The new bike...
Last Thursday we picked up a new bike for my eldest daughter. And today was the big day... the first ride!

She is now the proud owner of a slightly used (it was raced for one year) Vicini all aluminum road frame, rebadged with our LBS' name. We decided to change the handlebars to a set of flatbars, as daughter 1 was unable to reach the brakes on the drops. And, to my great jealousy, she is riding tubulars. Very stylish and comfy! Euro pro! The bike is very smooth... as is confirmed by daughter 1, who tells me it is 'very fast' and 'way better than her old bike'. But then again, it might just be that 'new bike smell'...

In any event, today was the first 'real' ride, which she handled very well. Have to say, she is a very good rider - holds a line, has more than enough power for her age, and is clearly comfortable riding. So we started the ride in a car free park right by the seaside, and decided to go out on roads with car traffic. All went very well... including Mom and daughter 2, who rode on their mountain bike - Burley Piccolo contraption (more on that in another post).

The proud new owner...
We are all thrilled - this bike was purchased in preparation for a forthcoming Easter vacation trip, during which we hope to spend a lot of time riding as a family in Puglia (southern Italy)... and by this we mean at least a couple of hours - 30~40 km per day. So we are very happy and proud of the new 'real' cyclist in the family. Now I am beginning to develop secret visions of a future racing career, but I guess I should be a bit more conservative and hope that she becomes a lifelong cyclist. That would make me more than happy enough!

So, on a wonderful spring day (first day we were able to ride in short sleeves this year) I had a wonderful cycling outing with my whole family. And we are preparing for a five day vacation in southern Italy, with even more cycling, in a week's time. It does not get much better than this!

The other Euro Pro cyclist...
And just to prove we are Euro Pro cool, here is photographic evidence of daughter 2 in her 'I am ready to roll, what are we waiting for' pose. She is a bit peeved that she didn't get a new bike, and even more importantly, that her bike does not have a water bottle. But she is another strong rider... although she does occasionally stop pedaling altogether and looks at the birds and the trees... No worries though, it just means more intense training for mom, who is pulling her along!

So bye for now! I hope to post more next week during/after our forthcoming cycling vacation! All the best from sunny Rome!

Wild and crazy and... worthwhile *

If you are reading this, chances are you are a fellow cyclist. As you know, we are not really considered to be 'normal' by our non-riding friends, colleagues and family. Face it, for those who have not seen the light, we are a wee bit weird. We spend huge amounts of money on our bikes. And our idea of a pleasant day is a 100 km ride in the baking heat, wearing tight-fitting lycra. And most importantly (this is actually sacrilege in a number of 'developed' countries) we shun driving cars. Which makes us positively, certifiably loony in the eyes of the majority.

Having said this, there are occasions when our propensity for... ehm, weirdness can be both entertaining and worthwhile. Many of you will have heard of Fat Cyclist. Heck, he is one of the reasons that I got into this blogging thing. And my view on his posts changed further when my father went through a serious bout of cancer about a year ago.

So, when Fatty proposes something fun and at the same time useful in the fight against cancer, I pay attention. And if it also absolutely ridiculous, well then, I seriously consider participating.

So, if you are serious about cycling and fighting cancer, please consider signing up for the '2nd Annual FatCyclist.com 100 miles of Nowhere'. The proposal - to ride 100 miles on your home trainer while pledging money for the fight against cancer - is ludicrous... Well, at least the cycling bit is. Of course, if you do not have the trainer, you are given the option of riding 100 miles up and down your driveway...

I don't know about you guys, but anything over 45 minutes on the trainer is absolute hell for me. So paying money to do it for about 7 hours straight is something that takes some gumption... well either that or a severely limited intellect.

I am signing up.

So what are you waiting for?

*Picture borrowed from www.tri247.org... I hope they don't mind!

A perfect ride...

Today is the first weekday following the change to daylight savings time here in Europe. I always look forward to this. It is the 'official' sign that the short, dark, dreary days of winter will soon be a memory. It signals the arrival of spring. And more daylight. Nicer weather, and more riding time. What more can a cyclist ask for?

