We Made It!! And other stories...

We made it to Rome! Yesterday (Saturday) afternoon, we arrived at the Coliseum at about 5:00pm, completing our long journey. Here are Mario, Juan, and Peter at the finish...


It's been a little bit since a blog post due to spotty internet access and tiredness. However, here's a brief update from the last few days...

After our long car transfer, we prepared to head towards Pompeii. However, traffic conditions made riding to or around Pompeii just about impossible. So, we decided to drive to the camp and then climb Vesuvius from there. We ate a fabulous lunch (as always) and headed out to climb the mountain - only to find it closed about 1/3 of the way up! Not just our road, but the whole mountain was "closed" for the night... Major bummer!

We spent the next morning touring Pompeii, which was amazing. Here's a shot of all of us hanging out in the "plaza" area of ancient Pompeii. Many and incredible sights to see there.

We had another "off" day on Friday as we moved toward Rome (due to crazy traffic around Naples), staying in the beach town of Mondragone. The ocean was beautiful and it was forced relaxation - no internet connection there, hence no update! But a beautiful sunset...

Saturday morning, we woke up very early to get ready to ride. The bummer was that we woke up in the rain! It was a lousy looking morning. However, we donned our cold weather and rain gear, and took off anyway - we had 175k (about 110 miles) to ride to get to Rome. Not even an hour into the ride, the clouds parted and the weather changed - ultimately, this meant that while we had a few scares, we were NEVER rained on during this trip! Amazing!

We picked up the "Appian Way" about 100k from Rome, and followed that in for a majority of the way. It was incredible to ride and contemplate the history of the road and the idea of pilgrimage as we pushed towards Rome. There are still many spots where trees are pruned to shade the road for weary travelers, as below...

Finally we made it into the city itself, and on to Coliseum!

Our journey is now officially finished. However, we'll still be in Rome for the next two days taking care of some final details and getting bikes prepped and ready to head home on Tuesday. While the trip updates are finished, I will plan to post some observations from the trip, etc. over the next few days. I've personally learned a ton, and the experience was a great one from so many different perspectives.

Thanks for following along with the journey! I can't promise that I will continue to update this blog, although I may - and I also can't guarantee that you'll continue to be interested in what you find here, although you may! However, looking forward to reconnecting with many of you who have following the journey. Peace to you all!

A Free Day - finally. And the Journey continues...

Tuesday was our blessed free day. This was one we really needed - we had ridden nearly 400 miles in the past four days, so when we arrived in Isola del Gran Sasso, we put our bikes into what will become an auditorium at the Istituto Biblico Evangelico and didn't even look at them for about 36 hours. WONDERFUL!

It was fabulous to sleep on actual beds and to not have an agenda. All of the staff were wonderful hosts for us, where even our cooks and drivers got to take a break and relax. Here we are at our first dinner in Isola - great food, although nothing compared to the fare we're used to from Oriano and his helpers...
During the day Tuesday, we were free to do as we liked. I had some work to do and had already maxed out my Spanish capibilities, so I journeyed about a mile or so into the small town of Isola do to do some work and relax. The town sits under the mountain of "Gran Sasso" (Great Rock), and is a picturesque Italian town. Here's one of many shots of the town:
It was actually a blessing that I forgot my European adapter for my power cord for the computer - I had to walk back a little early and got back to the camp before a brief summer storm hit. However, I didn't have a bad office... Too bad I don't have a place like this at York Alliance!
In all, it was a great off day, and we're now ready for the last leg of our journey.

Sadly, because of a conflict with the Giro route and a short day for the race itself, we couldn't make the long climb up Blockhaus. However, we abridged our route and took a shorter but still difficult route. In all, we climbed about 1,000 meters in a short day (about 55K or 35 or so miles). Oriano and company met us in a nice picnic spot (below), where we had a fabulous lunch and began the long drive to our campground for tonight.
After our long car transfer today, we'll head toward Mt. Vesuvius tomorrow, and climb that at the end of the day. We'll camp at the base of the mountain, and then Friday, we'll tour the ruins before heading on through Naples and preparing for our last ride into the Coliseum in Rome.

