Best plans Part 3

 Finally, our plan WORKS!

We were 0-5 for the GIOS Raduno and kind-of only 3-5 for our Eroica adventure. Could things finally go the right way with the weather? We drove back to Monferrato on a Friday to find out. It was wet all the way north but sunny when we arrived. 

And sunny the next day, one of those post-storm days when the sky is amazingly clear and snow-capped Alps visible in the distance. There's a "Big Bench" near our hotel.

With some great views!

As you can see.

The Giro d'Italia would pass here in a few days and Fubine was ready! After a few glorious days of riding in warm (but not hot) sunshine we were ready to get back in the car and go see it ourselves,

We found a spot just after the GPM on Bric Berton on the stage to Novi Ligure. We didn't want to mess with the crowds there, instead enjoying smaller (or no) crowds on a climb. Above you can see the Giro-E riders going by in advance of the race. Most of the new e-bikes lack some aesthetic appeal in our view - the huge downtubes needed to house the now-massive batteries make the bikes look like two-wheeled bricks! But maybe new battery tech will make 'em small enough, like the 250 w/h batteries in ours to let the makers design better looking frames in the future.

We had this space all to ourselves after buying some lunch supplies from the market. The owners came out once the race came close and even treated us to a coffee post-race!

The peloton was broken-up by the climbing, maybe 30 minutes from the first rider to the last? We took our time leaving but still were stopped down the road as they waited for the race entourage to get through. Oddly enough, the publicity caravan and souvenir sellers just blasted past us at high speed...until Heather suggested I hold out some money while waving them down. THAT did the trick!

Post-race the TV helicopters were parked at Hotel Ariotto, right in front of our terrace! We joked that Valerio should start offering heli-transfers from the Milan airports.

The third and last portion of our spring "vacation" was a 5 out of 5 in every way. Great food, great weather, great cycling, great race-watching...FINALLY the best laid plans came good! We'll be back in August for more fun.