tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40898505660086387902024-03-13T01:45:33.167+01:00italian clarionriding bikes in Piemonte, Italy -
Fellowship is Life - La Compagnia è VitaJulianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02767939210604136539noreply@blogger.comBlogger52125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4089850566008638790.post-84363482937526698762013-11-23T22:45:00.000+01:002013-11-23T22:45:09.145+01:00cycling glossaryStivali !<br />
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Always useful to have a glossary of cycling terms:<br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_cycling#Q">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_cycling#Q</a><br />
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Speroni !Julianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02767939210604136539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4089850566008638790.post-82615354677357361582013-11-19T19:38:00.000+01:002013-11-19T19:38:14.935+01:00pay your taxes...???Stivali !<br />
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Good website here:<br />
<a href="http://ipayroadtax.com/">http://ipayroadtax.com/</a><br />
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<h3 class="sub" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #515151; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.1em; letter-spacing: 2px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;">
ROAD TAX WAS ABOLISHED 74 YEARS AGO</h3>
<h2 style="border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 2em; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<i>Road tax</i> doesn't exist. It's <a href="http://ipayroadtax.com/no-such-thing-as-road-tax/the-orgs-which-get-road-tax-wrong-why-this-matters/" style="border: 0px; color: #428ce7; font-family: inherit; font-size: 24px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">car tax</a>, a tax on cars and other vehicles, not a tax on roads or a fee to use them. Motorists do not pay directly for the roads. Roads are<a href="http://ipayroadtax.com/no-such-thing-as-road-tax/who-pays-road-tax/" style="border: 0px; color: #428ce7; font-family: inherit; font-size: 24px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">paid for</a> via general and local taxation. In 1926, Winston Churchill <a href="http://ipayroadtax.com/?page_id=54" style="border: 0px; color: #428ce7; font-family: inherit; font-size: 24px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">started the process to abolish <i>road tax</i></a>. It was finally culled in 1937. [Don't believe a 'single issue website campaign'? OK, check out <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23694438" style="border: 0px; color: #428ce7; font-family: inherit; font-size: 24px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">BBC.co.uk's article on the subject then.</a> ] The ironically-named iPayRoadTax.com helps spread this message on <a href="http://ipayroadtax.com/?page_id=2" style="border: 0px; color: #428ce7; font-family: inherit; font-size: 24px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">cycle jerseys.