Florence to the Dolomites

I am currently sitting beneath the start of the Dolomites. The picture (see twitter!) doesn't quite capture the complete feeling of insignificance one has beneath these awe inspiring mountains. Tomorrow we start climbing, the chamois butt'r cream will definitely come in handy, as would a sneaky motor to make it up the 3200m of climbing - yikes.... The song 'what doesn't kill you makes you stronger' by Kelly Clarkson springs to mind, as does 'killing me softly' - or to add lib, 'killing me slowly'. 

It definitely makes a change from the Canals of Venice. Apparently the number one thing to do in Venice is get lost - I highly recommend it. It was on one of these adventures that we discovered the best pastries I have ever had (hopefully the coach isn't reading this right now). It was down a tiny little alley way -they had come fresh out of the oven and were a piping hot morsel of pastry that melted in your mouth with an apricot/custard explosion in the the middle. Foodie heaven. Florence and Venice have also provided heaven for all the culture lovers on the trip - Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, Chagall, I could go on. We have definitely been spoilt. However, I did have to sneak into the Duomo in Sienna, apparently one legged females aren't allowed - see twitter picture.

The good news is that the cycling tan is coming along and I was feeling a little bit like a pro riding up the Giogo di Scarperia - a ride that the Giro had recently passed through. It has been fantastic riding with the 30 other riders currently on the Bike Dreams Tour. A lovely Dutch couple, Theo and Marjan have adopted me during the rides as my Garmin map reading skills aren't quite up to scratch. Quite fortunate as I would probably be somewhere in Timbuktu otherwise. I haven't told them about my usual style of reading maps upside down - female stereotype of having no direction, tick. 

Other news of course relates to food. Getting lost and finding little Osteria's is definitely the way to go. We stumbled upon a little place in Sienna where the owner provided an Italian feast. It was also during this dinner that I had to correct my lovely Spanish friend that I was not meeting my girlfriend in Barcelona, rather, my friend Marina from work had recommended I go to Spain. I think we are on the same page now. He has been pointing out cute Italian men ever since!

Until next time,
Ride safe, ride happy, ride in the moment

Han 

Europe Adventure - Part 1

Wow. What an amazing first few days and a fantastic start to my European Adventure. 

Firstly, I would like to say a MASSIVE MASSIVE thank you to everyone for your support - whether it be through your donations, JB driving me to the airport, the lovely ANZ customer service manager who set a new WR for time taken to process a travelers card 78mins before I needed to check in (note to self, try not to leave things to the last minute), my new riding buddies on the Cycling Dreams 2012 La Bella Italia Cycling Tour, and to Kat for picking me up at the airport in Roma (having a friendly face in a non English speaking country made a world of difference; admittedly I was enjoying using sign language with an extremely good looking Italian who worked at the airport...) 

So I am currently somewhere in Tuscany.  Words will not do justice to some of the places we have ridden through since Roma. I feel like I need another ten pairs of eyes to take it all in. If anyone has the chance, I highly recommend traveling by bike - it is the perfect speed to take it all plus you have the added advantage of earning a few coffee breaks and gelato! 

It hasn't been all roses, I have definitely been needing my compeed blister packs and have questioned my sanity going up some 16% climbs. 

However, I was spoilt when by my Wheelchair Basketball friend Kathleen O'Kelly-Kennedy (who is aiming for London this year - go Kat!) - she learnt how to drive a bus for me so my bike box would fit, took me on a night tour of Roma and other beautiful lakes where I ran into a fellow a Victorian Institute of Sport Cyclist, Eric Sheppard, who is currently training over here. Small world. It was also awesome to see the Aussie Wheelchair Rugby Team playing a match broadcasted on Italian TV. 

My first ride in Roma was definitely an 'experience'. While Kat was off shooting some hoops, I made my way to the base of Tivoli. While the road was littered with potholes, I was blown away by the courtesy shown by cars/buses/motorcycles etc to cyclists. Hopefully Australian Motorists will cotton on soon - one can but hope right?! This next sentence may sound out of place if read on its own....I also had my first experience with Italian Prostitutes. Notice the plural. Here was Hannah riding along, and low and behold, each street corner had its own female. And they were definitely excited - one shouted out 'Wooo, Ferrari'. Another 'Andare Scarponi!' For those not involved in the world of Lycra, both of these are Italian cyclists. It was rather nice to receive some encouragement on my ride, even if the name wasn't quite right. 

Tomorrow we ride into Sienna, and I am told that I will need at least another 14 pairs of eyes but will probably not be receiving the same kind of encouragement as Roma...

Till next time, 
Ride safe, ride happy, ride in the moment,

Han 

Ps - as I am not a technological genius, I cannot figure out how to upload my photos onto my blog using my iPad - apparently it is nit recognizing the pics saved on my computer... Hence please see my twitter updates for visual stories :)