So, this afternoon I left work at about 17:30 (as opposed to staying later and getting more work done) and... ended up extending my commute a wee bit... OK, a lot. Instead of a ~8 km ride home, I raced to the seashore (18 km from my office) and back home. A 36 km ride. By the way, did I mention that it was wonderfully sunny and the temperature was about 16 °C?

It was perfect. The kind of day that reaffirms everything we love about this sport.

Home in time for a quick shower and dinner with the family. And when we sat down for dinner there was still sunlight outside. Spring is almost here. And we can ride.

Happy, happy Powerful Pete.

My commute...

While I have a number of potential routes, my standard commute is about 7.5 km each way, through my neighborhood in southern Rome to my office. As you may or may not know, traffic here in Rome is absolutely hectic. At rush hour. Actually, all the time. Always. As an Italian and Roman I am used to it now, but I notice that whenever family or guests visit us from the United States (or anywhere in Europe), they are absolutely terrorized.

You see, the whole concept of heavy traffic and safety distance is different here... notice the beautiful weather (last week) and... what is normal traffic on my way to work!

Remember, there are 60-odd million of us in a country the size of a rather small American state. And a road network that was designed by Roman (as in the Roman Empire) city planner, oh, about 2-odd thousand years ago. And chariot size and traffic density is not the same as a whole lot of Fiats on the road at the same time! Which of course means that things are rather tight. I read U.S. blogs trying to enforce a three foot minimum distance when passing. If I am right, that is about a meter, and let me tell you, I am shocked when I get that much distance in rush hour traffic...

In any event, I am not trying to present myself as a hero. The roads in this part of town are relatively new and modern (Mussolini's city planning, built after the war and finished for the 1960 Olympics). So I cannot complain. And, as I may have mentioned, I absolutely love the commute... it gets me to work (traffic, red lights and all) in less than 25 minutes on a slow day - about half the time it took me in a car on a good day. Combine that with the rush, and after my shower and changing into my work clothes, I always feel like I am getting away with something for the first few hours in the office every day!

My first real ride...

I was never the cool and athletic kid in school. Rather pudgy, as a matter of fact. No hand-eye coordination (I blame my mom for that!). No real ability to play team sports. Something of a tragedy for a growing pre- and early teen desperate for acceptance by his peers (and for the interest of the other sex!).

Then my father introduced me to cycling.

It all started on a glorious spring afternoon in Rome. I believe I was 12. With my dad we went out, purchased an Atala SL frame (the original Atala, made by Rizzato in Padova - the picture above is from ebay, but that is what my frame looked like), set it up with Gipiemme components (great stuff, cheaper than Campagnolo, but really the only option if you were not willing to pay top Lira for Super Record - what was Shimano? the Japanese make components? no way!). We then went digging in some cabinets and my father produced two pairs of wool cycling shorts. Deerskin padding included. Apparently unused for the better part of the last quarter century (any idea how 25 year old deerskin padding feels?). We donned them, along with equally old wool jerseys (I still remember my mother, who was very concerned by all this, making me wear a flannel checkered shirt to protect me from the wind - it's an Italian mothers' thing - you wouldn't understand) and immediately set off. Powerful Pete on his Atala. My father on his specialissima made to measure about 25-odd years beforehand. Yes, it was a beautiful afternoon.

Random thoughts, yes?

The first ride was 32 kilometers. Once I began to gain confidence in the (for me) twitchy steering on a racing bike, I was transformed, a catharthis. I cannot begin to describe the emotions. I was free. I was moving what felt like immense distances at breathtaking speeds (ok, they weren't, but it sure felt like it). I was no longer the last guy left standing when teams were picked for a football (soccer to you Americans!) game. From that moment, somewhere around kilometer 18 or so, I knew. This was my sport, my pastime, the activity that would help define me. No matter what I did, where I ended up, how successful or popular I would become, cycling would be a part of my life. It is my little secret. It is a very important part of what makes Powerful Pete.

And to this day, through all the vagaries of life, riding is still a part of me. Sometimes I barely ride for a month or two. But I always crane my neck when I see another rider on the road. It is my dirty little secret. And I always start riding 'seriously' again. Grazie papa'. This is truly a lifelong gift. I only hope that I can pass on the passion to my own children... but that is the sweetest of challenges.