Fake Booze

 Fake Booze

Fake booze? Yep, you read that right. Zio Lorenzo finds himself living in the land of great wines and he can no longer enjoy them. He made a choice after A-Fib. It was booze or cycling, since they say alcohol is a huge trigger for A-Fib. But he missed the "adult beverage" part of meals as well as the aperitivo in the evenings. Ice tea just doesn't cut it!

So it was time to explore the ever-growing 0 alcohol drink selections. Beer was easy, there are hundreds of those now and after a month or two Zio could no longer even tell the difference. But wine's a different animal. He tried all the offerings from Sicily first, then spread to all over Italy, with zero positive results. Most of 'em were like fruit punch, especially the reds.

But fear not if you're in the same situation or just want to reduce/eliminate alcohol from your diet. Heather still imbibes and Zio enjoys selecting wines for her...he can still sniff 'em after all!

After trying most of 'em Zio ended up with wines from Thomson & Scott. He thought their claims were hyperbolic but he decided to try their wines since there's a local importer with fast shipping. The verdict? Whites are pretty easy, as are sparklers like the one below from Mionetto. But reds are a challenge, most of 'em taste like something, but it's NOT wine! Zio really hates the idea of drinking wines in Sicily that are imported from South Africa, but it's not his fault nobody else seems to have figured this out, right?

The red tastes like wine, something that Zio can't say about the others he's tried. Not GOOD wine, but wine just the same - think of the quality level you get with most wines-by-the-glass. "Inoffensive" was the description Zio's late father-in-law used to use. Zio took a bottle of the white to a seafood ristorante here in Sicily and shared a taste with a hidebound wine-snob who took a break from his "that's not wine" mantra (it IS wine, the alcohol is just removed) and declared it acceptable. The snob's wife has A-Fib but refused even a taste - go figure.

Mionetto now offers a fake version of Aperol so Zio has some of that coming to see if he can make a decent spritz. Fingers crossed!

CIN-CIN!

Cycling or Motorsport?

 Is this CYCLING or a Motorsport?

Our friends at PEZ Cycling published this the other day.

UCI’s Tunnel Vision: Policing Aerodynamics While Riders Keep Crashing

I like the guys there, having worked with Richard and his crew to promote CycleItalia back in the day. But I have issues with this piece.

First is the defense of the guy who keeps cheating and getting caught. He's become such a pest to the UCI people in-charge of enforcing the rules it looks like they single him out at each race for special scrutiny. He's been DQ'd three times but he doesn't seem to learn a thing from it. 

The "aero" stuff is already out-of-control - one look at the "head fairing" below should explain it. Why is this obvious fairing allowed? Because they call it a safety helmet? What's next, a larger one, maybe supported by struts attached to the rider's back? UCI needs a rule limiting how far from the rider's head (you know, that thing they're trying to protect?) these gizmos can extend. 4-5 centimeters in ANY direction would be a good start.

Or they could just drop all pretense and have a race around France each July using these. How many fans would line the roads to watch a pack of brightly colored suppositories go by? The industry might like the idea - they could really advertise their "Slippery Sam" won the Tour de France. The guy inside pedaling it would be just like a F1 driver...the advertising isn't for him, it's the CAR!

The PEZ article touches on some of this as well when the author takes the UCI to task for failing to do anything about safety, claiming the  "peloton continues to suffer mass crashes at an alarming rate, events that genuinely endanger riders’ lives and careers," In my view that's rather hyperbolic but it's also untrue.

Recently the UCI attempted an experiment in slowing the peloton down with the idea that slower speeds might make racing safer. Their SAFER committee wanted to limit gearing to 54 X 11 to see if this would slow things down and make things safer. But SRAM, who has a 10 cog on the end of their stack, objected. Not only that, they sued! Forget that their own website points-out that 50 X 10 is the same ratio. Instead of telling their sponsored teams to use that, they sued in a Belgian court and so far have prevailed.

I guess they don't care about safety? But they DO care about money. The NYT/The Athletic published an article about this fiasco so Zio Lorenzo won't get into it here. But he WILL ask where does this end? I don't think too many MLB fans lobby about the sales opportunities for the companies that make the bats, nor do NBA fans care a lot about the balls. But why do so many cycling fans seem to support the bicycle industry? 

