Posts Tagged ‘Italy’
|Benvenuto, Fred!
Monday, January 4th, 2010
We have some very exciting news to announce today. Federico “Fred” Morini will be joining us in Castelcucco this year! Fred moved quickly through the junior ranks in Italy, eventually leading to everyone’s dream, a pro contract! Signing with Gerolsteiner in 2000, Fred was an immediate success, winning a stage of the Tour of Austria as a neo-pro. Unfortunately, a horrible training accident in 2001 nearly paralyzed Fred and eventually ended his pro career in 2003.
Rather than feel bad about his situation, Fred worked hard to first walk, and then to ride his bike again. He loves to share his boundless energy with everyone he rides with, and our initial good feelings about Fred were supported by fellow Velo Venetians (that is grammatically correct, right?) who have ridden with Fred before. Though he is committed to be elsewhere during il Giro and le Tour, throughout the rest of the season, he will join us every other week for riding, coaching, meals, and I’m sure storytelling! Still friends with many current Italian pros, he has insights and connections that will prove interesting and useful, whether it be on our next ride, an UDACE race, a Gran Fondo, or the Master’s World Championships. If you’re not able to make it to Castelcucco in 2010, Fred will likely make a US appearance at the Gran Fondo Colnago San Diego, the Solvang Cycling Clinic, and the Solvang Century.
If you want to know more about Fred, you can visit his website, follow his Twitter account, or stay tuned here or on our Facebook fan page, where he will occasionally pop in to say Ciao!, and tell us about goings-on in the world of pro cycling.
2010 Giro d’Italia Itinerary
Thursday, November 19th, 2009
We’re very excited to announce our itinerary for the Giro d’Italia trip this coming May. That sounds like a long way away, but it’ll be here before we know it! In addition to the great viewing opportunities of the Giro, we’ll also be enjoying the fantastic riding around the Veneto throughout the week and a grand farewell dinner after the Verona TT. We have 8 spots only available for this trip, so make your reservation now!
Friday, May 21 – Rider Arrival (early morning arrivals will spend the day in Venice while Velo Veneto looks after your bags)
Saturday, May 22 – Stage 14 of the Giro offers a taste of the Dolomites with our own Monte Grappa, and we’ll be there to sample it. After watching the pros suffer up the mountain, we’ll backtrack to Asolo in time to watch the finish.
Sunday, May 23 – The real Dolomites start today, and we’ll be there to witness it. Our morning begins with a drive north into the mountains, and then we spin out on our own ride finishing on the Giro’s final climb of the day, the Zoncolan!
Monday, May 24 – Rest day for the Giro, but we’ll be enjoying the beautiful Prosecco Vineyards ride from our own front door.
Tuesday, May 25 – With a couple of days to gather the data, we’ll know the pro’s times up the Monte Grappa, and today we’ll test ourselves against those times with a TT up the Monte Grappa. After you’ve wrung yourself out, we’ll gather around the common room TV to watch the Giro’s uphill Plan de Corones TT.
Wednesday, May 26 – Having done a fair bit of climbing the past few days, we’ll head south onto the Padovana plain to Castelfranco, stopping at Alessandro Ballan’s local bike shop and pausing in the main piazza for a cappuccino or espresso.
Thursday, May 27 – Hosting the world championships twice since 1985, the Montello is one of the local famed training loops. We’ll head out through the vineyards to tackle the same roads that saw Joop Zoetemelk win a road world championships and Jan Ullrich win a TT crown.
Friday, May 28 – Back into the hills for us today with our own Alpe d’Huez, the 21-hairpin climb of Foza up to the Asiago plateau. A quick traverse leads us to a sweeping descent into the Brenta River valley and back to Castelcucco in time for more Giro coverage!
Saturday, May 29 – Rider’s Choice! One group will head back into the hills, while the other will take a flatter ride. Either way, we’ll be back in time to rejoin in the common room to watch the Giro’s queen stage, including the famous Passo Gavia!
Sunday, May 30 – This morning we’ll head down the road to Verona, site of yet another Oscar Friere World Championships win and the Giro’s culminating TT. We’ll be there early enough to pre-ride the course itself, and wander through the start area as the riders warm-up. Those who want can stay in town to watch the start/finish and/or go sightseeing, while a second group will head out onto the course’s climb, the Torricelle. We will wrap up this great trip with a farewell dinner in a local restaurant.
Monday, May 31 – Sadly, it’s time to return to real life… But the Giro will return to the Veneto again soon!
For more information about Velo Veneto trips, including this Giro d’Italia itinerary, please visit our Reservations page.
Remembering the Monte Grappa
Wednesday, November 11th, 2009
For those of us climbing the Monte Grappa on bikes, the mountain seems like a way to willfully and joyfully inflict pain upon ourselves. But to Italians, the mountain means so much more. Often called “Italy’s Thermopylae”, the fall and winter of 1917 saw a massive battle take place with the Grappa as the last line of defense before Venice. Before the Austro-German troops were repelled, the battle took the lives of 24,000 Italians, 4,000 English and French, and more than 100,000 Austrians. From WorldWar1.com:
On Monte Grappa the Italian Army did not breakdown. Outnumbered, outgunned, with their backs to the abyss and their faces to onrushing enemy and winter weather, they found a renewed spirit that would carry on until victory the following year. They opposed German flamethrower and gas with rifle and bayonet counterattacks. Against torrents of artillery and trench mortars, these soldati hurled hand grenades and finally without ammunition, the mountain’s stones.
Whether you are in Italy, remembering la Grande Guerra on November 4th (the Armistice of villa Giusti), or elsewhere on November 11th, it is tales like these that put our suffering on the bike into perspective.