As the trip wraps up, we're finally settling into a nice routine and enjoying both the riding and the down time. However, we're all anxious to return to families and home as well. Thanks again for following along!

One of the Amazing Things about Italy

This is an amazing country. We woke up this morning on the coast - in fact, here's a shot taken about 5:30am from just outside my tent. Thankfully, I went back to sleep for about an hour after that!

We rode a little over 50 miles along the coastline, moving in and out of sight of the ocean. A predictably flat ride - lots of little towns, but nothing too exciting. Riding "along the coast" sounds exotic and exciting, but basically, it just looks like Myrtle Beach with signs in a different language.

However, after about 50 miles in the baking heat, we turned inland. It was literally 5-6 miles at the most before we started to see this... (not Angelo, of course, but the mountains...)


Incredibly, just a few miles from the coast, we move into true mountains. We rode another 30 miles or so into the town we'll be staying in for the next day and a half - Isola del Gran Sasso. However, before I tell you about that, we passed a sign that I wanted to pass on to Re...

If you have no idea why that picture's in there, don't worry about it! Tonight, we're not in a campground, but rather a local summer camp that Peter spent some time at several years ago. That means... NO TENTS! Yes, we'll actually be in beds tonight and tomorrow, which we're greatly looking forward to! We're in desperate need of the rest day as we gear up for the last stretch of riding....

It's amazing to think that this journey is almost done - we'll rest tomorrow, and then have the biggest climb of the trip on Wednesday. Wednesday afternoon/evening we'll have a long car transfer, followed by a ride to Pompeii on Thursday, through Naples on Friday, and finishing in Rome on Saturday...

Thanks to all of you who have been following along with our journey via this blog. I'm so looking forward to reconnecting with Amanda and the kids, as well as many of you who read this regularly. The time in Italy has been good in so many ways and I've learned a bunch, but it's definitely just about time to go home...

Let me leave you with a view from our window - more pics from Isola Del Gran Sasso will be on Facebook and here in the next day or so.

From Sea to Shining Sea (on bicycle!)

Hey everyone! Back by popular demand, it's me - Jungle the Baboon!

Brian's too tired to write tonight, so I get the honors. You'd rather hear from me anyway, as best I can tell!

So the last few days have been long. Not really hard - a few climbs here and there - but long. We've averaged about 95 miles each day. But the cool thing - just a few days ago, I was overlooking the ocean on the ride at Cinqueterra. Today, I'm looking at the ocean on the OTHER side of the country! Yes, we've made it across...

The ride through Tuscany was incredibly beautiful. While you can only see so much from a back pocket, there were some incredible things. The vineyards and the olive trees create a beautiful patchwork across the mountains. In fact, as we were riding through, I felt like we were in the middle of someone's picture! However, I checked out Brian's pictures, and you can only get so much from the handlebar of a bike... SO, for those who'd like to see, you'll have to wait until Brian gets Peter's pictures after the trip is over - his are great.

Now that our cook and driver have joined us and we've rented a second vehicle, life is good for us. We leave in the morning around 9:00 after a good breakfast, ride a few hours, stop at a supermarket and buy supplies and eat lunch, and then arrive at the camp around 6:00 or so. That means our riding pace isn't extremely tough - just long days.

Interestingly, in Italy, Sundays are totally different than every other day. It's been Brian's observation that "church" and "faith" are basically irrelevant here in Europe - they're historical, but not practically a part of living. However, leisure is alive and well! And Sundays are a leisure day - there's NOTHING open! That's the difference between a country where leisure is god versus a country (like the USA) where materialism is god - even though the church is largely more relevant in the US, we would NEVER see everything closed on Sundays...

I say all that to say that there are no supermarkets open on Sundays, which threw off our schedule. We had to stop at one of the restaurants along the route, which happened to serve a house specialty of seafood pasta. Since Brian's pics of this part of the trip stink, here's a few shots from lunch! I'm really enjoying myself - except for where the clam thing attacked me... Also, please observe Peter greatly enjoying his food in the background of the last picture!




