Tuesday, 7/11/06 at 6:52 PM
by Mari Holden
by Mari Holden
Giro d'Italia
My latest adventure was to attend the Men’s Giro d’Italia. The Giro is considered a Grand Tour. It is three weeks and travels all over Italy. I was fortunate enough to be asked to attend the race with the USA Cycling Development Foundation. We traveled to Italy for the final week of the race.
The final week was in the Dolomites. It was almost as if we were in Austria! The scenery was amazing. One afternoon I was sitting at my hotel, and it was like a scene out of the Sound of Music. There were a couple nuns strolling across the green hills into a village. Amazing…
I speak Italian from having lived for a couple years in Italy on different teams. It is one of my favorite countries. I always feel like it is a Disneyland for cyclists. One of the best moments was when we went riding with a local apple farmer. He invited us to have lunch at his villa and we ended up having spectacular day eating pasta and hearing stories about the region in a mix of English, German and Italian.
My travel group was amazing. The USA Cycling Development Foundation is one of the major sources of funding for USA Cycling athletics. I was lucky to get to meet some of the donors and hear why they were so interested in helping our young athletes. I’m just thankful we have people out there who are committed to the development of our sport.
I had never been to a Men’s Grand Tour. I have raced in the Women’s Tour de France, and also the Women’s Giro d’ Italia, but have never seen the men race. For that matter, I have never really watched much bike racing without being in it! It was a new experience for me to go to the start line and see the nervousness and tiredness on all the cyclists’ faces without feeling it myself. While I could empathize, there was not one part of me that wanted to go and suffer like that! I especially decided that I was glad not to be racing when it started pouring rain on them and we were in the hotel watching them finish up their long day in the saddle.
I thoroughly enjoyed my trip to Italy. I got to ride the side roads and take in all the sights and sounds of the Giro, but also soak up some of the local flavor. After so many years of concentrating on racing, I am finally able to see some of the sights and actually enjoy the scenery. Following a bike race can be hectic, but it is an awesome way to see a new country. The people live for bike racing in Europe. These Grand Tours bring out all the locals and they all have their favorites. It is like football or basketball in the US. The coolest part to me is that you can ride the climb before the race and feel how hard it is, and then watch the pros come by. You have a concrete understanding of the difficulty of their accomplishments. Even the guys who look slow are fast!
My next Grand Tour is the Tour de France. I’ll let you know how it goes!
Sincerely,
Mari
The final week was in the Dolomites. It was almost as if we were in Austria! The scenery was amazing. One afternoon I was sitting at my hotel, and it was like a scene out of the Sound of Music. There were a couple nuns strolling across the green hills into a village. Amazing…
I speak Italian from having lived for a couple years in Italy on different teams. It is one of my favorite countries. I always feel like it is a Disneyland for cyclists. One of the best moments was when we went riding with a local apple farmer. He invited us to have lunch at his villa and we ended up having spectacular day eating pasta and hearing stories about the region in a mix of English, German and Italian.
My travel group was amazing. The USA Cycling Development Foundation is one of the major sources of funding for USA Cycling athletics. I was lucky to get to meet some of the donors and hear why they were so interested in helping our young athletes. I’m just thankful we have people out there who are committed to the development of our sport.
I had never been to a Men’s Grand Tour. I have raced in the Women’s Tour de France, and also the Women’s Giro d’ Italia, but have never seen the men race. For that matter, I have never really watched much bike racing without being in it! It was a new experience for me to go to the start line and see the nervousness and tiredness on all the cyclists’ faces without feeling it myself. While I could empathize, there was not one part of me that wanted to go and suffer like that! I especially decided that I was glad not to be racing when it started pouring rain on them and we were in the hotel watching them finish up their long day in the saddle.
I thoroughly enjoyed my trip to Italy. I got to ride the side roads and take in all the sights and sounds of the Giro, but also soak up some of the local flavor. After so many years of concentrating on racing, I am finally able to see some of the sights and actually enjoy the scenery. Following a bike race can be hectic, but it is an awesome way to see a new country. The people live for bike racing in Europe. These Grand Tours bring out all the locals and they all have their favorites. It is like football or basketball in the US. The coolest part to me is that you can ride the climb before the race and feel how hard it is, and then watch the pros come by. You have a concrete understanding of the difficulty of their accomplishments. Even the guys who look slow are fast!
My next Grand Tour is the Tour de France. I’ll let you know how it goes!
Sincerely,
Mari
Comments
how was the TDF?
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