E-BIKE vs E-MOPED
Saturday, July 12, 2025
E-bike vs E-Moped
Wednesday, July 9, 2025
Monferrato fun 2025
Fun in Monferrato 2025
Tuesday, July 1, 2025
La Mitica 2025
La Mitica 2025
We missed this last year, choosing instead to see LeTour in Bologna, so we were determined to be there this year, despite Zio Lorenzo's recent health issues and the record heat.
We flew to Milan, rented a car and zoomed off to our old home-base Hotel Ariotto. The next day our old friends and former clients Don and Cindy arrived. They'd ridden La Mitica with us back-in-the-day so we left them to ride around Monferrato and enjoy lunch.
Sadly, the record heat really cooked us both..so much that we walked the famous Rampina climb near the end, pausing under bits of shade along the way. After taking a break at the ristoro at the top, neither of us savored the idea of the steep 3+ kilometers to go, so we hitched a ride with a local lady in her beat-up Fiat. We left the bikes at the aid station and came back for them once we got the car at the finish in Castellania. Since we walked over the finish line and didn't ride the entire route, we skipped the pasta party and awards ceremony.
Because of all that we're posting photos of interesting bikes with names we've never heard of. The plan was to get more details on them post-ride, but that didn't happen. If you have details, share them in the comments.
PAGANI
Saturday, June 7, 2025
GIOS Raduno 2025
"il blu di famiglia"
Thursday, June 5, 2025
Giro d'Italia 2025 Finale
Giro d'Italia 2025 Part 2
We went up north to attend the GIOS Raduno (watch for another post on that) but before that, the Giro d'Italia's penultimate stage was too close to miss. We took our Bianchi E-Impulso bikes with us, the idea to get as far up the famous Colle delle Finestre climb as possible to wait for the race to arrive.
18.6 kilometres long at an average of 9.1% (height gain: 1694 m), the maximum gradient being 14% is the description and both of us have ridden up it a time or two...but it was a long time ago! We knew we'd need some help especially since Zio Lorenzo was barely two months out of the hospital!
We arrived in Susa and bought some panini and Focaccia di Susa, the famous sweet bread, then started up the climb. This thing gets steep right from the bottom, but Zio remembered it getting a bit easier later...at least in his mind.
It didn't, and soon he was using 100% of the e-bike's power to keep his heart rate under the doctor's limit. It was still plenty hard and made him wonder how he made it back-in-the-day with just his legs? Especially when an hour (and probably almost 10 kilometers) later the e-bike battery was dead. We weren't far from our goal of the unpaved part, but riding (or pushing) an almost 30 lb e-bike uphill with a dead battery seemed pretty stupid, so we found a nice spot with a wall to sit on, unfurled our "W MAGRO" banner and enjoyed our lunch, waiting for the race.
We knew we'd watch replays of the entire stage later so we avoided watching it on a tiny phone screen, instead just waiting like the old days. We'd heard WVA was in the early break and when he came past without any riders from the rival UAE or EF team, Zio began to wonder - and when WVA's teammate Simon Yates went past about 20 seconds ahead of Del Toro and Carapaz, he REALLY began to wonder!
Why were there none of their guys in the break with Wout? Zio remembered the infamous "28 seconds" fiasco from 2005. Race leader Paolo Salvoldelli was dropped on this same climb while Gilberto Simoni looked sure to ride to victory, stealing the maglia rosa on the stage with its finish in Sestriere.
Savoldelli (like Del Toro and Carapaz) didn't have any teammates, but there WERE some Belgians there who seemed very willing to help him chase down the fleeing Simoni. Are you starting to get the picture - if Yates could hook up with Wout, he'd have an armchair ride to victory, as who would help Del Toro and Carapaz? Even if teammates came from behind to help, it would be too little, too late.
Zio remembered how in 2005 Rujano refused to work with Simoni, who had to know Salvodelli was getting help from the Belgians. You might wonder why that was? Let's just say Paolo's team director was also Belgian and leave it at that. Zio also remembers a Giro stage where Nibali's teammate Michele Scarponi did almost the exact same thing as Wout, helping The Shark win the Corsa Rosa. Did nobody at UAE remember this?
So in Simoni's case an audacious move failed while in Yates' it was a roaring success, all because UAE couldn't/wouldn't get someone in that break with Wout. Zio's no fan of the Visma team or Simon Yates (who you might remember lost the maglia rosa on a similar stage over the same climb in 2018?) but he's gotta say BRAVI to the winners!!!!
Isaac Del Toro was let down by his team, pure and simple. The only way he could have won would have been to stay with Yates, fending off all the attacks on Colle delle Finestre by himself. Where were those expensive UAE mountain helpers on this day?
Saturday, May 24, 2025
Giro d'Italia 2025
Giro d'Italia 2025 Part 1
Tuesday, May 6, 2025
Heart fun
There IS one more test he wants but says in a few months. Something called myocardial scintigraphy. If nothing is found there doc says Zio's good-to-go but to take it easier, he's no kid anymore.
Ablation doc said sort of the same thing as Zio climbed off the ablation table - "You runners, cyclists, rowers, etc. enlarge your hearts and make it tough to find and zap the short circuits." So Zio will take it easier, shorter rides with less frequency but he will keep up the regular exercise, something all these cardio guys say is key to better health overall, so yes there CAN be too much of a good thing and just because something is worth doing doesn't mean it's worth over doing.
So far, so good. Updates to follow as needed. Meanwhile it's almost time for the Giro d'Italia, Zio's favorite time of the year!!