We finished our route after lunch, arriving at the campground about 6:00 or so. All went well and we arrived in one piece. However, Brian got a flat again today - that's THREE this trip already! What he hasn't realized yet is that he only gets flats when he stuffs me into that dumb stem bag under the seat of the bike - first of all, it's a lousy view... Secondly, it's under the seat, if you know what I mean. YUCK!! If he would just keep me in the pocket, I would probably stop popping the tires...

Anyway, we got to our campground for tonight. Tomorrow we head another 50-60 miles down the coast, and then head inland towards the camp that we'll be spending both tomorrow night and our off day. For those who remember, we'll be very close to L'Aquila, which was where the earthquake was just a month or so ago, and so we may go see what's happening there. The rest will be much needed, however. Bodies are tired, but minds even more so. However, this time next week, we'll be done riding and wrapping things up in Rome!

As I sign off tonight, here's quick view from directly outside the door of the tent... Don't be too jealous. Talk to you all soon!

Tuscan Country from the back pocket....

Hey - Jungle the Baboon here again!

Not a lot of time tonight, but I wrestled the computer away from Brian for a few minutes to give you an update on how things are going here in Italy. Today's ride was short but beautiful, especially the end of it as we made it into the heart of Tuscany. We packed up this morning at Angelo's house and picked up our new van (below) that will fill out our transportation needs for the rest of the trip.


Then, we went and picked up Angelo's friends and got ready to take off. Here I am in Brian's back pocket, with my banana, getting ready for the ride...

Here's a picture that was from the Tuscan countryside, about 40 or 50 miles into the ride...


We rode to a beautiful town in Tuscany called "San Gimignano". It was another town that the center was walled off and was a picturesque walk through time... We are definitely figuring out our group dynamics now that our group has changed again, but even with some challenges, we're learning to work together as a team. Here's a pic of the group of us (Brian taking the picture), hanging out on the cathedral steps in town...


The next several days will be long and hard. SO, Brian wanted me to reassure you that although he may not get blogs up for the next few days, but things are still OK. Once this tough stretch is done, there will be updates coming! Until then, here's a final image of me being absolutely scared to death at Angelo's house, at the mercy of "Bobo el Lobo" (or Bobo the wolf), Angelo's dog... If that doesn't scare the pee out of any 2 oz. monkey, I'd like to meet him!

In Lucca

What a beautiful, historic town Lucca is. It's the only town in Italy (maybe anywhere) that's still surrounded by a complete wall that separates the core of the city from the rest of the city. You can see Dennis at the gate below.

It's our off day today, so we're spending our time wandering around the town. It's really our first true "tourist" day, and I can't imagine a better city to do it in. I realize that this isn't the typical Italy trip and that there are tons of other things to see, but when you only have a few hours here and there, getting the chance to wander the streets of a small town and getting a "feel" for it is a great experience. Inside the walls, the streets are narrow and the buildings are tall, giving a maze-like feel to everything. There are tons more photos on Facebook, so you can check those out too, but here are a few.
This is also the town where Pinocchio originated, which is a cool bit of history. Here's one of the many images that were throughout the city.

After our time in the city, we headed out of the main town to a friend of Angelo's, where we had a fantastic dinner - an old Italian dish called "polenta" that was a peasant dish. And it was a very authentic Italian dinner - about 4 1/2 hours! The whole time there were friends and family coming in and out - very cool.

Since it's an off day today, let me make a brief observation about some of what I'm seeing here. Interestingly, as we progress towards Rome, we are making one of the main pilgrimages of the Christian faith. And as we move through Italy, I see many signs of the ancient Catholic church. But these two pictures, one taken purposefully through a gate, the other a bit further back, show the way that the church is here in Italy.
It seems as though the truth is there, but it also seems like the way is barred for so many. The people here love each other and seem to be devoted to "religion", but largely, they need to meet Jesus... I've heard that before about the majority of Europe, but seeing it in person is a stark reality. Friends, let me encourage you. What I'm experiencing in Europe will soon move to us in the "west" as well (for those of you reading in the US and Central America). We need to persevere and pursue Jesus in the midst of everything else! There's a time coming where it will be even harder!! In this culture, a pursuit of Christ as become a good luck charm, not a vital lifestyle, and transformation is largely a thing of the past.

