Epic Italy Day 3-Back in the Saddle

Just a quick note here as I didn't sleep much at all last night, had a big day today and it's 9 pm. This thing with my leg that keeps recurring is really bizzare in that it seems to get very bad and then much better very quickly. I was able to walk somewhat normally this morning and even tried to run but thought better of that after a few steps as it was still pretty tight and sore. I was able to swim my 3 km at the same pool as yesterday.

Given that my leg was feeling better than yesterday morning I figured I'd give riding a try and ended up having an awesome day on the bike. We did a little over a hundred miles with around 13,000 feet of climbing including a couple significant climbs up to the Passa di Fedaia and the Passa di Giau. The di Giau is often on the route in the Giro d'Italia and there were a lot of messages painted on the road for the cyclists. I was strong enough to grab third place over the first pass for a few king of the mountain points and also nabbed a few more with a fifth over the second. Of course I had the advantage of having only ridden 49 km yesterday while others had done over 150km and I haven't been running which makes a big difference. Gordo led the way on both with Steven Lord in 2nd. On the first I was third and Jo Carritt was 4th. On the second one Jo and Molina took 3rd and 4th (not sure which order) with me in 5th and John Newsome in 6th. We got some great photo at the top of the passes. They should be up on the web in the next few days.

It was pretty amazing riding today as there was still a lot of snow around up at 6 - 7,000 feet. We're staying in an awesome hotel in Cortina d'Ampezzo which is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. Our hotel is very comfortable and clearly caters to skiers in the winter and cyclists in the summer. Big room with a balcony and view overlooking a rapidly flowing mountain stream and monstrous mountains in the background. Dinner was as good as last night. Portions were still hearty but much more reasonable. Fresh salad, more gnocchi with spinach, and steak and some apple struddle complemented by a nice beer and a glass of wine.

Hopefully I'll have more time to write tomorrow.