</a> Car tax is based on amount of CO2 emitted so, if a fee had to be paid, cyclists - who are sometimes branded as 'tax dodgers' - would pay the same as <a href="http://ipayroadtax.com/bloody-tax-dodgers/bloody-tax-dodgers-theres-millions-of-em/" style="border: 0px; color: #428ce7; font-family: inherit; font-size: 24px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">'tax-dodgers'</a> such as disabled drivers, police cars, the Royal family, and band A motorists, ie £0. Most cyclists are also car-owners, too, so pay VED. Many of those who believe road tax exists, want cyclists off the roads or, at least registered, but <a href="http://ipayroadtax.com/licensed-to-cycle/licensed-to-cycle/" style="border: 0px; color: #428ce7; font-family: inherit; font-size: 24px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">bicycle licensing</a> is an expensive folly.</h2>
Speroni !Julianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02767939210604136539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4089850566008638790.post-23062213700314580082013-11-18T17:46:00.002+01:002013-12-01T20:55:14.708+01:00L'Eroica - 6th October 2013<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAe-vMmcWt7VfBgyiGUIcmHWDq7D93PtldDJ7_cqQ-FG-j3-IwLWRrTwmqnWPif0OIYYpnPBwQNu6myapE7K-GexE3xeGNeJh5wXm4g4A0uvNQuMTa0IgF7n5j7dP2aQFptF1vtC5FOkU/s1600/IMG_8226.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAe-vMmcWt7VfBgyiGUIcmHWDq7D93PtldDJ7_cqQ-FG-j3-IwLWRrTwmqnWPif0OIYYpnPBwQNu6myapE7K-GexE3xeGNeJh5wXm4g4A0uvNQuMTa0IgF7n5j7dP2aQFptF1vtC5FOkU/s200/IMG_8226.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixOmPRsi78-hIgrOq0M5Dd0JAUa7p3FiHSX_bbmvlFC4VQ_PA-MvaD9ikYD73eAvZf-ycm69pCiquWE2akVZdiwSbXY2j9ghu1ccGGNYZKLUkwYhTN8Sr7qwr4J7fX2s4vXKjCDeCjW_w/s1600/IMG_8225.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixOmPRsi78-hIgrOq0M5Dd0JAUa7p3FiHSX_bbmvlFC4VQ_PA-MvaD9ikYD73eAvZf-ycm69pCiquWE2akVZdiwSbXY2j9ghu1ccGGNYZKLUkwYhTN8Sr7qwr4J7fX2s4vXKjCDeCjW_w/s200/IMG_8225.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAe-vMmcWt7VfBgyiGUIcmHWDq7D93PtldDJ7_cqQ-FG-j3-IwLWRrTwmqnWPif0OIYYpnPBwQNu6myapE7K-GexE3xeGNeJh5wXm4g4A0uvNQuMTa0IgF7n5j7dP2aQFptF1vtC5FOkU/s1600/IMG_8226.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-QJPLECqnzaNSxvpp2z6rZyPCjUmbw_OUYzfr8uPRvng7uMtiYtTMCnE2j5xaPojNAp7bi3jx6D0S5H7XAicYrUJkWOHIV-USxe9nYNQab6B4wSpuvrz6nByCCyK1IcLMWH6yxjyhCz0/s1600/IMG_8223.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDgEo7MMx2zXfpMA17ft2BUAJzqJQrXOuHdRQLiONM3GXNm33UeChERkSojgOQGdqX6qWMckRJb9oxYY0MrEqDO97uyZbMSQrurdlMm_4kftNpN0DnVH79JaeKYvsxc0i3iRa891tvuDU/s1600/IMG_8224.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDgEo7MMx2zXfpMA17ft2BUAJzqJQrXOuHdRQLiONM3GXNm33UeChERkSojgOQGdqX6qWMckRJb9oxYY0MrEqDO97uyZbMSQrurdlMm_4kftNpN0DnVH79JaeKYvsxc0i3iRa891tvuDU/s320/IMG_8224.JPG" width="320" /></a><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-QJPLECqnzaNSxvpp2z6rZyPCjUmbw_OUYzfr8uPRvng7uMtiYtTMCnE2j5xaPojNAp7bi3jx6D0S5H7XAicYrUJkWOHIV-USxe9nYNQab6B4wSpuvrz6nByCCyK1IcLMWH6yxjyhCz0/s200/IMG_8223.JPG" width="200" /></div>
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Stivali !<br />
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<span id="docs-internal-guid--de2bfc3-6b7b-3dd5-4719-587c4377708e"></span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span id="docs-internal-guid--de2bfc3-6b7b-3dd5-4719-587c4377708e"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In February this year after just finishing a rather cold granfondo Laigueglia in Liguria, I received a phone call from Paul Frost (Fenland) asking if I fancied doing this year’s Eroica (the classic ‘old bicycle race’). Held in Tuscany on the strade bianche (white gravel roads). It was easy for me to say yes as we are already in Italy, but didn’t give a second thought to getting hold of a bike or the other regalia required by the ‘regulations’. After all, it was still 8 months until the race.