I'm in Tuscany right now! Going to climb some mountains in Massa Saturday! *If I can find a suitable road bike

JohnOlsson said:

I'm in Tuscany right now! Going to climb some mountains in Massa Saturday! *If I can find a suitable road bike

Take pictures!

Climbing Adventure in La Spezia, Italy! 

What an experience! I want to share with you all some of the lessons learned, sights, & the feels of my 100km ride through the mountainous Italian countryside of La Spezia. Link to the strava activity: https://www.strava.com/activities/1107597625

My weapon of choice was a cannondale supersix evo…picker her up at Cicli Maggi (highly recommended if you are near Tuscany). She was very light, responsive, & smooth on the descents:

& here is a summary of the elevation change during the ride:

As you can see, there were three main climbs...each unique in their own way:

Climb #1 (1,800ft elevation gain, 5% avg grade, 5+ miles of climbing)

About 20 miles into the ride, I ran into the highest climb of the day. I found myself slowly churning away for what felt like an eternity. At the top I stopped at a local restaurant and ordered three liters of water and some homemade pasta in some heavenly basil sauce. Felt pretty confident at this point, after having crushed my longest climbing record. At some point, I think I was even in France for a bit! On the 6-mile descent (@ -6% grade!), I felt like I was on a roller coaster that I was fully in control of, careening around the banked curves and slaloms like a moto racer. The descent was not photographed on the count of safety, but here are a couple photos documenting the first climb:   

 Remote location near the first summit with some logging action going on, lots of pine trees

Side-of-the-road runoff that was clean enough to drink! Haven’t felt sick yet, so…all good

Just before the first descent (into Levanto)

Climb #2 (1,700ft elevation gain, 4.5% avg grade, 7 miles of climbing)

This one was pretty similar to the first climb, although a little more distance covered (7 miles vs around 5). A lot more populated (6,000+ people) & was really tempted to stop for a swim. Could hear the festivities from all the way up in the cliffs (see above). The densely populated area apparently has 4-5 unique festivals annually dedicated to nature, food, & debauchery.

Addio Levanto! View of the previous photo vantage point (after more climbing)

I then descended into a very small village (small as in it has a population of 25 people) called Puin. I gave this place the name “the dry grotto” because I felt like I was on a runaway mining car along a narrow track with bumpy, gravel roads, for 6 miles. Once I was at the bottom & looked around I realized I was alone. I began another ascent, which would prove to be the most challenging (in my life).

 

Climb #3 (1,300ft elevation gain, 10% avg grade!!!, 3+ miles of climbing

Climbing out of “the dry grotto” took every bit of mental and physical energy I possessed. I was alone & without water at this point & an abysmal reality began to sink in as I looked down at my garmin & saw the numbers. I experienced steep, sharp climbs of 18% grade, followed by long 12% sprits, and sometimes 9% for a rest if I was lucky.  I found myself at times leaning my body over my handle bar to stop myself from doing wheelies. Luckily, I found a tap on the side of the road with a hose and cooled myself down (but did not dare drink). The water is pretty sketch in some parts, so be weary of that. I admittedly stopped a couple times during this climb to take a breather & contemplated quitting bike riding all together. All in all, I felt like I had reached a new level after getting to the top, a moment I will never forget. No photos were taken during this segment, as I was in survival mode for much of the ascent & was not thinking about anything other than reaching the top by any means necessary.

After finding some water at a small bar on the side of the road (where I met some Americans for the first time in two days), I punched it for 4 miles @ 2% grade back toward the city. I knew I was getting closer (where I began in La Spezia) when I saw a traffic light & Americans on scooters. After riding through a dark tunnel for a half-mile (where I was reborn as a climbing cyclist), I began the 4 miles descent (@ -4% avg grade) back into La Spezia. No better way to end such a ride than this victorious, smooth descent. 

 Ciao!

Spent a few days riding around Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. Was the hotness.

Did get lost a bit on some dirt roads, but the only bear i saw was far far far away!

Also, there are road trails (paved, only for bikes) around Traverse City/Leland I can't recommend enough if you ever have a chance to ride them. So cool, seriously gorgs.

All of it on the 10 old year cannondale that redbeard fixed up infinite times better than brand new.

^is it just me or does Eloy look "Comeback thin" these days?
Just sayin...

I'm in Winter Park, CO for the next few days. Have 5 hrs to sneak a ride in Saturday, so I'm planning a sampling of the Divide. 



Just a wee bit of climbing. Will report back.

Lol ok so ground truth wins again…

turns out the Divide bike route doesn't follow the actual trail verbatim, and the section in Fraser is passed over completely as it is hardly even hikable! Looks like I'll be ripping some local single track instead

6k feet in 43 miles seemed 2 legit 2 quit.

David Yang said:

6k feet in 43 miles seemed 2 legit 2 quit.

That part is actually all ridable – it's the climb leading to the Divide. It's the 15 mile hike-a-bike afterwards that is 2 legit.

Ah, and then its Hammer time!

Are you renting a bike or rolling your own?

I just took the most needed vacation of my adult life, so far, and managed to get two days on the bike, along with some amazing hiking.