Enough preaching. Tomorrow we start through Tuscany and move east, ultimately to the other coast. The weekend is going to be really challenging, and then we move into the home stretch... Stay tuned tomorrow for a pic of our new vehicle and our new companions!

All I can say is WOW!!

We left the campground from the resort town of Rapallo and headed towards the mountains along the coast. We stocked up on water, because it was a hot day and there were several climbs ahead. We took it easy along some beautiful roads for the first 20K or so, but then after a wonderful lunch at a supermarket (you can make a GREAT sandwich for 3-4 euros, by the way), we headed onto the Giro's time trial course (the one they'll be doing today)...

But nothing could prepare us for the beauty of the ride that we were about to do. There will be more pictures coming, but it can't be captured in photos anyway. The road ranged from 500-700 meters above the sea and looked out over the Mediterranean Sea and down onto several small towns. The core of the ride was through five specific towns, for which the area (Cinqueterre or "five towns") is named.

It was a difficult and incredible journey. Juan and I completed the course in roughly three hours. The majority of the riders today will complete the same course in an incredible 1 hr. 40 minutes. It was incredibly beautiful, and incredibly hot! Having learned my lesson earlier, I was drinking a TON of water. I'm sure of at least 180 oz. of water during the day - maybe more! But the ride was incredible.

We've arrived at Angelo's house. He treated us to an incredible seafood dinner last night - easily the best food we've had since we've been here - and we settled in at his beautiful home. Today, we'll rent a car and get ready for the second half of our journey... We'll pick up a few of Angelo's friends today and begin our journey tomorrow across the country. Saturday, Sunday, and Monday look to be the hardest three days that we've had so far. Should be fun!

Moving toward the coast - without enough bananas!

OK - it's me, Jungle the Baboon again. Brian's been hogging this blogging thing, but I needed to get on and tell you about today - it's been a rough few days for me! First of all, yesterday while Brian drove and then rode, I was relegated to the floor of the camper. Do you know what you can see from there? NOTHING! So that was lousy. However, this morning I got back into my customary center pocket and rode along through the beautiful ride from Bobbio to Rapallo.

Big mountains separate the two, so that was pretty fun. We rode hard (I rode pretty easily, actually, but you know what I mean) through the first set of mountains to a bridge near our meeting point, where we waited on everyone. You can see the bridge in the picture below, with Peter looking over the edge.
Now, imagine that bridge over a gorge that had a drop of about 500 feet... Imagine me perched perilously in the back pocket of Brian's jersey. Now, imagine him sitting on the edge of the guardrail to wait - terrifying! I was holding on for dear life!! Then, he gets up to quick, and lo and behold - I lost my grip!! I fell... on the ground on the side of the road. But I'm telling you - five more inches could have been tragic!

From there, we heading towards the beach/resort town of Rapallo. The challenge was that there was a major climb between where we were and where we needed to go. SO, up we went! Brian finally had enough food and drink (including bananas, Nurse Sarah!), so he made it up well. I think he was breathing pretty hard at the end - but hey, I was comfortable! Juan came up after a bit as well, and then they both waited... And heard the camper (our "support" vehicle) around the corner. And Mario and Angelo were holding on to it!! Can you believe it? Here's visual evidence of Angelo, but believe me and my monkey eyes - Mario was holding on to the other side...

The view from the top was incredible, and the descent was fun. And terrifying. Thankfully, Brian uses his brakes a bunch (yes, Amanda, he does!!), so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. And now we're here, in the town of Rapallo! You can see Rapallo in the picture below from the top of the mountain - we're right about the center of the picture, I'd say...

So anyway, that's the deal. It was a fun day, and a good climb. Tomorrow we ride the Giro's Thursday time trial course, which should be fun, and then head to Angelo's house in Lucca. On Thursday we have a free day, so I'm hoping we'll get to take a leisure ride to Pisa to see the tower! If we do, you'll hear from me again, hopefully with me in a picture with it! That tower sounds so cool, and Scott told that it was really amazing. And showed me a picture. Or 50.

Bye everyone! We both miss you all a bunch!

Leaving Milan and heading south...

We said our goodbyes through the morning on Monday, and then headed out of Milan. We went first by car, and then starting the bikes. Dennis and Cecy were AMAZING hosts, and our time there was wonderful. However, the scenery stinks there... it's flat and boring. But it was fun to see Samuelito!