</span></span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid--de2bfc3-6b7b-3dd5-4719-587c4377708e"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Regs call for steel bike frames of the 80’s era or earlier with toe-clips & straps, exposed brake cables, down tube shifters and woolly garments & old style banana helmets. Picking up this gear was almost as difficult as the event itself (both of which were surprisingly hard).</span></span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span id="docs-internal-guid--de2bfc3-6b7b-3dd5-4719-587c4377708e"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Listening to my companions, Ian (Tuxford), Steve & Lyndsay Clarke and Paul Frost (Fenland) getting their bikes ready was frustrating as I was here, in the heart of cycling, struggling to get hold of anything to allow me to ride, until right under my nose, our local bike shop in Chieri came up trumps with a very nice second hand ‘Elio di Torino’, meeting all the requirements, fully campagnolo equipped and in my size, if actually being from the late ‘80’s early ‘90’s.</span></span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju1MzBbHbbeYIV5mCAlCQtBUfH7PRM1c31x4OnMNDtLfR1gPIMmn5uRqL9Y1V3WyW-uZKysW3dreYo2Ilvx2zygSYR0qD8Lk468ce-ujedWxvTrEywn1B8cUgOmGdarcAAdOsKCwx4CJo/s1600/Photo0148.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju1MzBbHbbeYIV5mCAlCQtBUfH7PRM1c31x4OnMNDtLfR1gPIMmn5uRqL9Y1V3WyW-uZKysW3dreYo2Ilvx2zygSYR0qD8Lk468ce-ujedWxvTrEywn1B8cUgOmGdarcAAdOsKCwx4CJo/s320/Photo0148.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elio Torino</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfaMpLKiog-exTgswpknMNoJrRhJ8nv1hMkc08aw4OUu2GxZQNqQzqdLmhkdEe4Jn-liIuzfqsXgd75FXglROGgzYaajs0Xo4JlujwfHTJRN45OhuxDczZdz3PeUSoM7aZWdJFnDPC2R4/s1600/Photo0149.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfaMpLKiog-exTgswpknMNoJrRhJ8nv1hMkc08aw4OUu2GxZQNqQzqdLmhkdEe4Jn-liIuzfqsXgd75FXglROGgzYaajs0Xo4JlujwfHTJRN45OhuxDczZdz3PeUSoM7aZWdJFnDPC2R4/s320/Photo0149.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">what a beauty</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRxB3Nhw8G8g0lJ-oEZpskNG3YejyEtbP9Do6DKrus9lhIAfwivR-vkD0c2D6yFBMAJv8RQQ4n_6-2xid8_WUGHt_qPi1-1Y2FsAFbZ_qk0vWowlp3XGdFfGrTfQ_8fUdx9Gw-ncw5Rds/s1600/Photo0150.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRxB3Nhw8G8g0lJ-oEZpskNG3YejyEtbP9Do6DKrus9lhIAfwivR-vkD0c2D6yFBMAJv8RQQ4n_6-2xid8_WUGHt_qPi1-1Y2FsAFbZ_qk0vWowlp3XGdFfGrTfQ_8fUdx9Gw-ncw5Rds/s320/Photo0150.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">there is something about the slenderness of a steel frame</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpDqc5Fq-rO8JlccQjn_9wyY5XflHBAqXyvz_gS9HNS2E7m5fR4zChG6yOzY21-ckJUe_S0LtlynmdOFRj_SR_aM9OVlnRzRf2dIID1bmDnaiDgM1pVfXrfcFJmbTyMjAbq8d8O110HKU/s1600/Photo0151.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpDqc5Fq-rO8JlccQjn_9wyY5XflHBAqXyvz_gS9HNS2E7m5fR4zChG6yOzY21-ckJUe_S0LtlynmdOFRj_SR_aM9OVlnRzRf2dIID1bmDnaiDgM1pVfXrfcFJmbTyMjAbq8d8O110HKU/s320/Photo0151.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">olympic rings on the fork crown</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEsxQQMsE00L2aSPK73cB-mpjaN1RrXGP83H0JyZMLHDhB5_qNHFlwnkM9JeyiuGxhfRj5fG_OCJ-dmehV05O4EPjitmRo3WGGMCZT1xccve8kLCwTLiLlqeQgk5y7KRWt886bxwm9ZME/s1600/Photo0152.