Back in the Saddle Again

Watching the 4th Stage in Italian on RAI now. Their journalists have been interviewing many great men of the sport, including Eddie Merxx, and the man in pink today, David Millar, and they all say, basically, it's a terrible tragedy, but this is a dangerous sport, and this kind of thing could happen any day, everyday in the sport.

But still they ride, these true athletes.  Nobody dies in golf. As the Italians say, "Ciclismo e' una grande passione."

Wouter Weylandt was Tyler Farrar's best friend, and he's gone home today.  He can't take it. He's a sprinter and doing that takes so much focus.  Maybe if he stayed in the race, he might get hurt during a moment of inattentiveness. Continuing would have been particularly hard for him, whose father became a paraplegic after being hit on his bike head-on by a car. His father still cycles, though.

Trying to wrap my mind and heart around all of this. When I ride out on my bike to work every day I take the risk that some distracted amped up L.A. driver might make the wrong move and hurt, maim or kill me. I do all I can to be safe, to be visible.  I wear a helmet, gloves, multiple flashing lights, reflective clothing, but in the end, that may not be enough. I'm still going to ride. Heck, I could die in my bathtub. Life is risky. Might as well do what you love. Leopard Trek is back in the saddle today. Life goes on. The race is beautiful, the landscape lush and full of castles, crashing waves, stately maritime pines, and fortresses built to protect the local people from Barbary Coast pirates. Life can be exquisitely lovely and horrible all at once. And we race on through it, too fast, sometimes, for our own good.

In the meantime, I'd like to personally ask that Universal Sports and RAI please start broadcasting in HD. I want to see every dangerous gorgeous moment of my favorite race in my favorite place in the world.

Forza ciclisti! Viva il Giro!

And as I close this, the entire Leopard Trek team, and Tyler are riding in a line across the road, a formation of silence at the front of the pack, in tribute to their fallen comrade, Wouter Weylandt. Farrar is visibly weeping. No one is racing today. The fourth stage is a funeral cortege. It is one year since Weylandt won the third stage of the Giro.

And the whole team, plus Farrar, comes across the finish. In silence.

Stage 12: Through the Massif Central

Tyler Farrar is out of the Tour! That means 2 of my fantasy cycling team are not there. I had Mark Renshaw, too! Renshaw was thrown out for cutting off Farrar in yesterday's sprint. He also head-banged Julian Dean. Never seen that before!

All those crashes at the beginning, and loads of bad luck. Too bad, boys—it just won't be as interesting without you. Of course, looking at the upcoming killer mountain stages in the Pyrenees, maybe you are lucky.

Today's stage is the steepest of all of them just at the end--14 percent grade climbs in spots up into Mende.

This is a rural area, part of the Massif Central--a mountainous area in the center of France, and it is part of the Lanquedoc, an area where the local people still speak Occitaine, or Provencal, a romance language that is not French. It's the language that Eleanor of Acquitane spoke. In the Massif Central there are tiny villages and lovely spas, and you can kayak and rock climb. The forests here are deep and lush.

Looking ahead, there are some truly gnarly stages in the Pyrenees, but today, just at the end, it's so steep, that they are just dropping off the back. What a rough tour!

Vive le Tour! Vive la France!

A demain!

Stage 1: Rotterdam to Brussels

What a lot of fuster cluck in this race at the end of today's stage. But you gotta love Alessandro Petacchi running like a greyhound to the line, although I was so hoping Tyler Farrar would be flying the Stars and Stripes from the top of the podium. No Cav, neither. Such an unpredictable race, and clearly the peloton is super-twitchy with the big rivalries and lots of new blood firing up the nerves.

Anyway, welcome to Brussels, where you can eat like a king--moules-frites, which is mussels and french fries rolled together in newpaper so you can walk around with it. Fries with mayonnaise, to help your arteries. Belgian waffles are also walking around food. And, of course, there is the beer. And if you are the King of Belgium, you also get to hang out with cycling legend Eddy Merckx. It's good to be the king.

Tomorrow some cobbles and hopefully not so much craziness.

Vive le Tour!

A demain!

Stage 12: Along the Adriatic

Today's stage could end in a sprint finish where we are sure to see our friend Tyler Farrar and Garmin hitting it hard.

This is a flat stage, along the lovely Adriatic, which, for much of its modern history was ruled by the Republic of Venice. Venice, so influenced in its heyday of the 11th, 12th and 13th century by the Byzantine Empire. And so, in San Marco--on famous Piazza San Marco, the center of Venice, there are those glimmering gold mosaic tiles, so wonderful at reflecting candle light.

A game I like to play with myself whenever I'm in Italy is to find a monument and project myself back in time to when the monument was built. So in the Pantheon in Rome, I imagine men in togas followed by their retinues of slaves, paying homage to their pagan gods. In Venice, I imagine Casanova in the decadent late duds of velvet, lace and powdered wigs, or Piazza San Marco swarming--like it is today--with people from all over the world. Except I imagine the turbaned turks, the clerics in long red robes and wide-brimmed red hats. Today people complain about the pigeons in St. Mark's square, but imagine it with refuse of all kinds. How did they keep it clean, say, in the medieval era? Venice today is great in the early morning, when workboats full of all of the basics of life--sodas, oranges and other produce, and almost anything else a tourist could need, enter the floating city to refuel it after its night of revelry.

The tour heads into Le Marche, where they drink Verdicchio--a grassy white wine, and where they grow all kinds of cereal crops and have a thriving cattle industry. This area was part of the Medieval and Renaissance struggle between Pope and Holy Roman Emperor that produced the Guelphs and the Ghibellines. They say that Le Marche is a great place to buy yourself a house, now that the Brits and wealthy Americans have jacked up housing prices in Tuscany and Umbria.

But I've driven down from Ravenna through the Appenines, and those mountains are really formidable--high and even the autostrada seem to be winding and perilous. I might need to buy my house in Lazio so I wouldn't have some huge mountains in between me and my beloved Roma.

Yesterday the GC competition blew apart bigtime and most of the top ten are newbie twentysomethings on their first Grand Tour. They will not make it through the mountains. The only seasoned GC guy in range is Carlos Sastre. He was amazing in the mountains last year, particularly on the Vesuvius stage. My money is now on him, although I treasure a bit of hope for our Hobbity Cadel Evans. Would love to see what he can do in the the Dolomites. Can he climb back up from being 11 minutes back? Probably not. It will be awesome to see him try.

Next week is a stage from Ferrara--Italian bike city--to Asolo, which is a gorgeous hill town in the Veneto, and I've been there. Guys in their seventies ride bikes up there every morning, dressed in fancy hideously garish bike kit, and they are in better shape than I will ever be.

Biking to work today. Stopping at a pitstop to maybe win me a Dahon folding bike. They have the coolest machines--one with a front hub that will power your lights, and your iPhone! That one's for me! Wish me luck!

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!