Photo session on the slopes yesterday. 6k run today.
This sunday I have a 10k running race in Bari.
sud

Must have been 25° at lunch today. A hot warm breeze was blowing and I took a 24k solo ride at lunch. 200m climbing.
Didnt catch the speed, would be around 30 i guess.
Getting used to the compact and the sudden changes in tempo.
It's good to be live.
sempre sud.

17k 220m of climbing (one repeat). Compact works very well but needs some adjustment. 63kph no problem on the decent with a head wind.
sud

Saturday: 65k @ 25.5 w 900m of climbing.
rained out today.
sud

DG tries the Blok again.
Fara Filliourm prato - Passo Lanciano OK. At passo Lanciano he was chased by a dog. The same dog that barked at us? Out of Passo L. he encountered a snowplough coming the other way. They said it was open. Two K out of Passo L. he ahd to abort because of ice, sluch and snow on the road. As he said on the phone, "even if i made it up, i couldnt make it back down". Good call. Good try.

My estimates are that DG did about 4400 meters of climbing durring his brief stay in Abruzzo. Not bad at all for a first trip to the mountains.

looking forward to riding it all together.

sud

rain

DG's still in a holding pattern. The weather is supposed to break tomorrow.
sud

Snow over 1500m yesterday so DGs attempt was aborted. He will try again today.
sud

Sud and DG finally meet up. Lanciano - Passo Lanciano - Lanciano. A great ride!
We got off to a rocking start taking turns pushing hard over the rolling hills to Guardia Graelle. I already had a good idea that Il Derny Giallo was going to live up to his reputation, apart from wearing yellow on a yellow bike he was only too happy to pull that heavy steel bike like a locomotive. I had to insist to stay out in front. The road climbs from Fara Filiorum Petri, but didn't become troublesome until out of Pretoro. At about 700m my fears regarding my 39x25 became reality as I watched the cadence drop from 70, to 60 to 50 (and I stopped watching). My legs filled with lactic acid and I came all but to a standstill (but didn't stop!). DG shared his last banana then drifted off up The Blok flaunting that 39x28, wisely leaving me to work through my own private world of pain. At 800m a guy dressed in red went rocketing up, making it all look so easy. At 900m a big bad muscle in my leg said it was time to cramp so I got up out of the saddle for a bit. It just keeps on going, up and up. Grades were between 6 and 10%. At 1000 m it got really cold and up went the manicotti. At 1250m who should it be but the DG coming to check on me. 1300m Passo Lanciano and a photo opp in the snow. DG had some family business to attend to so we had to go back. I was glad of the excuse, I might have made it to the top. But with the x25, but it would have been ugly. Really ugly. And the worst grades were still to come.

So we headed down. It was about then that that wind really picked up. Powerful gust strong enough to blow you off the road. A nervous decent buffeted by the wind. We stopped for a panino near the bottom. Shivering.

I was more than happy to let DG lead the rush for home, we took turns cursing on the hills. Pedaling, pedaling and pedaling all the way.

My GPS said 93k @ 22.2 kph avg, with 1837 meters of climbing.

I will be back to the Blok again soon, with lower gears (or perhaps a motor).

Slo, the mountain awaits you...
sud

Finally back from Milan. Did a 35k warm-up ride, nice and easy while DG is our scouting Pretoro for our big ride tomorrow...
sud

Slo, DG is out doing the recon. He took the car up to Passo Lanciano and was surprised how steep it is....
I sent him a text message that the Bora has been recently clocked blowing at a record 173kph. What's a Bora?

The Bora, named after Bureas, the God of the North Winds, has been described in writings expressing admiration or fear of its fury and strength. It is a strong, cold and dry north-easterly wind that is sometimes called impetuous, capricious, and superficial because it blows at intervals and with sudden gusts. But, reaching up to 120 km/hr in volocity, it is can be very dangerous for automobile and boat travel.

Good thing it says nothing about bikes.
Cold winds fall off the mountains in ex Yugoslavia and power across to Italy usualy driving snow and rain. Even in the south the wind made for some challenging riding today over lunch.


sud

"Vivicittà" todayi. A 12k run through the city center, around the old city, along the lungomare and back up to the start. Thousands of people. I was with a friend and his group of dedicated long distance runners. My buddy averaged 4.30/km, one of his friends 4. It was overcast and a warm sirocco was blowing hard. I started fast, slowed down after 6k (the distance I train at), then was able to pour it on for the last 3k. I could have pushed harder I think if i hadn't lost my friend in the crowd at the start.
In the end was pleased with my non official time of 56:38. Avg pace 4:42.
sud

I wrote this a couple weeks ago but it got stuck in the draft folder.....
It was 23 ° and sunny today. I drove my care 30 min to Cassano to meet my friend. There was a chilly wind blowing off the rolling Murgia and we had our manicotti rolled up for the whole ride. There is a nasty climb out of town past the convent, then rolling hills and wide open spaces to Altamura. My legs were screamig in agony from the running yesterday, but I wasn't in the mood to listen to them. We rode to Matera and got lost looking for a climb, that really blew our avg. speed. Wind was against us on the way back with three sharp climbs. My buddy bonked on the last one and I waited. He recovered on the down hill and we took turns churning the big gears back to C. Nice ride, gorgeous scenery and very little traffic. 68k total. 26.8 avg

Gorgeous day today. Sunny, windy. the sea is pea green and frothy with big white breakers. I got up late and to avoid getting in my car to go biking I went fo a run. 56 minutes along the coast past the big lighthouse and back. I am hoping it will help me build endurance and drop a couple of lbs.
sud

Thursday and Friday TTs at lunch. Today was the seasons best at 30.1kph including a delay for an idot in a car that cut me of and a slow down for a flock of sheep. We were haulling at 60 on the decent, 40 on the flats and paid out on the 16% grade.
sud