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEsxQQMsE00L2aSPK73cB-mpjaN1RrXGP83H0JyZMLHDhB5_qNHFlwnkM9JeyiuGxhfRj5fG_OCJ-dmehV05O4EPjitmRo3WGGMCZT1xccve8kLCwTLiLlqeQgk5y7KRWt886bxwm9ZME/s320/Photo0152.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">exposed cables</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK5_o8ONXrKwZLokym7UsiZOtv5MPl_VTvxx8mKvV1cJa2BzuhxL9Ky47BBi7vOgP1ESwWvnd7NgDaqZXAJTJidzLBcMRjFvH3VdwhDJHD9m6pnesyPX5scuq9vwCZmaAJJqDScv4z6gw/s1600/Photo0153.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK5_o8ONXrKwZLokym7UsiZOtv5MPl_VTvxx8mKvV1cJa2BzuhxL9Ky47BBi7vOgP1ESwWvnd7NgDaqZXAJTJidzLBcMRjFvH3VdwhDJHD9m6pnesyPX5scuq9vwCZmaAJJqDScv4z6gw/s320/Photo0153.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">campagnolo rims & hubs too</td></tr>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid--de2bfc3-6b7b-3dd5-4719-587c4377708e"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-SBHv6jzlczaxFllL5h2V6XAZOVGAfQvKjM_a6AinkPrqlDNGzczATpOU1AHSlF22oRDyO2zw77R6l_ngcFmi1kn8-RZWQ4mn8FePsYu3aliFY6W1P-C2vsVw06LFQqlEeFGUQP1-I50/s1600/Photo0154.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-SBHv6jzlczaxFllL5h2V6XAZOVGAfQvKjM_a6AinkPrqlDNGzczATpOU1AHSlF22oRDyO2zw77R6l_ngcFmi1kn8-RZWQ4mn8FePsYu3aliFY6W1P-C2vsVw06LFQqlEeFGUQP1-I50/s320/Photo0154.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhyphenhyphen7z5ZApkY9ZzzzMkW0Y9gBWWhD4R0m6euwKmUWwKO_rrfsVy98QN5u8gtFtA9YO2I4D6ZoVdn0wDQd3mV7Q4QV-TaIBcjOzr9OKhf5L0NNIhwgbBorgzUULOrqG9nqE_VYfbd2TtA5o/s1600/Photo0155.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhyphenhyphen7z5ZApkY9ZzzzMkW0Y9gBWWhD4R0m6euwKmUWwKO_rrfsVy98QN5u8gtFtA9YO2I4D6ZoVdn0wDQd3mV7Q4QV-TaIBcjOzr9OKhf5L0NNIhwgbBorgzUULOrqG9nqE_VYfbd2TtA5o/s320/Photo0155.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">8 speed - works so well</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhySnP0rt8jOQRT1aE79aPy4qzm9sMNBzFIqsqTqaYRR5NGb9XrU8Z1TSF1ukrdQGmd7Ht2Qj22Zm9mcxElh1UHVPuvL1okSixq3qrINrMDYvBT2u7dScEgdRq-XwSzEEdMtiZccMiJn84/s1600/Photo0156.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhySnP0rt8jOQRT1aE79aPy4qzm9sMNBzFIqsqTqaYRR5NGb9XrU8Z1TSF1ukrdQGmd7Ht2Qj22Zm9mcxElh1UHVPuvL1okSixq3qrINrMDYvBT2u7dScEgdRq-XwSzEEdMtiZccMiJn84/s320/Photo0156.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">25mm tyres for the rough stuff</td></tr>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid--de2bfc3-6b7b-3dd5-4719-587c4377708e"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI2k0jVXBmgNypiCgM85ZlciADtfxyc5KuSbApk6ayhygF72356y9FKbelbINdR3Pg9J-HY2A_mzHD8LRCytPWEv7v4P_Mvn0M9bw0ugGtXjW0oVA2EAs3dRvzF5-05fdJ1gkbWKQ3FxE/s1600/Photo0157.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI2k0jVXBmgNypiCgM85ZlciADtfxyc5KuSbApk6ayhygF72356y9FKbelbINdR3Pg9J-HY2A_mzHD8LRCytPWEv7v4P_Mvn0M9bw0ugGtXjW0oVA2EAs3dRvzF5-05fdJ1gkbWKQ3FxE/s320/Photo0157.jpg" width="240" /></a></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi51emzF9K3B8FBmRAdT7BwP8Z6YQGCTF9wczUMCdhIypSemvcjpZOkATtyQ-hMZCbX5EJgQrksDmnnWs3aEqRcl66p0_uejcGXToyLXrK5cJfP_DIzShNP1-XDndIOwi8tLcwVhL142Ag/s1600/Photo0158.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi51emzF9K3B8FBmRAdT7BwP8Z6YQGCTF9wczUMCdhIypSemvcjpZOkATtyQ-hMZCbX5EJgQrksDmnnWs3aEqRcl66p0_uejcGXToyLXrK5cJfP_DIzShNP1-XDndIOwi8tLcwVhL142Ag/s320/Photo0158.