@JohnOlsson - I just saw your ride and I was hiking pretty close to where you were in La Spezia but I ended up only riding based out of Florence. Riding near coast would have been cool too.

I lived in Genoa for a semester in undergrad but it was right after I quit racing, when I wanted a break from the sport, so this was my first time even being interested in being on a bike in Italy and it was a cool experience, more trying than I would have thought, due to weather.

One big unexpected takeaway: New RESPECT for what it takes to race on European roads. The whole time I was thinking about how much more precision, focus and panache is required to keep positioning on these tighter roads. It's far easier to understand, now, how American pros with amazing physical talent, can get kicked out the back. The lead-in to climbs is especially telling. All the climbs I did had so much turning, on tight roads, before hand and often started out with shallower grades, so setting up to be in good position, even as a climber, is a whole different ballgame than American racing. I could feel the stress of racing on roads like that, even though I was by myself. Plus the terrain was very punchy, so the mastery required in descending, handling the explosive short efforts up climbs into towns and navigating the winds that hit you on valley roads, all seem to be more exaggerated than my experience on roads in the US.

Both days were very very hot. The first day was maybe the hottest I've ever felt on a bike... and I grew up in balmy South Carolina. My garmin died, so I had to navigate by iphone for the routes. But I was just eager to get out on the bike and Florence happened to be in the middle of an awful heat wave and I went on a mid-day ride.

The second day was humid, cloudy and luckily I got rained on then got caught in an incredibly fast moving thunderstorm, right as I crested the top of a nasty last climb of the day, so I was exposed at the top of a mountaintop town. I had to hide in a doorway for half an hour. But I had that new Gore rain jacket, which was clutch to have in that situation, as the temp dropped pretty fast too. Here are a few pics - I was so tired both days that I didn't take many.

Day 1: South of Florence

I didn't talk during this ride but somehow I got home and had lost my voice. I think the heat and dry air in my lungs did it. Super strange. I'm stealing this route from the this website, as I was halfway through the ride before I realized I didn't start my iphone strava recording.

Also, I did the route backwards, which meant I left the harder climbing until the end, which was deeply upsetting on such a hot day.




If this smile looks forced, it's because it was towards end of ride and I felt truly terrible. It looks like I'm channeling 'Robert-Deniro-uncomfortable-smirk.' This little gellato shop was my savior though. I needed it + sugary drinks, to haul my body over the last climbs.




Day 2: North of Florence

Impossible to recover from fluids lost on previous day but did this anyway. Part of this course overlapped with the 2013 World Champs course. I stopped for pizza and espresso mid-way, which was needed.


This is where I was about to start the long descent towards end of ride, which was so much fun. You see the storm clouds about to unleash, in the distance. That last little hump you see in the profile was truly terrible. Almost vomited during effort, then as just as I reached the top, I got blasted by a wall of thunder-storm that forced me off the road. It was great though - one for the memories.

Also @Jules - I left town in such a hurry and meant to PM you to get your advice. Must have been a cool experience leading rides in this area. The terrain is so varied around Florence, depending which direction you go. While it would have been good to get advice before going, this website had a bunch of strava routes available for free.

http://www.florencebybike.it/en/itineraries/

Ride report & photo dump

http://notepad.benfinoradin.info/2017/08/13/climbing-the-continental-divide/


tl;dr — we climbed to the Continental Divide Trail, took a gander, turned around, and bombed the super long descent. 

Great Hawk Chase MTN Bike race report Aug 13, 2017

TLDR; 

What a beating.

Picture although immortalizing an ass-whuppin of this magnitude... questionable.

On Thursday I rode cross bikes with Kayt (aka, the Oregon State Women's Cat 3 CX Champ for 2016). Then we met up with Norm for some food and beverages.

@Scott Kuhlke - You OK down there?

Heard from Scott, seems like his area of Houston is okay and he is doing alright.  With all the craziness down there it's probably not top priority, but hope he can still make it to GMSR this weekend.

@jim_nelson, Kissena's, I'm personally in good shape (high ground, no power outage), but the majority of Houston is certainly having issues, thanks for checking in!  If the rain subsides by Tuesday evening and they open IAH, I should be able to make my flight.  I shipped my bike Thursday to VT, and it's enroute.

I took to getting out of the house yesterday to check on a colleague who was flooded.  The only way I was able to get from my neighborhood to hers was by bicycle.  All the overpasses were flooded by the White Oak and Buffalo Bayou, but there was one footbridge that hadn't been inundated yet.  Unfortunately the flooding will get worse before it gets better, and reports are today they will be performing controlled dam releases into the White Oak and Buffalo Bayou to make sure that surrounding neighborhoods of the dams won't receive more damage.

Below is memorial drive towards downtown.


Top is a normal day at Buffalo Bayou, and below is yesterday.


FWIW, When I was looking for housing I consulted the FEMA flood map (http://www.harriscountyfemt.org/) and made sure to be outside of the 500 yr flood zone.  After experiencing Sandy in 2012 and watching my then girlfriend's parents house become nearly submerged I wanted to avoid that experience.