This same industry cares only about sales and profits, sport is just a vehicle. They fight against any equipment regulations on their "innovations" since those innovations are really designed to make whatever you are riding now seem obsolete and in immediate need of replacement with their newest-latest. Think of the 32" MTB wheel craze going on now. They're saying exactly the same things they said when you "needed" 29" wheels instead of those antique 26" hoops. 

Please don't let cycling turn into just another industry-controlled sport...like motorsports.

$50 vs $10

 Battle of the chainrings $50 vs $10

Can you tell the difference between the $50 chainring and the $10 chainring in this photo? After our Tuscan adventure we though our gravel bikes needed gearing a bit lower, but Shimano GRX was maxed-out with 40 up front and 42 out back. Sadly, nothing smaller up front or larger out back was available from Shimano.

So Zio Lorenzo went searching on the internet where he found a French Specialties T-A (remember them?) chainring claimed to be a perfect replacement though with 38 instead of 40 teeth. Zio figured this would be an easy swap, probably not requiring anything other than removing and replacing, so he ordered two of 'em. $50 seemed a bit steep but they were supposed to fit and if not, the reputable online merchant would surely take them back, right?

Meanwhile, some $10 Chinese chainrings popped up after he ordered. They looked the same but the description was a little vague as to the bolt-pattern fitting GRX, but for $10 Zio figured he'd give 'em a try. Looks like they'll fit but will they last as long as the 7075 T6 alloy French rings? Probably not, but Zio doubts the French ones will last 5 X longer to justify the higher price. Time will tell.

Giro d'Italia 2026

 Thoughts on Giro d'Italia 2026

La Corsa Rosa 2026 was entertaining despite the domination of one rider. While you can only beat the guys who show up to race, the competition was rather thin, made worse by some riders plans being ruined through crashes or illness. Zio Lorenzo notes the winner's big rival won this race a couple of years ago (against stiffer opposition) by almost ten minutes, winning 6 stages and wearing the Maglia Rosa almost from start to finish.

But at least this guy seemed far less robotic than in the past, right? Lots of commenters thought so. Could he be maturing or just the thought of joining the 7 others who have won all three Grand Tours made him reveal some genuine emotions? I guess we'll see at the big race in July when he faces some REAL opposition.

We had a great time at the one stage we saw live along with the others we watched on TV from various locations during the three weeks. A few things stood out: Where did Afonso Eulalio come from? His teammate Damiano Caruso warned that he might be a factor but who could have predicted he'd get the leaders jersey at all, let alone hang onto it for as long as he did OR win the best young rider category? It was great to see old-guy Caruso sheparding him through the Sicilian's final Giro before he takes over DS duties for the team next season. There should be a best old rider category too. Why not?

While some of the racing was formulaic, some real tactics and passion were seen in the victories of Alberto Bettiol, Alec Segaert, Davide Ballerini, Igor Arrieta and Paul Magnier and in the pursuit of the best climber's jersey by Giulio Ciccone. Sadly the other Giulio, as in Pellizzari got sick, but he made no excuses and helped his teammate and former winner Jai HIndley to 3rd place.

The UAE team was almost destroyed before they ever got to Italy but the guys left didn't give up, Jhonatan Narvaez won three stages and briefly wore the Maglia Ciclamino and LIDL/Trek's Jonathan, as in Milan finally won a stage, not in Milan but the last one, in Rome. Never give up, right?

Some things are better left unmentioned like the money-grab start in Bulgaria, the farce of that Milan stage and that RCS owner parading around like Napoleon, but one thing sticks in Zio's mind and has him scratching his bald head - when did guys like Victor Campenaerts and Bart Lemmon become mountain goats in the Visma train?

Sepp Kuss and Davide Piganzoli? Yes, Zio can understand that- those guys are climbers employed to shepherd their leader uphill at speeds competitors struggle to match, then peel off to just beat the time limit at the stage finish. And even though both of those guys did much more, Kuss winning a stage and Piganzoli almost grabbing the Maglia Bianca, WTF were these other guys doing up there?