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">columbus competition tubeset</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_JEANKRqOnU2XVf7cD0sbE4K2BnTELvggoDipTsDPpMXBzSUYUK6jV-X4dtS3Whak3d3tVJnlhxFpNt_7stVwMn7GL4zXCL765xe2dc9-29v9KRGPVwqKy_QOHNeYAH0axpNlJ9glh98/s1600/Photo0159.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_JEANKRqOnU2XVf7cD0sbE4K2BnTELvggoDipTsDPpMXBzSUYUK6jV-X4dtS3Whak3d3tVJnlhxFpNt_7stVwMn7GL4zXCL765xe2dc9-29v9KRGPVwqKy_QOHNeYAH0axpNlJ9glh98/s320/Photo0159.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0hltnUzz_XAoe6eS5tFcid1YhOGGkTIKyyaauEdp_25ekWMW3Cj3K_kpSRGYUa6mn1zaCi_H_iS0RTRywDGKuYByq579twYMeOcGYhC9lYrYwZIIP7TN8wVD5H69_qZG8Kd7R56uBz0U/s1600/Photo0160.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0hltnUzz_XAoe6eS5tFcid1YhOGGkTIKyyaauEdp_25ekWMW3Cj3K_kpSRGYUa6mn1zaCi_H_iS0RTRywDGKuYByq579twYMeOcGYhC9lYrYwZIIP7TN8wVD5H69_qZG8Kd7R56uBz0U/s320/Photo0160.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the downtube shifters were indexed, something which I think came out post 1987<br />
(post 1987 is not allowed, but it was campagnolo everything, so that was ok)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheuNKp_HxqCQ9u8q_0FvcCZHUjM5FAuxIdjRBAhjO6V4cnd-RvEejt8mWcRe8IGrxP6Hj_l5fT-OMWw2zUr_ub28s28O1BtaBh8qM40R5N7ECeeF5QQ-E9L0vX1Btphj2_3HQRvMvfuAg/s1600/Photo0161.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheuNKp_HxqCQ9u8q_0FvcCZHUjM5FAuxIdjRBAhjO6V4cnd-RvEejt8mWcRe8IGrxP6Hj_l5fT-OMWw2zUr_ub28s28O1BtaBh8qM40R5N7ECeeF5QQ-E9L0vX1Btphj2_3HQRvMvfuAg/s320/Photo0161.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">after the event (when these pics were taken) I'd taken my old <br />
style clips & straps off, what a bloody nuisance</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Marco Gios of Gios cycles fixed me up with a lovely pair of Duegi wood sole lace up shoes for free too (still in the original box !), all this just two weeks before the event.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I now had to get out on it and suddenly the thought of fitness crossed my mind, I certainly hadn’t been riding as much as in the past, but it was more a social ride than a race, the object being to finish, not to beat a certain time (or rather Ian). Which distance should we ride? Originally I was keen to do the full 205km route. But I hadn’t ridden over 150km all year, let alone 150km on gravelly hilly ‘roads’.</span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSQHPvrRlpPCHShcyyvo0uxwf9DVAevamU2Qqtg4MK0btbOfhYl8ldQVcSZgZlMREXkT759KAxV8eEJsHYIauTCV-YbsHM3DCSp5E19_SOsW_GnFVTLNogzQaO17cQJNhB5fOI422SWbQ/s1600/IMG_8283.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSQHPvrRlpPCHShcyyvo0uxwf9DVAevamU2Qqtg4MK0btbOfhYl8ldQVcSZgZlMREXkT759KAxV8eEJsHYIauTCV-YbsHM3DCSp5E19_SOsW_GnFVTLNogzQaO17cQJNhB5fOI422SWbQ/s320/IMG_8283.JPG" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">it helps having a big van</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Friday before the event we collected the British contingent from Pisa airport and drove to our accommodation which Ian had booked, not exactly in the vicinity of Gaiole in Chianti but it was nevertheless fantastic and with an outdoor swimming pool. (Paul was staying in Florence with his family and arrived a few days earlier).