Planning for crazy ideas in 2010...

Sicilia No Stop 2010 itinerary

No training last night due to feeling generally miserable, with a lagging earache that won't go away and a sore throat that made me sound like Godzilla when I spoke. Then my wife said it made me sound manly. My daughters giggled and nodded gravely. I puffed up my chest in pride, thinking "... cool, I am a manly sounding man". Fits with the Italian macho image and all that, ya know.

Then I pondered what the comment said about the way my voice must sound normally...

So, with that out of the way, let us return to more germane (or at least, slightly less embarrassing) issues. As I am not cycling today, I will do the next best thing. Plan epic rides with all of you out there on the intrawebz. :-)

Reading the Italian Cycling Journal, I came across the announcement of the 2010 1,000 km Sicilian Brevet ride. The website, still only in Italian, is here.

For those of you who are not familiar with Brevet rides (the ultimate ride in terms of participation and history being the 1,200 km Paris-Brest-Paris, first run in 1891). A bit more of an explanation can be found thanks to our wikipedia friends here.

Wow. 1,000 kms around the entire island, in September (should be fabulous weather, yet without the summer crowds as schools are in session). I must admit that the thought of challenging myself on these monster distances is something that I find increasingly fascinating. Maybe it's because I am no longer fast and don't have a hope in hell to hang with the fast young whippersnappers. But the idea of marathon-like slogs through days and nights is perversely appealing. Are any of you serious randonnée riders? Can anyone relate their stories of riding through consecutive nights, unsupported?

And the most important question... is anyone interested in participating?