I started out driving for the first leg - I was my turn... At least with Roberto and his wife Yessenia joining us, I had company - Yessenia doesn't ride, so she rode along with me. (She also doesn't drive really big campers...)

The riders got a bit lost, but we finally caught up with them at our meeting point - here they are coming in.


Dennis was getting cramps, which probably had to do with way too little sleep and getting used to this distance riding thing. So, he took over for me, and I got to ride the last 35 miles or so. It was amazing - once we got about 40 miles south of Milan, the scenery got beautiful again. We rode down into a valley, except that with the way the rode was, it looked like we were going down while our legs said that we were climbing! Weird.

However, we left Milan so late and traffic was so bad while we drove to a place that we could actually ride, it was nearly 3:00 before we started the 100k+ ride. That meant arriving to Bobbio (our home for the night) a few minutes after sunset (which is below!).


The scare of the day was that Mario decided to hang back a bit. Or a bunch. We all met outside of town to ride together to the campsite, but Mario was nowhere to be found for at least 30 minutes or so! And of course, he had lost his cell phone earlier in the day, so we had no idea what was happening with him... So we went to the camp, and then the camper went out to find him. Finally, they did and we were all reunited - to keep you up to date, that's now: Peter, Angelo, Mario, Juan, Dennis, Roberto, Yessenia, and me! (and of course, the monkey)

Sightseeing and the Giro in Milan

After making it to Milan and reuniting with Dennis and his family, we spent our off day today in Milan. We left Limbiate relatively early and arrived several hours before the race started, so we had some time to look around. There's nothing to describe coming up out of the subway and seeing this...


The duomo, as Scott and Rachel had already told me, is breathtaking - both outside and inside. The details of it are incredible - check out the Facebook album for more pics if you're interested.

For me, one of the most interesting things about Milan (at least the part that we were in, and the fact that we were in today) pulled together so much of my background and passions. We saw the beauty of the architecture and art of the duomo and listened to the mass inside. For me, my passion for Jesus has know superceded everything else, and seeing the duomo was a fitting start to the day. This was from a time when churches weren't built during the summer season or over the coursse of a year or so, but rather over several lifetimes. The result is a building that "worships" as well, and it's incredible.

Beyond my passion for Jesus and art, we moved into the Galleria, where I saw this:
For any former fashion designer and retailer, the Prada store in Milan is comparable to Mecca! However, walking into the Prada store in Milan with a group of men was of course out of the question... I'm sure you can understand.

From there, we moved to the La'Scala, the famous opera house in Milan. It was an integral part of the first Broadway show that Amanda and I saw together about Maria Callas - I'm pretty sure she slept through it, but it was incredible... Here's the current show, which does NOT feature Maria Callas!
Finally, we moved onto the new passion - the Giro itself. The city is CRAZY with the Giro! It's very interesting the difference between watching the race in the mountains and seeing it in an urban environment. The Giro is a party in downtown Milan! The race itself wasn't that exciting because the riders were protesting what they considered to be poor riding conditions. They ended up riding the 165K stage at a pace I could have kept! (At least the average - I wouldn't want to have tried to get in the mix on the last lap) Anyway, here's a shot of the start:
It was a nice day. After the start of the race, we all fell asleep outside the castle in the center of Milan - I got a solid hour! That was the closest to a true "rest" day we had - we were busy seeing things and enjoying the city.

Tomorrow, we start to head towards Tuscany. Roberto and his wife Yessenia (sp) have joined us, and Dennis will be with us as well for the next week. Tomorrow will be an easy start - 100K on basically flat ground as we head out of Milan, and Tuesday will be much the same until we get to the Italian Riveria. But that will but the end of the flat portions of the trip - from there, it should get more exciting! I'm really looking forward to Wednesday, during which we will ride the Giro's Thursday stage, which is a difficult and beautiful time trial that we are going to ride individually.

Milan is a beautiful city (in places), and it was nice to take a little break today. However, breaks make me also miss everyone at home more. Thanks to all for following along.