Good luck with it all Scott! If there is a specific way we can help or contribute, please let us know.

Not sure this counts as "around the world..." shipped the old cannondale to my dad's house in Miami -- via bikeflights.com from Detroit, about $50 -- rode a bit Saturday and Sunday, hunting for their usual routes.

Was completely surprised by how friendly cars were. Cars were respectful, stayed behind me, zero honks, and only passed when they could give me plenty of space.

Day one, ran into a fast quartet that included former NYer Lucas Brunelle, rode with them for a little bit. Sunday, however, was a bit of a highlight, as I got passed by this total super fit master, we traded some pulls, and then chatted in perfect Spanish...

--- "never seen you in a group before" he said, suggesting he knows everyone around here
--- "just here for the weekend, first time riding Miami... how about you? how long have you been riding in Miami?"
--- "in Miami? 15 years, in the US 25, on bikes 55 years"

He went on about all the great Miami rides and groups, and Tuesday/Thursday night worlds on the roads we just rode by. He made sure that I knew he had earned the stars and stripes jersey he was wearing, Crit national champ something or other a few years ago. Won when he came back to racing, after taking a few years off from a heart attack at another race. He continued west as I headed north, "tenga un buen día" we told each other as we parted, but not before he said:

--- "yeah, I had a heart attack at that race..., but I still won it"

Random coincidence that i saw a Bike Flights van on my way home from work on i95 and made a mental note to look them up. 

Emma and I made a long weekend out of her work trip to Burlington, VT.

On Friday I rode the cyclocross course at Catamount Outdoor Center that they use for their Wednesday night race series. They leave the course up throughout the fall for anybody to use. It's a great course, with two tough run-ups that both require an off-camber dismount, a technical descent, fast barriers, and a good mix of elevation and surface changes. As far as biking goes, the bigger draw is their singletrack. I rode one of their well-marked 5K loops that had a little bit of everything. No photos, but do check them out if you're in the area. 

Saturday I took a route recommended to me by the president on Green Mountain Bicycle Club, who I emailed for help trying to pick out which of the rides they post on their site (which is something I think we should do, too) would be best for a cyclocross bike. Instead he gave me the route for one of his own favorite dirt-road rides. "A taste of Vermont's dirt roads," as he called it, turned out to be a feast for this flatlander. It ruled, and I was pretty wrecked by the end, after just about 25 miles. Strava link.





Sunday Emma and I planned to ride the 14 miles of the Island Railway Trail from Oakledge Park through Burlington across Lake Champlain to Grand Isle.



We were pressed for time so we turned around at the bike ferry (yes, really) that would've taken us across "The Cut" to the last mile or so of the causeway. Still an excellent 40km out-and-back ride. 

Until next time...

Does anyone have advice on where to ride & rent near Trento, Italy? Obviously the Dolomites, but any favorite routes? 

I'll be hitting Venice for 2 days before, leaving only 3 full days to ride out of Trento, so I'm not schlepping my bike for this trip. Would love to rent something similar to my Amira, but looks like the closest place to rent is a 2 hour drive away, and was given a E200 estimate to drop the bikes at the airport. I figure there has to be somewhere in Trento that rents. Any ideas? 

Christina, awesome that you're hitting the mountains. Almost every town in Europe has a shop that'll rent bikes. Try Google: bike shops trento italy to rent bike

@JohnMalcolmson yeah, I know how to google. I've rented bikes all over Europe using the google.  I also know that the three rental companies that google tells me is located in Trento are actually part of a rental service (not a shop) that is based in Livorno, which (again using google maps) is 4 hours away. I know this because I have already had it quoted out and they included a E180 transpo fee to bring the bikes 4 hours north.

So, I am asking if anyone has rented a full carbon bike with Ultegra components from a SHOP in Trento or surrounding towns. 

Huh, that's weird. Fransesco Moser has a shop in Trento, if it were me, I would try calling the shop. A bunch of Kissena's had the honor of racing with Moser in Prospect Park! Go a little looser on bike spec also.  

John I was prepared to give you the benefit of the doubt on your first patronizing message to Christina until you doubled-down on it. 

ChristinaWoolston said:

@JohnMalcolmson yeah, I know how to google. I've rented bikes all over Europe using the google.  I also know that the three rental companies that google tells me is located in Trento are actually part of a rental service (not a shop) that is based in Livorno, which (again using google maps) is 4 hours away. I know this because I have already had it quoted out and they included a E180 transpo fee to bring the bikes 4 hours north.

So, I am asking if anyone has rented a full carbon bike with Ultegra components from a SHOP in Trento or surrounding towns. 

We've rented full carbon women-specific bikes in Italy and it wasn't a big deal. My suggestion is to call the winery, tell them that Francesco raced with your club in Brooklyn and told us that if we were ever nearby we should look him up.

Ask about a good place to rent a bike and how you'd tour the vineyards. I'm sure they'll be more than happy to help you find a shop.

http://www.mosertrento.com/tradizione/famiglia-moser/

Or you can just email his son Carlo mosercarlo@gmail.com directly. 

Apparently Jules is onto something....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=762&v=C4ta52z-L0o