. This kind of stuff just blows my mind. It's like a real Shangri-La or Brigadoon.

The Veneto is also studded with very moving monuments to the WWI and WWII battles and casualties. It was from the Dolomites that the Italians defended their land against their enemies, and many were lost, and people still live there with memories of battles and devastation we can barely imagine. The Alpini are mountain troops--local soldiers, and they wear hats that, I swear, look like Peter Pan's--with feathers. They are much honored still in annual parades, and Alpini fly into this area from all over the world to be part of it.

Truly a rich and fantastic part of Italy. Don't go there. We want it all to ourselves. ;)

Viva il Veneto!

Viva il Giro! Viva Italia!

A domani!

Giro Stage 2: Amsterdam to Utrecht

Waiting for the Italian feed to start, but I know who won today's stage. No spoilers, but I'm psyched.

L.A. seems to have caught gray from Amsterdam this morning, but hopefully it will burn off so Stoney and I can take a ride somewhere under bluebird skies. We're thinking of checking on the progress of the L.A. River extension southward. I think they are planning to make it so you can ride from Griffith Park all the way down to Long Beach without hitting surface streets. Could be great for commuters. One way from Griffith Park to Long Beach is about 35 miles, and you can do it on a bike every year in a big fun group at the L.A. River Ride. There are longer and shorter ride options, and your entry fee raises money for the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, which, among other things, advocates for bike safety with local legislators. Anyone who rides our mean streets with regularity knows this is a good thing. The ride is well-supported and a cool way to tap into L.A.'s cycling community.

More info on the LA River Ride, June 6, 2010

It's happened, that first Giro Italian feed moment--they cut from faces waiting by the finish line to a shot through an open window at some fancy ladies undies drying on a rack. I didn't watch the English version, but I'm pretty sure they cut that out.

Yesterday we saw the Leonardo exhibit and a special lecture about it up at the Getty Center. Very cool. Can't believe it's possible to go up close to the Master's drawings. To look at the lines, the ink and chalk put there by his hand. Amazing. Most folks think that drawing of a bike found in one of his notebooks is a hoax put there later, perhaps by a cycling fan, which is kind of too bad.

Can you tell I'm underwhelmed about Amsterdam? I'm writing about everything else. OK, I'll look up Utrecht and see if there's anything I found interesting. An art supplies company appears at the top of the Google search. Makes sense--northern center of trade, very rich in the 1500s and the centuries after--lots of demand for fancy decorations in houses, aka paintings, by great artists, and a place where you could find the finest raw materials to make the most vivid pigments.

I look up to see a windmill at around 70k to the finish line. Picturesque. Good setting for landscape paintings. I would love to bike there someday. Nice and flat, flat, flat! The peloton looks fresh and frisky--happy to be out there, for the most part. Guys doing what they've trained so hard to do. Best in the world. It's fun to watch them chat with each other over the long winding days of riding. Folks who aren't fans of the sport may not know how important relationships and alliances are in the peloton. This is why George Hincapie, who is so likeable and cool, and as strong as a dray horse, is a truly great rider.

This land between Amsterdam and Utrecht really is pretty and pale green, cute with cottages, canals and rivers everywhere. Basic landscape like the first day of our bike ride through the Veneto--around Mira to Villa Mallatesta. Very different architecture, but canals like this. The first night there we ate tiny crabs and shrimp fished out of the canals on a bed of polenta. Mira and Dolo are lesser known parts of the Veneto, but definitely worth a trip. If you're ever in Riviera del Brenta, try the spritz, which is Prosecco and some kind of bitter liquor--choose from Campari, which is medium bitter, Aperol, which is sweeter, and Cynar, which is the most bitter and weirdly cool, because it's made with artichokes. There I go again, wishing I and the Giro were in Italy, where we seem to belong. What am I going to do if they do the first few stages in Washington, D.C. next year? Aside from fly there and stay at my sister's so I can watch it?

One rider, Edward King (?) fell earlier, tearing his shorts, and is riding, bare-assed, to Utrecht. Those modern housing units in Houten are damn un-pretty, I must say. Yeesh! And now for some Fausto Coppi stock footage! And this year's silly theme song. "Pedala! Non fermati mai..." Tyler Farrar crashed on some road furniture. Lots of crashes. Garmin is pulling Farrar back up to the front. And another crash, Katusha rider, and no teammates in sight. That sucks. Watching Farrar hold onto the team car as the mechanic fixes his bike--driving and riding. Always amazes me. Massive crash! Look at the bikes completely intertwined. This is the crashiest day I've seen in a long time. Rough day for Bradley Wiggins from Britain, in pink, on the first British team ever. Team Sky is pulling him back up to the front.

By the way, Wikipedia has some lovely photos of canals in the historical center. Italy has industrial complexes like the one they're showing now in the helicopter shot. But it also has pasta and bruschetta. Just sayin.' We went through an area like that on the way to Bassano del Grappa in 2007 in a heat wave. Why is there always a heat wave when I go to Italy? What's up with that?

Pictures above, by the way, are Utrecht circa 1890, Amstel bottlecap, and kroketten, which is deep fried mystery meat and, I'm told, delish.

Happy Mother's Day, everybody! Makes me think of going to the Clam Broth House in Hoboken every year for the event. Sawdust on the floor. Little neck steamed clams, crab claws, and my mom eating the yuckiest parts of a 2-lb lobster with impeccable grace and style. Love you, Mamma! How could they close the Clam Broth House? It was Ole Blue Eyes' favorite. And there was a rock bar next store called Boo-Boo's where you could have steamers with your rockabilly and beer. Now that's a pairing!

20k to go, and Team Sky is driving the peloton. This part of Utrecht looks like Newark. (Paradise on the Passaic.) If you're gonna live someplace that grim, you should get to have bike paths along every road. That almost evens it out. Sorta.

I'm hungry now, and I want an egg, bacon and cheese croissant sandwich from Café Tropical. Wrong but right.

Yesterday at the Getty I saw at least 5 books I have to read. Christopher Hibbert's The Borgias--love that guy; such an entertaining popular historian. Too bad he's gone. Can't wait for Showtime's show about them starring Jeremy Irons. Love the Tudors.

Inside 10k, massive massive crash, including Pippo Pozzato, Italian national road champion. Doctor checking him out. Who planned this effin' route? It's frickin' dangerous. This kind of crap is why the riders protested and went "slow" in Milan last year. Guess the Giro planners didn't learn from that. Seriously, guys, this ain't Ancient Rome and we don't need to see our gladiators die on the open road. It's only day 2 and look at all the carnage.

OK, so final sprint and Tyler Farrar won. Petacchi was nowhere to be seen in the first group. Cadel Evans in pink, and I bet he's wishing Hincapie was not doing the Tour of California this year. He could use him now because he's wearing pink too early. Gonna be tough to hang onto it, and it's going to tire out his team, which is already one man down. Maybe they'll strategically let it go tomorrow. No one's gonna help his team out on the front.

Makes us mad when there are so many crashes, but today did not disappoint!

Tomorrow, it's Amsterdam through Rotterdam to Middleberg, and what may be the flattest stage ever in the Giro. Look for the sprinters to rule the day. Maybe our friend Tyler Farrar can pull a double-header. Nice strategic work by Jonathan Vaughters, director sportif of Garmin!

A domani!