A quick personal note: one of the many things that I'm learning on this trip is how important my friends and family are. I definitely realized the importance of Amanda and the kids (however, that doesn't stop me from taking them for granted now and then), but I realize how important my friends are to me, and how often I take you all for granted. Thanks for providing a space for me and my family to be "us" and loving us along the way. We love you all! Speaking of, one last note: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RE!! Believe it or not, I miss you!

Stinking all the way to Milan (or almost...)

Probably no pictures today - sadly, not much to take pictures of... The beauty that was so capturing yesterday is, um, less so in the flat, agricultural area of north central Italy. In fact, for those of you who've experienced Lancaster County during planting season - that's NOTHING! We actually saw several tankers being pulled by tractors distributing their... contents... along the way. And of course, we smelled it. YUCK!

It was actually a pretty relaxing ride today - we kept a moderate to slow pace, and only ended up doing about 70 miles of the intended ride due to traffic and roads around Milan. There's just no good way to get into a city like this on bicycle, at least that we know of. Rome will be very interesting!

We're now on our way to visit Dennis and Cecelia (and Samuelito!) - the house I stayed at when I first arrived. We are staying with them again, this time as a group, and they will be hosting us for our off day in Milan tomorrow. We're going to watch all or part of the circuit race around Milan, which will be fascinating I'm sure, and I hope we'll be able to see at least some of the sights as well. The rest day will be good, even though I don't really feel that tired yet. The body is a funny thing - after the mountain experience, I've been eating and drinking well, and everything's been fine. It will be interesting to get further on our journet and see how it goes. We have some brutal days back to back near the end of our trip, so those will be a true test.

In Milan, we will be joined by three more - Dennis will actually be coming with us for a week or so, and Roberto and his wife will be joining us in Milan for the rest of the journey. The group will change a bit now, and then again in Lucca when we pick up four more. By that point, we'll be quite a large group! I'm not sure where everything is going to go - it feels like we're "full" already.

Thanks for following along and reading through the first week. I don't reply to all of your comments for lack of time online, but I do read them. It's encouraging to hear your words and get your feedback on all that's happening here. You're welcome to comment if you choose!

Beauty in many forms...

Today we took off from our campground on the north point of Lake Garda, nestled into the mountains. We left early to miss the traffic. Immediately upon getting to the lake, we were blown away by the incredible views - it was truly breathtaking. Below, we're getting ready to take off after a quick photo-op by the lake. Feel free to pay closest attention to the scenery in the background!

The beauty continued as we rode, in the form of small, picturesque towns and breathtaking water and mountain vistas. It rained a bit on and off, but it didn't affect our ride much, other than a few stops to don and remove rain gear. What's amazing about Italy is that things seem to get even more beautiful with each place we go. If that continues, I'm not sure that I have the capacity to handle the end of the trip! Here's a quick shot from the handlebar of the bike, which obviously can't do the scenery justice, but is made possible by Mark's awesome bike camera mount invention that he should definitely get a patent on...

Today was a short ride - only between 65-70 miles - but tomorrow will be about twice that. We don't have a true rest day until Sunday, but we rode fast today, so we took the afternoon off and rested some. Instead of our typical spaghetti dinner by Angelo (which is VERY good), we headed in Mantua to see the sights and have a fabulous dinner. Beauty again, in such different ways - a majestic cathedral with incredible Renaissance-era artwork, old buildings representing a time gone by and a time that is now, cobblestone streets with bicycles and people moving all around, etc. There's no way to show a "representative" photo, SO... here's a part of dinner! And yes, this pasta was handmade in Italy...
All are doing well. Juan is looking forward to moving out the flats back into the mountains - and the rest of us are enjoying a break from his dominance! Angelo is an amazing rider outright, but especially for someone that I think is around 70! (He says that he's 35, but I don't believe it...) And Mario, Peter, and I are hanging in as well. It will be great to pick up our driver and cook in Lucca so that we can all ride at the same time. We rode well together today and made very good time - hopefully tomorrow will be more of the same.

Even the rain, although inconvenient for us, in beautiful and refreshing. At this point, we're just stocking calories and getting ready for the long days that are coming as we "round the corner" in Milan and start heading into the heart of Italy. May the beauty only continue!

