TeamDejo

Geo: 45.462, 9.18963psy·cho·so·mat·icˌsīkōsəˈmadik/adjective(of a physical illness or other condition) caused or aggravated by a mental factor such as internal conflict or stress.Poor Dejo was (I think) so worried about a repeat of the CDG-FCO trip, that he was awake all night, worrying about it. He felt light-headed and his hands were tingly.... read more

Geo: 45.462, 9.18963We had a big day planned, but not so big that we didn't have time for breakfast. The hotel doesn't have a breakfast room, so they deliver a cute picnic basket full of breakfast-y choices. We enjoyed ours on the little rooftop terrace, and then headed off for our adventure.Metro to Centrale station?: check (Dejo's 24-hour ticket worked, unlike the exit last night)Train to Monza?: checkBus to the Autodrome?: well, nuts. We didn't cross-check our planned bus route with the Giro race route.I guess we could walk, but that'd be an hour, in hot humid weather.There are some rental bikes. Dangit, we can't download the app.A taxi! There's a kiosk over there, with a phone -- we'll just call and order a taxi. Except they don't have anyone available now, try back in 10 ... read more

Geo: 46.3754, 11.6578The plan for today: find the team buses (as this is a start town), and see who we can arrange for Gnorm to meet.Thanks to the guide that the Giro puts out ("Garibaldi"), we knew roughly where the buses were meant to line up.But we also knew that the team bus drivers -- or the guys who flag them to their parking spots -- don't always follow those guides. So we walked down the street to where the guide said the buses would be.Man, that felt like a looong street.When we got to a point where we could see down to the end of the road, we hung out, and waited for the buses to start arriving.They did so, without making us wait too long. The nice thing was, we could see who was ... read more

Geo: 46.4676, 10.3781Since Bormio was the finish point for today's Giro stage, and (perhaps more of a factor) the road up to the Stelvio closed at midnight, we decided to watch the stage from the finish line area.A little walking-around-doing-recon told us that there was a pretty decent view from the top of the vents for the underground parking garage. They were about 4' high, which meant we could sit and see the finish line.A quick trip back to the hotel to get the stuff we'd need, and we went back to claim our spot about 10:30 am.The boys didn't come through that point for their first lap of the town until about 2:30 pm, and the actual finish wouldn't be until 5-ish.But it was a beautiful day, with beautiful mountains all around us. And I'd ... read more

Geo: 46.4645, 10.3769After breakfast, and a goodbye hug from Cristina (we really did feel like we were guests in her home), we were on our way from Vercelli.As we hadn't yet seen the Giro from a feed zone, that was our plan for the day.Perhaps this term isn't familiar to you -- lemme 'splain: When the pro cyclists take off on a stage, it's usually going to be 150-225 km (90-140 miles). And ain't nobody stopping through Mickey D's for lunch (being as how it's a race, and all).So their soigneurs (a fancy French term for "lackeys"-- or perhaps "sherpas") drive ahead, and stand by the roadside holding out musettes for them to rip out of their outstretched hands at 25 mph.Musette is a fancy French term for "flimsy lunch bag". They're thin fabric bags about ... read more