Planes, Trains, Autos, and Bikes

It was another bike racing filled weekend for me over here in Italia (some riding, and a lot of spectating). Friday night was the Gara Mountain Bike Montegonzi, the nighttime mountain bike race. Having faced very little competition the weekend before, I was feeling pretty confident about winning my race (and, of course, beating DA, after his poor performance at San Clemente). I was given an extra boost of confidence when, as I was signing up, one of the promoters said, �I should just give you the 50 euro prize right now...� (he had seen me at San Clemente last weekend). I said thanks, but you never know and sure enough who rolled up? Monika! For those who didn�t read my race reports last year, Monika is a tall, slender, very fit looking German woman on a fancy titanium bike who I raced against last year, and she was back! Suddenly, I wasn�t feeling so confident. Besides me and Monika there were two other women racing but neither looked to be much of a threat. And, of course, there was DA who I couldn�t possibly get beat by.

The race started at 9:30 p.m. (after a passage from the bible was read to us and we were blessed by the ancient local priest, followed by a minute of silence for victims of the London bombings). The course was a very short loop that ran us through the narrow, cobbled streets of Montegonzi and the surrounding farmland. Laps took me about seven minutes to complete, in the �hour plus a lap� that we raced I completed 10 laps. The start was a fast paved climb to the dirt. Monika moved her way up as I struggled to awaken my tired legs and had my own battle in the back with DA. Back and forth we went for about a lap, until I eventually dropped him on one of the descents. As for Monika, I didn�t catch her as quickly as I was hoping (I would have rather not let her get away from me in the first place) but the timing couldn�t have been better. As I approached the bottom of the giant run-up (at least it seemed giant at this point in the season), I saw her halfway up, slowing down to get off of her bike. I quickly dismounted and passed her running, trying not to breathe too hard as I went by. I didn�t look back and never saw her again. The rest of the race was about increasing my lead and forcing myself to put the hurt on myself, not all that easy at 10:30 at night, but good for building character, I suppose. I wore myself out pretty quickly- the hour+ that we raced felt like an eternity. I was sure that each of the last three laps was the last, but it never seemed to end. Finally, when I came around for the last time I heard the friendly sound of a bell ringing, oh how I love that sound! I think we actually raced for an hour plus 2 laps, but that�s OK now (what doesn�t kill you only makes you stronger). After the race we all hung out for pizza at midnight and the awards ceremony. Sure enough, I won 50 Euro. Pretty good for an 8 Euro entry fee.

And that�s all for the race report. As for the rest of the weekend, on Saturday I headed to Fiorenzuola D�arda to watch the European Track Championships. Or, I should say, I was flown to Parma to watch the bike race. My mom is currently learning how to fly airplanes and she has been asking me for months to fly with her. To tell you the truth, I have not been too keen on the idea- I don�t like airplanes much. Add my mom as the pilot and I�m even more wary. However, when she asked me if I wanted to go flying on Saturday I said, �yeah, if you fly me to Parma� (not thinking at all that it was actually going to happen). But she booked the Piper and got her friend who has been flying for 25 years to come with us (he was the official pilot, thank god), and we flew to Parma in a plane that, in my mind, that closely resembled a mosquito. The thing was tiny and up in the air it slid and bounced around all over the place. I must say, it was not the most enjoyable flight I have ever taken- I was scared. I guess I�m just not the adventurous type. Or maybe it is my fear of heights. In any case, I was sitting in the back sweating bullets, trying to meditate to calm my mind that wouldn�t stop running through all of the things that could go wrong. About halfway through the flight I remembered that I had my walkman (still no iPod), so for the rest of the flight Norah Jones soothed me with her velvety voice. The flight became much more enjoyable but I was still relieved when, after a little more than an hour, we landed in Parma. I felt pretty rockstarish as we entered the airport through the backdoor, and even more so when, as I was waiting for my mom to pay the landing fee, I was approached by a news cameraman for an interview. With a half of a banana in my hand and the other half in my mouth (I was having one of my sinking spells), I was asked how I felt about traveling now, after the Sharm-el�Sheik attacks. Hopefully I didn�t actually make it on the news, luckily I will never know.

A couple of cabs and a train ride later I made it to the Velodromo Pacciarelli for some good bike racing. It was fun to see many of the same people I saw in LA at the world championships as well as a lot of up and coming young riders. One of the big surprises to me was that I think that I could very well have been the only person there who wasn�t related to a racer in some way. There seemed to be very few spectators there just to see a bike race- as far as I could tell everyone who was there was either racing, a family member of a racer, or team support. It really made me think about what it takes to make champions. Of course it requires a lot of work on the individual�s part, but without the tireless support from friends and family I doubt that any of those people would be where they are. It�s hard work to go to bike races and just watch and cheer people on! But I loved it- I love to see people win. And the awards ceremonies were sooooo Italian. First, they would blast �We Are The Champions� (Italians LOVE Queen), then, as the music was playing, three women in ultra short black dresses and stiletto heels would prance out, followed by the champions who would proceed to the podium. It�s rough having �We Are The Champions� stuck in your head all weekend, but it was definitely worth it for the inspiration I got from the racers. Not only were they good athletes, but they all seemed to have really positive attitudes. Winning or losing, they would ride by after their races and make sure that they waved to their fans and teammates in the stands. Seeing all of those young, beautiful riders just made me happy. My trip home wasn�t quite as rockstarish as the trip up, (I took the train, second class) but it was slightly eventful. For one thing, I finished reading Moby Dick (it took a month!) but the real excitement happened when I got back to Florence. I got off the train and as I was walking toward the exit I noticed that there was police tape around a large area of the station. There were a couple of Carabinieri standing around looking confused, as they usually do, and when I looked more carefully I saw that there was a suitcase, all alone in the middle of it all. Well we all know what that means in this day in age. I hurried toward the exit, eager to get out of there, but all of the doors to the station were closed and a Carabiniere was there trying not to let people in and blocking the way out. I slid out as he opened the door to talk to someone, found my mom who was waiting right out front, jumped into her car and told her to drive. As it turns out, nothing happened- some DA probably just forgot their suitcase (how could you possibly forget your suitcase at a train station?!), but it was a little frightening nonetheless. I think that the most troublesome part about it all was how it was dealt with by the �authorities�. Wouldn�t you want everyone to get out of a place that was dangerous, instead of keeping them in? That whole situation gave me very little hope for this country if something bad really were to happen.

Anyway, I made it home and I am safe, no other adventures to report. It�s almost August now and what that means here is that the entire country will be going on vacation so� no more bike racing for me (they�re even closing the track I go to in Florence for the month). Hopefully something else will come up but for now it�s looking like I�ll be quiet for a while.

HCD July 28, 2005

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