[DVBC] Greetings from the Giro

[Mike Keating]

Wow. The Giro is much tougher than the Tour de France. Hills are incredible.
Also the weather we've had rain and cold every day except two.

The first full day was a real welcome to the Dolomites: instead of our usual
70 k ride to lunch (Giro viewing) we did 100. I ate as if it were 70 so I
bonked. With closed roads there was no choice but to continue on through the
cold and hail/sleet. I managed to fail to pack dry pants in my day pack so I
was wet and cold for several hours and had to sag back to avoid hypothermia,

The bonk must have carried over until Monday as I eventually sagged again.
(I didn't sag once at The Tour the last two years and I'm stringer now than
last year.) I took a rest day on Tuesday which was good timing as our ride
went to 2,300 meters and there was snow above 1,700 meters. So the ride I
missed didn't do any real climbing. The fact that we were also tackling the
toughest climb in Europe - the Zoncolan) on Wed. also played a part in the
decision to rest.

If anyone watches the coverage this weekend you can look for a DVBC jersey 7
km from the summit of the Zoncolan (Wed.'s stage) next to a large yellow
concrete post and gate. I don't know if I made TV or not.

More later.