Thursday, April 19, 2007

Under the Tuscan Sun

Here's what life is like at the USA house in Lucca, Italy (it's rough):

The first day, we rode to Pisa-and saw the leaning tower.







That afternoon, I had a Cappuccino (my first Italian coffee. I have since had more). The pastry is actually Frank's, but it looked good for the picture.Here's the view from our house (not bad)









The second day we had a special "tour guide" for our four hour mountain ride (any guesses?).











Not sure who it is?






Surprise! Yeah, crazy hugh? Yes, he still smells and looks good after a four hour ride.

Day three was, again, a ride with Super Mario. This time he took us to the coast. Riding behind him on the flats is like motor pacing at 45 kph (that means it's REALLY hard!). Even after ACL surgery (which he blew out skiing) he is SO fast.










Mario lives across the street, and apparently he likes riding with us, because he said "see you next week". I don't think the novelty of riding with him will ever wear off. It is SO COOL! Plus, he is amazingly nice and patient.

Tomorrow, we leave this oasis and fly back to Holland. We have a one day UCI race on Saturday, go to Belgium for a few days and get ready for Fleche-Wallonne on Wednesday. After racing Wednesday, we will come back to Mario...I mean Lucca for some Mario time...Uh, training that is.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice pictures letting us know what you have been doing in Italy. Good luck with the upcoming races in Holland and Belgium.

Anonymous said...

Life is rough 'Lil Wong! Can't wait to be there too. geeez, you are making me jealous. Is it really THAT nice there? Comfy beds and pillows? Nice kitchen? Is there a maid? Just kidding.
Guess who?