Single Speed Sanity: 06.2011

Thursday, June 30, 2011

New toilets are a part of the adventure too!

I think you can figure out how this is going to work. Wish me luck!

-Posted from somewhere with my iPod!

Sunset over venice

Luke cold water on my feet. Hot pink sun on Venice horizon. Full belly. Awesome!

- Posted from somewhere with my iPod!

Graffiti near the Juliette statue asking for love.

Taken as a whole, the graf was totally cool! There was an entire tunnel of this but the little iPod camera couldn't capture it all.
- Posted from somewhere with my iPod!

Murano

Glass! How many glass cuts/burns are there in a year on Murano? Below is a sculpture that was in this satellite island of Venice.

And below is how I saw it through the blueblockers that Jon Smieja gave me as a gift.

Anna and Julia joke that while I've got these sunglasses on, "I'm on my own trip!" I would say they have a point.

- Posted from somewhere with my iPod!

Monday, June 27, 2011

Alla poppa in Venice, cool spot

2€ Campari spritz, and excellent in salita. Perfect place to stop for lunch on the way to exploring the city! There's even free wifi too.

- Posted from somewhere with my iPod!

Location:Sestiere Santa Croce,Venice,Italy

We made it to Venice and yes there is a bike path that crosses the bridge!

Wow! we had such an interesting ride today from San Benifacio to Venice! We rode on some very sleepy streets and some very heavily trafficked streets, but on all of them drivers gave us lots of room while passing! Sunday seems a good day to ride because everyone is in church or making an all day siesta.
Today was very warm: over 30C and I drank 4.5L of water by the time we got to the city limit!

The picture of us is taken on the bridge into Venice. I think our excitement at reaching one of our destinations burned the last of our calories because we came to camp entirely famished.

- Posted from somewhere with my iPod!

Headwinds hurrah!

Yesterday we rode from Bardolino, IT to San Bonafacio, IT. I lost count of the distance because it is nearly impossible to follow Italian signage. We rode through many small agricultural communities that had castles in their city centers. There was a very strong headwind almost the entire day which made us all very hungry. We are staying with Julia's friend Laura until Sunday morning. Laura found us a delicious restaurant where the pasta is made in house. Julia and I cleared our huge plates of food in record time! It was the most delicious pasta ever! Today we are going to have a walk through Verona.

Here is a cool famous people figurine by Laura's place that lights up blue at night. Doesn't it look like baby Jesus has a beer in his hand?

- Posted from somewhere with my iPod!

Mt. Bondone

Yesterday we started from a small town north of Trento and took a challenging route over a mountain to Lago di Garda. We did 1450 meters of climbing and then almost as much descent afterwards, but we had to take a break in a small bar because of a heavy rain and thunderstorm. The bar was full of local farmers who were chatting about the weather and also about the three sweaty women in their pub! After an hour or so the rain let up and we continued on our way. Because of the hour we lost and our hungry bellies we opted to stay in the first hotel we found which is in Drena. We cooked dinner in the park with an old castle in view! Being that I've never seen castles before, I'm always so excited when we pass them.

Today the plan is to camp at the south end of Lago di Garde!
- Posted from somewhere with my iPod!

VERONA

There are nautilus fossils in the stones upon which Verona was built! This was a pretty good one that was in the stairs of the arena in the city center.

I was also lucky enough to catch a quick feel of Juliette's breast! This will apparently bring me good luck.

And I now have a new favorite drink; Campari spritz. Here Laura and I are enjoying the refreshing properties of these drinks in the midday Verona heat.

- Posted from somewhere with my iPod!

Someone bit me on the rump

OUCH! Someone crawled into my bike shorts and bit me on the ass. The spider(?) left a bruise and two fang marks as evidence. I don't know how appropriate a picture would be, so I guess you'll have to rely on your imagination.

- Posted from somewhere with my iPod!

Monday, June 20, 2011

The Dolomites: awesome for biking and climbing

Today we started from Corvara Italy and climbed the Groedner Joch pass (2084 m) and Sella Joch pass (2240 m) These passes were cool switchbacks that climbed through the Dolomites. There were many many cyclists out for hill training rides, but none with touring gear. We got lots of encouragement from them all and some even congratulated us at the top!

