To butcher some lyrics from the old George Gershwin tune, it’s summertime and the riding is easy. A little too easy. I try to get out on the bike as much as I can, but with a family and a couple of demanding businesses … Well, I don’t need to tell you how that goes. So I’m really looking forward to taking some time during the season to join a few of my favorite trips and enjoy a bit of quality riding with all the guests and my friends.
Alessandro Stella makes shoes. Stunning, immaculate, breathtaking handmade shoes. What does a shoemaker have to do with cycling? Nothing. Everything.
“You go from fog-bound Big Sur, chilly, freezing, and then suddenly you’re on a high climb, above the clouds, it’s sunny, and then you’re down into a desert-like, drought-ridden frying pan that just about destroyed everyone.” Tom Vanderbilt summed up the Coast Ride perfectly. But then, you’d expect nothing less from a best-selling author.
Words that strike fear into the hearts of all men: “I was at Bloomingdale’s today and I found the most amazing [insert product here].” This time, it was towels. Or rather, Towels, with a capital T and a big price tag to match. It not being pay-day, I stalled the conversation just long enough until we moved on to something else.
Most people who ride a bike can remember, with the clarity of a spring morning, the moment they fell for cycling. Two strong thoughts linger in my mind about my first real ride, about six years ago, as I was already climbing the hill of my forties. The first was: Where has this been all my life? The second: What an absolute dork I was.
I spilled a glass of red wine. The table was wild with the thrill of conversation, the room warm with the heat of friends. I was gesticulating, probably, emphasizing some exaggerated story with the exclamation point of my arm. I do this anyway, when I speak, but Italy and a few glasses of Chianti will really get me going.
The line goes out the door and around the corner. Pretty much all day, every day. And there is really only one thing on the menu: the Pastel de Nata. Sure, you can get a coffee or a soda, but who waits in line for upwards of 30 minutes for a Coke?*