A Spill and Wine Country (unrelated to each other)

We took off from the beautiful mountain of Alpe d'Suisi and headed back the way that we came, through the city of Bolzano and into the northern wine country, along the "Strada del Vino". Unfortunately, only 2K out from the camp, I took a little spill - could have been much worse, but my sore muscles from yesterday were joined by a sore arm and rear end for the rest of the day!! Thankfully, the monkey didn't get hurt... (or the bike)

In addition to my spills, we had two flats as well. However, it was a more relaxed day (only about 100k total), so we weren't in a huge hurry.

We saw beautiful views along the way. I'll post a pic, but there's really no way to adequately show in a photo all that we were seeing...

We made it to the town of Trento, but heard from Peter and Mario (who were up in the support vehicle) that the road from Trento onto the camp was narrow and busy - no way to pass it on bike, so we met them in Trento. Of course, as we rode through wine country, this is a picture of what it looks like if you just get to relax and enjoy it... (sorry Mario and Peter - I had to post it! Blame Juan - he took the picture)

We're staying at the resort town of Riva del Gardo, which is beautiful. Our next stage is into a small town called Mantova, and then on to Milan. Our weather has been beautiful up until now, but it looks like we will be seeing rain for the next several days...

Along the way, we've been seeing and hearing from God in so many different ways. Certainly the beauty of creation, but also the community of believers - the way that we are able to prefer one another and interact with joy and peace in such a small space. I pray that this continues, as there is a high potential for frustration in such a small area for so long. But so far so good!

Thanks for reading about our trip thus far - I realize that these aren't the most scintillating posts (as I'm usually posting about midnight or early in the morning), but it's great to hear your comments and thoughts. There is so much to learn along the way.

One other thing - later in the trip, we'll stay at Angelo's house. He lives in Lucca, and grows grapes and olives on his farm. He is a fascinating person, and I think the posts from those days will be very interesting as we see a little of his life, the process of olive and wine making, and the town of Lucca. However, first, it's on to Milan - through the rain! Greetings to all, and more will be coming soon...

Mountain: 1, Brian: 0

So today, we started riding. Of course, I should tell you that this isn't actually Brian riding it. I'll narrate the journey of the day. It started out like this:

Yep, that's me. Riding in Brian's back pocket. We got an early start - me in the back, Brian in the, uh, rider's seat? Whatever. We started with a pretty big climb - here's the view from the top!

Brian rode that one strong. But then the fun started. First, a 38 mile (yes, you read that right) downhill, including one of the most beautiful descents you can imagine into a small Italian town. It was part of wine country, so the smell of grapes was EVERYWHERE! Made me hungry. Brian too, since he had this minor misunderstanding that the group was stopping for lunch. But we didn't. In fact, that meant that Brian had a bottle of water, a bottle of a sports drink, a small energy gel pack and some jelly beans. All day. After a smaller breakfast than normal. By far.

For those of you that aren't bikers, that's not good. To make matters worse, the last 24K of the day was up the second most difficult climb of the course that we'll ride - Alpe d'Suise. So, without food or drink, we started. Bad idea. About 8K into the climb, Brian "bonked". Again, for non-bikers - that's completely run out of energy and the body won't really do what's it's told. Then, severe dehydration: cracking lips, no spit, sweating salt not water, etc. Yuck. However, all of that was still doable - we climbed slowly, but kept going. However, at the 10k from the top mark, cramps kicked in. Small at first, but by 6K from the top, there were at least 6 in the legs and another in the left foot - so every pedal stroke was painful. So we finally stopped to try to stretch. Then we walked. Then we tried to ride. Then the cramps started again - immediately. We found a nice restaurant that gave us water, but too little too late. It was over. We finally walked as far as the 3K mark, but the road was closed at that point for the race. So, we didn't quite make it to the top. We did make it to this view, but... too sore to enjoy it.
That was the deal today. Many lessons learned. Eat more. Bring food. Get more water along the way. Start a bit slower. Eat more bananas... By the way, Nurse Sarah - he did start with a banana this morning! I watched hungrily...

So, now we're at a cool campground. Here I am, in front of the mountain that's outside our tent. The one that Brian's headed to right now - for sleep!! Good night everyone!