The ride was unbelievably cool with a 3000 ft descent! All three girls have turned into eating machines. Tonight we are camping near Pozza di Fassa.

- Posted from somewhere with my iPod!

The alps killed me!

This was the worst riding day of my entire life! 12 km of 15% with gear will NEVER happen again! Therefore, our route to Venice will be different starting tomorrow!

Here is the magic water station where lovely pure alpine water flowed forth. I drank some but it wasn't enough to get up the pass into mordor (Wuerzjoch).

We are staying in a ski resort at the top of the pass because the owner picked us up about 4 km from his place. He was such a gentleman! He took our bike luggage and we continued on. It was raining like hell and the wind was cutting through our clothes! I had to tell Anna Napoleon dynamite jokes to keep us from thinking negative thoughts! Then the owner's son, Marcus, and the help, Rasheed, came back to pick us up and they drove us to the resort. Marcus agreed that what we were attempting was crazy! We had a shower and we each got a feather bed! Now a beer!
- Posted from somewhere with my iPod!

First day in the alps!

Our first day in the Alps was, well, breathtaking on many counts. Yes, there were some steep hills that tool my breath away! We rode out of the valley of Innsbruck and to Brenner on beautiful country roads. There were little old ladies cutting firewood, grazing cows with bells, crystal clear streams and bicycle tunnels. I saw my first Silkie chicken! We climbed for the first part of the day and then descended into a rainy green valley on a freshly paved bikepath!

Dinner time!

- Posted from somewhere with my iPod!

Friday, June 17, 2011

Somewhere in those hills!

We will begin our ascent into the alps this morning and end in Brixen, Austria. There are lots of clouds in the hills that seem to float down to our camp at night, dump a lot of rain, then recede back into the mountains. We are making coffee now which will hopefully help power us up the hills!

- Posted from somewhere with my iPod!

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Innsbruck campground with free HOT shower and WiFi

Today's ride was fantastic! We ate breakfast at a small cafe in Wallgau and a very cute dog came to visit us while we ate. We had some hill climbing today, but we were rewarded by fresh mt. air, lovely scenery, and an awesome descent down a very steep mountain pass. I would guess it was at least 11%! We went through a town Zitl and where the whole town was built into a rock! All my climber buddies would be so jealous...

Now it's time for chow and sleep because we have our first climbing day into the alps tomorrow!
- Posted from somewhere with my iPod!

Location:Bozner Straße,,Austria

Wallgau

Last night we did a little renegade camping in the village of Fall, 24 km north of Wallgau. The lake was lovely teal and just warm enough for a dip! We camped in a field of wildflowers! Possibly a slice of heaven.

- Posted from somewhere with my iPod!

Monday, June 13, 2011

Lots of traveling before we actually start traveling

This morning we were at Julia's parent's house. After breakfast Reiner (julia's dad) let me drive his 4x4 car to check on all 41 Scottish highland cows. These cows are 1/2 sized and have long red hair. They are friendly enough to pet! So, of course I love these cows. After making sure all of the cows were counted, Anna, Julia and I rode 25 km to Kassel train station.

We rode from Kassel to Munich where we will start our trip. We start riding on Wednesday morning and ride from Munich to Wallgau (86 km).

While European trains are much much better than Amtrak, I prefer to ride my bike! I cannot wait to get started.
- Posted from somewhere with my iPod!

Hamburg prostitutes work next to the sausage stand!

There was a very popular sausage stand in the sex district of Hamburg. While anna ordered her currywurst I waited on the sidewalk. There were many young women dressed in tight jeans, black jackets, tennis shoes, and black fanny packs. Every one of them was trying to get the attention of passing men. It took me a second to realize that these girls were not high school jocks, but prostitutes. I also realized in this moment that many of the locals in hamburg may have been staring strangely at me because I also was sporting a fanny pack! Julia says they were staring because I speak English, but I saw people staring at me before they could have heard me talking. Now that I am in Munich, I think it's safe to sport my animal print fanny pack.