That New Bike Feeling
Recap from October 2018 and our first month in Italy
I've fallen in love in Italy. It didn't take long. It did take some hunting, but I found the new love of my life after several trips. Two weekends ago, I took a train up to Treviglio and than ran over to the Bianchi Factory outlet where I was introduced to Infinito CV 53. This bike, weighing in at just 8kg is the new love of my life. She's black, sleek and gorgeous and is going to serve me for a long time to come. We rode from Treviglio down to Gessate to catch the metro home before dark. She gave me confidence, handling the bumps in the road smoother than my old bike. She's a bit longer, so i'm stretching more, putting me in a more aggressive position.
Already we've gone together down to Pavia on the Navigli trail, and for our second ride ever we didn't go light. I had aimed to do the Como, Lecco, Bellagio triangle. But I didn’t like the road between Como and Lecco. It was too busy and too commercial with too few natural sights and too many cars. I turned off to the left when I saw a sign for Bellagio and decided Lecco would be another day. The climbing began almost immediately. And, it didn’t let up. I grinded up to Asso, pushed on through the beautiful Vallassina valley and the climbing just kept going. Around Barni I noticed how many cyclists were coming downhill and started wondering if something was up. Past Barni and eventually found myself at Madonna di Ghisallo, a sight that features an amazing view of the lake from above Bellagio, and is so famous in cycling that it has a Cycling Museum, statue and chapel at the top. Not really understanding what I was getting my self into, I had taken my brand new bike up Ghisallino (the easy side of the historic Ghisallo). It was a 3600 foot climb. I'm proud of us!
I can tell there will be many miles ahead for us and i'm already excited for some of these challenges:
Riding the full perimeter of Como
Riding the perimeter of Lago di Garda - looks gorgeous!
Riding the Stelvio Pass
And then lots of laid back flat rides involving lots of food and wine. It's going to be a fun adventure ahead.
Rosie Red was a doll and this new black wonder will earn her name over time. So psyched to put in some good hard miles with her.
Jan 2023 Update: We’ve check of Lake Como perimeter AKA Giro Lago, and the Stelvio Pass. Re-reading this post was a good reminder to add Lago di Garda to the 2022 to-do list.