The last time Zio remembers something this odd was back when Frankie Andreu was doing something similar for BigTex and his own wife asked "What the hell are YOU doing up there? You're no climber!" We now know how that happened and watching Visma riders don baseball hats with RABOBANK on them conjures up some bad thoughts...thoughts Zio hopes are just that and not a return to the bad old daze.

Is Zio Lorenzo the only won wondering about this?

W Il Giro!

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.

Best plans Part 2

 The best plans continue not working-out as planned..

We tried, we really did! We'd finally got down to Tuscany to ride the entire Eroica 200+ kilometer signposted route, helped by Anima Toscana. Here's the itinerary.

We'd booked this for 2025 but Zio Lorenzo's heart issues postponed it until this year. Despite the weather forecast, we were going! No luggage to haul, the Anima Toscana folks would haul that to each night's lodging for us. What luxury, right? The first stage was from Siena to Montalcino and we departed under cloudy skies.

Our luggage needed to be ready by 9 AM each morning, making Zio Lorenzo get used to having breakfast in his cycling gear even if we weren't leaving for a few hours. But off we went on day 1 of 5, though Zio had his e-bike charged only to 77%, figuring that would be more than enough for the day's ride. It never rained on us much but skies were cloudy and climbs were steep. We were happy it wasn't hot, though Zio and his bike's energy were still gone with a few meters still to go on the final climb. The 77% battery charge level + what he'd eaten for breakfast just wasn't enough.

But just like the real heroes, there was no reason he couldn't get off and push, right? Luckily the top of the climb wasn't far off and it was downhill the rest of the way into Montalcino where we quickly found a place to enjoy some real Tuscan pici to replace all the energy burned. The bikes were plugged in once we arrived at the hotel - no pici for them but they were charged to the max!

You don't realize how high Montalcino is until you look down from the hotel bathroom window OR ride up there the way we did. Zio thinks it's the same route used in the Giro back in 2010? But they had MUD! We're not fans of riding in those conditions but if you're already out there, what can you do? But we'd not go out into weather like that unless there was no other choice.

With Anima Toscana we had a choice, but the weather got better, though the forecast for later in the week still wasn't good.

Montalcino, on our way to Pienza

This might be the most famous region of Tuscany for cyclists? The ride to Pienza was fantastic, we beat the rain to our hotel despite a long lunch at La Buca delle Fate. The following day we rode to Asciano, taking a shorter route since both of us had stomach issues that morning, almost deciding to call for a ride. Perhaps we overdid things at lunch?

We both felt better once we got going and were happy we didn't bail out.

Lunch in Asciano had us again with one eye on the sky, hoping we could get to our lodging before the skies opened up. We made it, but the weather forecast just got worse.

Sadly, we called for a bail-out, skipping the final two stages...probably the best ones, but we just didn't want to go out into driving rain and Anima Toscana really wanted to know the night before rather than in the morning if we needed help.

So they kindly picked us up along with bikes and luggage and hauled us (not too far but farther than we'd want to ride in the rain for sure!) back to Siena where we loaded up the rental car and headed back to Piedmont. We'll come back and ride the final two stages sooner rather than later. 

Mille Grazie to everyone at Anima Toscana!!

Next up - the rest of the adventure.

The best plans don't always go...

 The best plans...

,,,don't always go the way you want. Ours was to enjoy another GIOS Raduno so we flew up to Milan, rented a car and headed to our old HQ, Hotel Ariotto.

We pulled our our blue bikes out of storage, took 'em for a brief test ride and then enjoyed some cycling on our e-gravel bikes.

 

The GIOS bikes were packed into the car on Saturday evening after a couple of days of gorgeous sunshine only for us to wake up Sunday morning to...RAIN.

We waited to see if things would clear up before making the hour drive to the outskirts of Torino but no luck...so we went back to bed.

Monday morning it was again gorgeous while we packed the e-bikes in the car to head south to Tuscany. More on that in the next post.

Sorry Marco, Aldo and the rest of the GIOS blue family! We'll be back in 2027!