Riding in the Sunshine! What a difference a few days and a head cold makes! So far this week, except for one day off because of the cold, the riding has been getting better and better. The winds have died down and the temperatures have been rising to seasonal norms.
I have also been able to get in some pretty good rides in the later stages of the week. The setup of the bike is where I am again comfortable riding without any significant pain in the upper body. it is amazing what a few mm will make in your ride.
Riding in a thunder storm I keep asking myself, I came all the way here for this?? To say the least, the weather this first week has been quite interesting. Cold, windy, sunny, warm, windy, and now a torrential downpour.
Francesco and I started out this morning south toward Santa Marinella in nice mild weather. However, looking off to the west out over the Mediterranean Sea, dark, ink black clouds were gathering for a trip eastward.
Up the mountain to ride with a friend Well, the training for Gran Fondo Giro di Lombaria started in ernst today. I met up with one of the pro riders I rode with last year, Luigi Sestili. I road with him locally here in Civitavechhia and Pisa last summer. Luigi had some tough training on the weekend riding 250 km with his team under the watchful eyes of Pino Petito, so today's ride was a recovery ride for him.
To make life easier for Luigi, I rode up the mountain to meet him in Tolfa where he lives.
Podium Spot for Alexandr Kolobnev The second of the five final Italian one-day races provided a podium spot for Alexandr Kolobnev, when the Russian Team CSC Saxo Bank rider finished in third place behind Danilo Di Luca (Team LPR) and Davide Rebellin (Gerolsteiner) in Giro dell'Emilia. "It's a great result to get one of our guys on the podium in this race. We'd agreed beforehand that Alexandr would try and stick to Rebellin, which turned out to be the right tactics.
Steensen's First Season Ended with Broken Wrist Unfortunately the first season as a pro with Team CSC Saxo Bank is over for young talent André Steensen. He crashed in Circuit Franco-Belge and as a result the 20-year-old rider now has a broken wrist.
"I crashed in third stage and the x-rays indicated that my wrist was broken. So now I'll have to wear a cast for 10 days and then I'll have it checked again. If it hasn't healed properly by then I'll have to wear a cast for another four to six weeks.
Matti Breschel Chanceless Once again Matti Breschel showed great form when this year's edition of Paris-Bourges took place on Thursday, but because of tactics the young Dane never stood a chance of winning although he still managed a nice seventh or eight place.
"It was a strange and very tactical race because already after 18 kilometers a group of six escaped and we never saw them again.
