It had been six years since an Italian last won the Giro d’Italia. But there was some hope for the locals at the 1975 edition when Eddy Merckx became ill at the Tour de Romandie and withdrew his entire team from the Giro. The home favorites had another Belgian to worry about however, because Roger de Vlaeminck, Monsieur Paris–Roubaix, was tired of being second best to his countrymen everywhere but on the cobbles. He wanted a Grand Tour win, and the 58th edition of the Corsa Rosa looked like the perfect opportunity. De Vlaeminck was determined to make a point, and so he made a bet with a journalist from the Gazzetta dello Sport that he’d win seven stages – one more than Merckx had managed when he’d romped to the title in ’73.
Let me set something straight: Owning a travel company does not mean you get to spend your life on vacation. I know. I thought it did too. But in between running a growing business and spending the kind of quality time I want to with my wife and kids, I’m lucky if I find an hour to get out on my bike around the Bay Area, let alone jet off to Europe on a week-long bike trip.
To say that I love globes and maps is a real understatement. When I was in third grade, my teacher went on a trip to Australia and I remember listening to his stories and being completely mesmerized. That is when my love for traveling was born and I can say that my fascination with seeing the world carried me through my early 20s.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll know that Pinarello recently dropped their latest superbike, the Dogma F10, to rave reviews. We wanted to spend some time in the saddle before proudly showing off our new fleet, and having crushed the Coast Ride on these brand new machines, we’re delighted to say that somehow our friends in Treviso have managed to improve on what was already the best racing frame that we’d ever seen.
It’s a funny feeling when you get the pre-race notes from the indefatigable Nate and even though the stage is a mighty 120 kilometers, you learn that it’s been shortened by 100 kilometers already.
The consequence of January’s Rainpocalypse are the hillsides now covering roadsides, and yesterday’s enormous detour. It also means that today’s final stage three of The Coast Ride stretched “merely” from Paso Robles, to my namesake, King City.
When the going gets tough the tough get going.
When The Coast Ride miraculously wiggles its way into the only three days that northern California doesn’t see devastating rain, and therefore the traditional stage two is a literal washout caused by a few hundred tons of boulders plus an entire hillside scattered across Highway One spanning from Monterey to Morro Bay, team inGamba gets going!
Saturday’s stage one of the Coast Ride started early with the 5am chirp of my alarm clock. With sunrise another two and a half hours later, there was lots to do even before the sun met the horizon. Namely, coffee, unpacking and repacking my already packed bag, purely out of nervous habit, another slurp of coffee, which segued into the first 5km neutral roll out to the team hotel in Mill Valley. The team meeting quickly ensued in typical pre-race format — riders kitting up and downing the last bits of maple fueled energy for the day — and more coffee was enjoyed.
