2010-05-19/25 - Italy, including some of the Giro

Piece of shit garmin crashed on Thursday

thought it had recorded a bit of the ride

It's claiming we did 0 miles at .2 mph

that is probably more like what we will achieve on zoncolan tomorrow

Tip for climbing the Zoncolan - disengage brain, keep pedalling, however slowly. The summit will arrive eventually.

[/jealous]

Although I wilted like a tart on Exedown earlier today.

Pics please DJ!

Well, that was fun.

Zoncalon was actually slightly shorter than I thought it would be, which was nice as it was rather steep in places.

amazing, hideous, amazing, hideous
zoncolan has a sign over the start, announcing it is the door to hell
not far from the truth
it just goes on and on and on
will confess to walking about 25m
and just wishing to go down to the start of the col

all of us made it to the top - it was awesome, a huge chapeau to Digger, that man has heart and then some - he should have been a boxer, you could knock him down in each round of a match and he would still win

i have not taken pics, object has a few

amazing performance from all concerned

we only did 30 odd miles, average speed was that of a fucking forum ride, less than 10mph - terrain was however a little tougher than the hipster spice route

today

[ame]http://connect.garmin.com/activity/34137230[/ame]

I'll sort pictures and video out when I'm home.

Hippy now wants to do zoncolan again tomorrow ( to piss me off because I have to fly home and can't ride it again ).

To quote myself, "Today was special, it's not often that I have the chance to learn that much about myself in one sitting".

I want to live here and ride those climbs every day.

Em,

please stay here and enhance our existence by your absence

Oh do cock off.

em or me?

and screw you bumf!

thanks for your words of wisdom the other day

Moo

That was me

Hippy

Touch my face

Beer

today we went to spilimbergo to watch the peleton go through the town

the sound of the riders was similar to a swarm of mechanical bees, and we could feel the draught as they went past

most of the group travelled in dammit's car

there was not room enough for hippy or myself so we pedalled over there

amazing roman roads, fairly flat and v v straight

i like not having to turn or navigate junctions - cycling for simpletons 101, so hippo and i were made for it

i need to work on my recovery days - this was our 2nd recovery ride of the week out here and we utterly failed at it again, i need to learn how to resist going at normal speed

this morning my legs felt totally empty from yesterdays bash at zoncolan, but after many coffees, beers, meat croquettes, blue cheese and fruit tart the ride back flew by

[ame]http://connect.garmin.com/activity/34242061[/ame]

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/34242061

What happened after 1hr of riding?

we got to the town, watched the peleton go past and then went back to our home base

Riding Day 1)
Topping out in the dolomites (first climb of the trip)
http://i47.tinypic.com/1045jfd.jpg
Digger descending into Slovenia.
http://i46.tinypic.com/28aowp2.jpg

Riding Day 2)
Rest day (30kph average to Grado & back)
http://i50.tinypic.com/5aqmh0.jpg

Riding Day 3) Zoncolan. Nerves were evident in all. I stuck with my usual, "I'm not doing it" mantra.

I should point out that the pictures here are not of the steepest parts as there was no way I was going to stop and loose the minimal momentum that I had.

The view with 2km left to go.
http://i50.tinypic.com/2vkwxdw.jpg

Hippy smiling on the outside.
http://i46.tinypic.com/znpkc3.jpg
This was as he asked me if we were, '"Stopping for a break" here. I gave a negative answer, climbing back on my bike and set off again.

View from the summit of Zoncolan.
http://i50.tinypic.com/13zy2y1.jpg

Me, still looking fucked and enjoying a well earned cigarette.
http://i49.tinypic.com/v5ls8x.jpg

One for posterity.
http://i45.tinypic.com/11tna1i.jpg

Hippy nearing the top.
http://i48.tinypic.com/r9lj0g.jpg

Hippy looking considerably less happy as he tops out.
http://i49.tinypic.com/s1ruyp.jpg

DJ Shipping his chain 2 vertical metres from the top as he tried to change up to the bi9g ring for his photo finish (What a fucking cretin). The old guy stood to his left then proceeded to try and push him to the top.
http://i47.tinypic.com/kdkfo6.jpg

Dammit's game face grimace.
http://i49.tinypic.com/ws0gn8.jpg

Dan poses with Ballerini.
http://i45.tinypic.com/2my9nk8.jpg

I have to apologise to digger as I don't have a picture of him reaching the top.
Hippy will have to do the honours when he returns.

Apologies for the huge pictures, I can't be bothered editing them.

There were between 750,000 and a million people on that mountain the next day - according to Eurosport.

There were between 750,000 and a million people on that mountain the next day - according to Eurosport.

There were countless people riding up on mountain bikes with triple chainsets and tents fastened to the bike, pitching up so they could watch the race.

Final day today- 83 miles of mainly flat but with some 14% climbing thrown in.

We went to the coast again- a feature of our rest days it seems.

Duino was nice, we had an awesome meal at a little cafe- Yabbi's were featured strongly according to Hippy.

It's a shame Em had to go home early, otherwise today was great- oh apart from my epic sunburn.

wish I was still there today. Such is life.

Gentlemen, to the Gelateria!

great stuff everyone. heroic !!

Fucking awesome time

one regret is I was reviewing my pms.

Last year 50/14 expressed interest in coming out to join us

it has been an amazing time with some decent challenges

a great performance from everyone, working together, supporting the cause and proper sweary forum banter throughout

this is why I love this place and why I struggle riding with proper roadies

thanks to everyone for making one of my holidays of a lifetime

Well done chaps, Zoncolan looks a brute. Along with the mortirolo, very much on my to do list one of these days. Dai ragazzi!