Feed zone flub

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Geo: 46.4645, 10.3769

After 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 12"x12", with a long fabric strap, that can be worn cross-body. The soigneurs fill them with lunch. No Lunchables, mind you. Maybe a protein bar, a banana, some energy gel, possibly a tiny can of Coke, perhaps a foil-wrapped sandwich or brownie. And almost certainly a fresh water bottle.

Once a rider has yanked one of these from the hands of his soigneur, he continues down the road (at 25 mph), and begins chucking out the stuff he doesn't want, and consuming the stuff he does. He'll usually throw out his empty water bottle, just tossing it to the side of the road, and when he's done with his musette, he'll chuck that as well.
Neatnicks, fear not: they have designated "feed zones" where all this is meant to take place. Which brings us back to our story....

So. Feed zone. We knows where it is. However........
A) it's about 3 km long, so the soigneurs might choose to pull over and set up shop anywhere along that stretch
B) the boys might start chucking stuff early on, or quite late in the feed zone.....or anywhere in between.

It's a crapshoot, really, when you're trying to position yourself for a good chance at getting one of these lunch-on-the-run castoffs. But we found a spot that looked like it might be in the right general vicinity of what we'd want.

In the couple of hours between when we parked, and when the boys came by, we used our bikes to head down the road a bit, to a restaurant that looked like it might be open (Sundays in Italy make for slim pickings). While there were lots of people around they were all dressed in their Sunday best. Turns out, this was a confirmation celebration, and they'd kind of reserved the whole place. You've never seen such an apologetic proprietor!
We went the other way, into the nearest town, in hopes of finding a bite of lunch (where their facilities might also be available). Did I mention it was Sunday?

No worry, we wouldn't starve for lack of lunch. We waited by the car, for the peloton to come by, and throw out their musettes.

Problem was, they'd either already grabbed and thrown, or their soigneurs were positioned further up the road.

Ah, well. Onward toward Bormio.

Our route took us up the east shore of Lake Como -- gorgeous!
That is, the tunnels seemed nice.

Who knew there were so many tunnels? It makes for quick travel, but kinda cuts down on the views.

Upon arrival in Bormio, we checked into the Hotel Funivia, where we learned that the planned ride up the Stelvio was switched.

Lemme 'splain:
When we learned of the Giro route, this pass -- the Passo dello Stelvio -- was on the map. It's an iconic climb, having been featured in many editions of the Giro d'Italia. It'd sure be fun to watch the guys come up that!
As we were getting the hotel booked, we found that there's a small group of hotels in town that cater to cyclists, and participate in a group ride, organized by The Stelvio Experience. They do a different route each day, and the Monday planned ride is the Stelvio. Monday May 22 is a rest day for the peloton. Monday May 22 is a day that we'll be staying at one of these partner hotels.
Translation: Dejo's totally riding the Stelvio!!!

We'd arranged for a bike rental for the day (a proper, nice, road bike -- not the hybrid city cruisers we had in the car). And Dejo had been training for the past several months =, with this goal in mind.
Oh, and he turned it into a fundraiser for the Davis Phinney Foundation. So this ride is a big hairy deal for us, and kind of a focal point for the trip as a whole.

So when we checked in, and they mentioned offhand that the ride for Monday had been changed, to go to a lake in the region (a pretty ride, I'm sure), we were kinda gutted.

On the way to up or down the stairs, I noticed a sheet listing local goings-on for the week. And one bit caught my eye: a ride up the Stelvio with Ivan Basso (who happens to have won the Giro twice). I emailed, asking about this last-minute registration, and they said "Sure, come along!"
So, that's an option.

Since there was a big "the Giro's coming to town" celebration just across the street from the hotel, we popped over for a beer and to see what distractions we could find. There was a rockabilly band playing, so we indulged in 1 jitterbug dance. There was a food vendor, with a big tray of bread pieces, spread with Nutella. I must've looked like I was about to drool, as the fellow behind the table held out the tray and offered one. They actually turned out to not be a vendor, so much as just providing snacks -- I like this kind of celebration. 😊

We had a lovely dinner in the hotel (part of our room package), and headed to bed, with dreams of mountain passes dancing in our heads.

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