The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated...

... indeed.

I am still of this world. Back from a significant amount of business travel to unmentionable places (including Vienna, this time around... but that was nice... but too much beer and weiner schnitzel...).

So this week I have gotten my rather fat a$# out for three rides. Coming from several months of no riding and continued eating, it has been painful and humiliating. Kids on tricycles now pass me on speed bumps. My lycra riding clothes are uncomfortably tight. But let's not go there.

It is good to be back in the blogosphere! It is good to be riding again. I have some good posts coming up, so stay posted. Equipment reviews and of course, my usual pithy commentary on the pro cycling peloton.

Oh, and congratulations to Ivan Basso, winner of this year's very exciting Giro d'Italia, honored by Cadel Evans (riding solo, as usual, can't the guy get a functioning team?), Arroyo and the Credit boys, minus our friend Valverde (good riddance).

Where have I been?

Where have I been? Very busy. That's where. Life has been nothing short of hectic - we have recently moved to a new (larger and more comfortable) apartment. And as any of you with families know, moving four people and all their stuff is a handful.

Add in a busy work schedule with quite a bit of travel in the new year, and my complete lack of time to ride has resulted in my 'blogging hiatus'.

The good news is that, as of the second half of May I should be able to carve out some time for more serious riding. And that the new home has a fantastic garage so I now have a comfortable place to work and clean my bike... should I be able to ride it enough to warrant cleaning it!

So please don't give up on me and the Pasta Trails blog! Thanks for looking!

A rough ride...

Hello there. Yes, I'm back, to tell you about my second ride of 2010. Yup, you read that correctly. Life getting in the way of things (actually, more like work, but the impact is the same) and cutting out my riding.

So, today I went riding with two of my good friends. And it wasn't pretty.

About 80 kilometers, on roads as flat as a pancake (the two biggest inclines were less than a km each). A sunny (finally, we have had miserable rainy weather here for what seems like weeks) but rather chilly day (temperature around 4 C when I left the house at 8:30-ish). But hey, no worries, a day of relaxed riding, shooting the breeze with friends and nothing to worry about. Right?

No.

I was in trouble right away, struggling to keep up with a relaxed pace (50x17 or thereabouts). And simply shelled of the back as soon as there was any incline at all.
Not even a pleasant slice of pie and great caffè espresso were able to help.

Oh well. I guess it can only get better...

On a more positive note, one of my friends was out on his first ride on his new bike - he just purchased an immaculate Colnago C-50 with full Record 10 speed. No paint, simple carbon fiber look. Fantastic looking, and (so he tells us) a joy to ride. Comfy, fast descender (not twitchy at all) and an all round solid performer.

Almost made me jealous, but I have my Cervelo R3, after all...

In any event, a bad day of riding is still waaaaaay better than a good day in the office, so I am content. Let us see what tomorrow brings. Hope you all had a more pleasant day out than I!

Vredestein Fiammante DuoComp review and other stuff...

So, as we are beginning to get back into the swing of 2010, and at the request of what I assume is one of the many pastatrails readers (that's you, Carlos from Houston!)... a few quick thoughts on the performance of the Vredestein Fiammante DuoCompes that I installed a while ago.

Well... after about a month of use, I can state that... I like 'em. They have been ridden in what has been a very wet and windy Rome winter (a joke for some of you, but Siberian-like for us Southern Europeans!). The grip in wet and grimy conditions has been excellent. Absolutely no issues at all. They are holding up quite well (admittedly, I have yet to put a lot of kilometers on them) and I have had no flats, which is always positive.

Coming off cheap Vittorias (Rubinos) I must admit that they roll better (offhand I don't know the differences in TPIs though, so it is simply a sensation that I cannot back up with anything concrete). Ergo, I recommend them highly as a performance oriented training clincher. Although yesterday I did see a pair of the new Vittoria 320 TPI 'open tubulars'... oooohhhh.

On a separate note, I just received a set of Ciamillo Negative G brakes purchased slightly used from a fellow Weightweenies forum member. Ooooohhhhhh (yup, second time I say that in today's post)... beautiful.

And to prove just how light they are, I have added a picture. 192 grams (ok, without pads). Holy moly. Happy Pete... enjoy your riding!

The new arrival...