giro roundup

[My past three weeks in a nutshell...]
Hours ridden: 31.5

Blog posts written: 9 Favorite stage: Stage 7, obvs

Number of times the Esta The commercial girl actually looked like she took a huge bite out of the introduced “street food”: 0 Stages I almost vomited in anxiety: 2 [Stages 7 and 20]

Number of stages it took for me to remember that Wiggins was once in the Giro: 6 Quote that will be missed the most: “Grazie, Andrea”

Favorite non-cycling part of the Giro: the team cars re-enacting scenes from the Fast and Furious: 6 trailer.

Number of Lotto-Belisol asses I want to give a congratulatory smack to: all of ‘em [you thought I was only going to say one, didn’t you?]

Shoes of the Giro that I’d knife fight The Rock for: Hansen’s Hanseenos, Sanchez’s gold Sidis, and Pozzato’s hot pink Sidis, in that order.

Thanks for all the suffering! One down, two more Grand Tours to go!

WON

Sometimes, you stare out the office window on a Friday night, counting down the minutes until your shift ends and live coverage of the Giro starts.
And sometimes, you run home in the rain without an umbrella because your favorite pro cyclist is in the breakaway.

And sometimes, you mutter encouragement into your computer screen and cling to a hope that a friend can TT the next 30km solo.

And sometimes, just sometimes, that declaration you made that he could win a few Grand Tour stages this year, that comes true.

And in those sometimes, you’re totally allowed to cry happy tears for someone else.
Congrats, again, Adam [hey, what did I tell you, right?]! And happy birthday!!!
[Sorry for the screenshots, guys, way better pictures are on Steephill.]

golden week in pictures

In contrast to last year’s Golden Week [the cluster of national holidays in late April/early May which gifted me a three day workweek last week], I’ve spent most of it this year inside, counting down the hours to the next stage of the Giro. I did get lots of time at Ikea, did some spinning, painted my nails for once, then promptly ruined my manicure opening a bottle of olive oil.

But I really wouldn’t have had it any other way.
[More soon!]