billydonn

Well, I'm not there yet..... but soon! We leave in less than 48 hours and preparation is getting intense around here. Taking my 2008 LeMond Victoire to the LBS for packing in the rental case today. It is going on the airplane with us as baggage. Expecting hilliness, I have set up the bike with triple Ultegra chainring (28 tooth granny) and 12 x 34 cassette. Last training ride is this afternoon using another bike.

First week I will be in Rimini, a beach town on the Adriatic

https://www.battaglin-usa.com/road/travel_overview.php

Here's one of the harder sample routes, one that may be too hard for me even with my low gears.

#at=17
I'll fill in the full itinerary later, but we will be jumping into France one day to see Stage 15 of the TdfF, Mont Ventoux on Bastile Day. We will not go up on the Mountain but will stay in town before the climbing begins. I fear it will be a zoo.

Rides start in Rimini on July 1, Monday.

volosong

Will be eagerly awaiting updates. What RD are you using on your Victoire?

Bikey Mikey

Have a great time. Look forward to reading the report and seeing the photos.

George

Wave a big American flag so we can see you on stage 15. I wish I were going, have a great time.

stapfam

Ventoux will be crowded but if in the area with your bike it is definitely worth riding. Don't get mixed up with the main Pelaton though.

TDF is a religion in France. Best place to watch the race is in a bar with the biggest TV screen you can find. But the "Experience" starts a couple of hours before with the Entourage that precedes it. You may be lucky and find the "Official" souvenir van stops in front of you and you can buy that little momento of the race if you are forcefull enough and quick enough. I was lucky and got mine by jumping the queue of old dears asking the prices of everything and thrust £20 for the muset with a T shirt and other useless items in it under the nose of the vendor.

But your day will not be over when the race has passed. You will have sorted the bar and rush back there to get your drinks in and watch the rest of the race on the TV.

Enjoy your trip and hope you don't get too damp. Inner lubrication will work against Rust.

billydonn

Shimano Deore XT. M771 which is high normal. Shifts like butter. Had one on the bike you saw last summer. Got the bike in its Serfas travel case now, no problem. Did a test ride on the 12-34 cassette yesterday and I decided to use it and not just 32T. Where I'm going it might be steep. A plus is I can stay in the middle ring longer.

Shamrock

Who is in your entourage? Velo garage crew? Have fun!!

DnvrFox

I want to be your groupie!

Have fun, keep us informed. Sounds wonderful.

billydonn

Only my lovely spouse. I'll post a picture soon.

stapfam

Wishful thinking

Once on the slopes and only one gear will be used and that is the lowest on the bike although I used 28/28 in the mountains so you might find the middle ring sometimes on the lower slopes. Just be careful of the false flats- they don't last long enough.

In a town near Ventoux I was talking to an older group of riders that did Ventoux nearly every day and they were using double cranks and what looked like a 12/25 cassette. Chain rings were 44/22 so they knew what worked for them so it looks like you have the gearing sorted. Just the legs and lungs to go now.

It takes a couple of days to get used to the altitude so hopefully a couple of high ranges with not too much gradient in them to acclimatise. We were in a wine growing region and managed to find a couple of small vineyards that sold their own wine. Great fun finding the the producer of local wine that suits your taste and local food can be worth trying aswell. How you will find time to ride the bike will be your problem.

Gerryattrick

Just came back from a holiday in the lakes region, Garda and Maggiore. There are some great rides around the lakes, not too hilly, but you can also do the hills around the Dolomites if you're a masochist.

Artmo 

Looks pretty daunting, Don. Good luck and enjoy.

NOS88

Don, that is indeed quite and adventure. I'm envious.

Dan Burkhart 

Awesome! Can't wait to see some pictures. Make sure the GoPro is charged up every morning.

billydonn

Thanks Arthur...

i thought I said it in the OP but I didn't :
There are going to be climbs that are too hard for me no matter what gearing I take. But some of the famous climbs like Gavia aren't much different from places like Glendora Mtn Road in California. There are even flat areas and gentle slopes in Italy. I intend to do a couple of challenging rides but I'm not gonna kill myself. Moderate will rule the day most of the time and I expect that to provide plenty of spectacular views and fun riding.

Barrettscv 

Have a great week in Italy. I know you have been training hard, you should have an epic time.

Shamrock

Does the wife ride? A year later I would have went ,oh well.Daughter to be married in Oct 13.no wonder you practiced so hard in the garage !

billydonn

Thanks Michael. Let's do Dodgeville again in the fall. The one weakness in my training is very few rides over 50 miles. But lots of 2-3 hour rides, some of them brisk. Had 7, 7, and 9 day streaks in June which led to some adaptation. I'm in very good shape but still over 200 lbs.

Wife does not ride.... There are good and bad aspects to that. Yeah, knowing this was coming did give some motivation to train hard in the garage, no question.

dalameda

Ahh, all that garage works going to pay off for you. Have a great adventure!

billydonn

Report 1- 6:00am friday

Omaha: had vigorous argument with Delta Airlines baggage guy. He wanted to charge $100 for extra bag PLUS $150 for the bag being a bike. Got him down to only the $150 charge for the bike. Delta website says bike fee is $100. This is going well so far. We have a six hour layover in ATL this afternoon before our flight to Venice. I'm tired already.

edit: Delta site does say fee is $150... That must be new....How can I disguise a bike as golf clubs?

Biker395 

I had an airline try the same trick with me too. I don't care if there is an oversized bag charge, and extra bag charge or what not ... but charging more because what's in the luggage is a bike?

Anyway, I'm insanely jealous. Enjoy, goomba.

volosong

Bike Friday Pocket Rocket. Fits into a regular sized suitcase. If asked, you claim it as a personal mobility device or exercise equipmenet, (so to avoid the bicycle surcharge).

p.s. Don't plan on riding your bike from one side of Venice to the other.

billydonn

A few hours after arrival we take a train from Venice down to Rimini. Back to Venice next week.

Atl airport. Four hours to takeoff. Downloading Italian phrase app for phone. I think we may die here. Very sleepy. This may be my last post.

climberguy

Good luck getting there safely, and the bike, too. If you don't survive the Atlanta airport, can we send someone to get the bike? No sense it going to waste.

jppe

Looking forward to the Italy info. We are headed there in a couple months for two weeks and we haven't set our itinerary just yet.......