Back in the Groove

It's been 7 days since we left Italy, still sad, it's been a dream, looking back, even the hail, thunderstorms, down pours seem not to bother me anymore, I want to go back tomorrow and do it all over again. Like they said: The End is only the Beginning. Welcome Spain in 2011.

Back in Hawaii

Wow, 15 1/2 hrs on a plane is just not fun.

At 6.30pm we touched down @ the Kona Intl. airport.

There is no other smell in the world that can describe when the door opens and you step off the plane in Hawaii, it smells like home.

Take a deep breath next time you come back from a trip and you'll find out, your whole body just starts blooming, sucking up the moisture like a sponge.

Today, back to work at the Kona Bike Shop. Not fun either, but somehow we have to save some more money for our next adventure.

The Legend continues

Julia and I haven't been to Germany when the weather was as beautiful as it was this time. Blue skies and temperatures around 65 to 70 F made this short trip very enjoyful.

Of course our first stop would be the wine market to get some Italian wine to enjoy
on my pops porch above the city. It's a little oasis right downtown with palm trees
and other tropical trees and plants.



So what goes the best with red wine?
Spaghetti and a shot of Sambuca.

This is it..

We are leaving Italy. We'll be back for sure.

Still digesting all the images in my head, it'll take a while to realize what we did.

Most of us became wine snobs, with the exception of Gene, Coca Cola only and Tammy, she is more of a beer person, although both of them tried the favorite beverage of the gods.

Since I missed two days of riding I asked Tom if we could do one more ride in the morning.

To my surprise he offered to ride from Cortona to Florence, about 70 miles, while all the other would take the van.

From the get go he pushed hard, he wanted to beat the van,

we didn't beat them, but we arrived at the same time, 3 1/2 hrs for 70 miles with a thunder storm

and some serious hills, I was happy.

It was sad to see the guides leave, we were more like a family after a week of spending all day together.

A typical italian lunch and some Giro TV coverage closed the day and a chapter that will leave long lasting memories.

Thanks for following.

Last day in sunshine

Cortona, if you ever have the chance, please visit this amazing hill top town in Tuscany.

You'll find yourself set back in time to the Mid Evil, absolutely amazing.

We woke up early, the sunshine falling in our window, this seems promising for the day.

The first day of real sunshine, no rain, yeah!

Super nice ride with two passes to climb, another outstanding lunch by Duvine.

Check out the videos.

With out words..

I am running out of words how to describe the beauty of this part of Italy.

So I am cutting it short and let the pictures tell you the story.

Todays ride, transfer from San Luca to Cortona. 50 miles, ran into thunder again.

On the bike again

A short ride from our hotel in Montefellonico brought us right to the start in Chianchiano.

We checked out the scenery and rode further south to Chuisi to see the peleton go by.

It took 15 sec for 189 riders to go by.

Todays mileage 35 due to rain again, but we got a superb lunch out of it.

Rest Day

No ride today due to a continious down poor. Instead we drove to downtown Siena and walked around with our umbrella's playing tourist.

Than transfer to todays finish of Stage 6, Montalciona @ 1600 ft.

We got dropped of at the 8oo meter marker and walked all the way to the finish line. A Big Screen was showing the race live, people gathering every where, waiting for the arrival of the peleton,

that was still riding on the dirt roads of the famous L'eroica . When you hear the helicopter

you know they are close, mud covered Evans , followed by Vino were coming racing through he small streets of Montalcino right in front of us, fighting for todays victory,

Part of the Giro

Another beautiful morning to wake up to. Crisp clean air hits your face opening the wood framed

windows in our room. Fog hugs the lower parts of the valley of Volterra.

On todays schedule: parts of the Giro.

By the time we left the hotel the skies didn't look good as promised.

6 k out of town going south east the weather came in and we got hit with a nice stiff breeze and rain. Not fun when the ride starts with a nice downhill, frozen toes, numb hands and a red nose like Rudolph the reindeer.

Most of our today's ride included lots of climbing and long downhills.

Half way through the ride Giovanni served a first class lunch that filled us up and gave us enough energy to conceur parts of tomorrows Stage 6.

"Pantani" graffiti and faded mile markers on the road on the way to Siena. Miles today 63.

On our bikes

Beautiful ride around Volterra today. I was skeptical after all the storms.
The weather cleared and we started on a crisp morning to go on our first ride.

Starting with a screaming downhill on wet roads we had to challenge some hilly terrain

riding toward San Gimignano an old town with a 1000 year history.

After a short stop we continued our ride looping back to Volterra with some nice climbs.