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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!