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We arrived in the dark and my trepidation about the location of the accommodation was heightened as we drove for over a kilometer down a narrow gravel path. However, the very nice villa complex more than made up for any concerns. While unpacking the 3 bike bags from the roof rack Ian caught on of the ratchets with his left eye as I threw it down from the roof of the van, could have been nasty but luckily he’s made of rugged stuff and didn’t whinge too much. Without further ado the guys set to unpacking & building the bikes up while Lorraine & Lyndsay made dinner.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We all went to bed happy and woke up happy too, but just worried about the weather, rain wasn’t anticipated, let alone heavy rain ! It wouldn’t last. We went to sign on in Gaiole with 4000 other riders, it was still raining, heavy. We perused the open air bike-bits market. There were some fine machines on display as well as some rather exotic equipment. It was still raining, heavy. We had a coffee and a bite to eat. It was still raining, heavy.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiViGRtVo6O48UP9Q4qve-8xvXCU-NPapY_blSdQxgJvETmZMYpLGYBLmErPEVSpz7ReYins4906PkecMCIhKj1JroCu2TltRXd_PmEaoa93LroU5YrYuRKhsLi9Lr-gdpT36jmFsPhKZw/s1600/IMG_8221.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiViGRtVo6O48UP9Q4qve-8xvXCU-NPapY_blSdQxgJvETmZMYpLGYBLmErPEVSpz7ReYins4906PkecMCIhKj1JroCu2TltRXd_PmEaoa93LroU5YrYuRKhsLi9Lr-gdpT36jmFsPhKZw/s200/IMG_8221.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8TTAeV-9Nld09SuCa-CUrwtP7P4ivtkXPQLbu103mfEgfKKzuusunFqKaOQANRFYFKufoLr2LXo78U5BjG-FgS2t2UUSPOU_xup76QdXbbj60o3R2vt7DG_cllIoP1cZRpSd70KCinlw/s1600/IMG_8220.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8TTAeV-9Nld09SuCa-CUrwtP7P4ivtkXPQLbu103mfEgfKKzuusunFqKaOQANRFYFKufoLr2LXo78U5BjG-FgS2t2UUSPOU_xup76QdXbbj60o3R2vt7DG_cllIoP1cZRpSd70KCinlw/s200/IMG_8220.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkOgYuzzgua3jE6VFtj4gxOnfVp1ZWW8l4wGAKeVkpw8ysu6jVcJQeLVDsDzW3gpxBhg4FRLRK6FBjgSw4CIz7ue39W13uIpVbbYqvcI2mootCPidVT1s2jpXDhJtbtCpH_mfi4NKgv34/s1600/IMG_8219.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkOgYuzzgua3jE6VFtj4gxOnfVp1ZWW8l4wGAKeVkpw8ysu6jVcJQeLVDsDzW3gpxBhg4FRLRK6FBjgSw4CIz7ue39W13uIpVbbYqvcI2mootCPidVT1s2jpXDhJtbtCpH_mfi4NKgv34/s200/IMG_8219.JPG" width="133" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This helped us decide, if it was beautiful sunshine on the Saturday we may have been tempted to tackle the longer event, but the fact that it was tipping with rain influenced our decision and we chose the 135km route which we knew would take at least 4 hours. Back to the villa and final preparations for the morning. Lyndsay had bought some old school shoes at the market & got them set up for the ride, the bikes were checked again. Ian considered how much air to put into his 28mm tyres donning his 60 year old Hill Special (made at the Clarion Cycle Works) , Steve oiled his Carlton and Lyndsay’s Harry Quinn. We tried on the clothing, unsure what the morning weather might bring, we had to be up at 5am, leave at 6am, race at 7am. A fantastic italian feast and earlyish to bed.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3sklC-m3KR_ICldwnKrMlX41RgSTeAkkGO88DOa6xjmKwVU1S3EB67ARYc70KTOU0rQGwEXZ5s-WNJy6sFO-jq1iSSfJJvrkl5b_y-Fy-iJJ1EPmAO2MsBQGn4Unsyo1Q9FDamVzS4Zs/s1600/IMG_8213.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3sklC-m3KR_ICldwnKrMlX41RgSTeAkkGO88DOa6xjmKwVU1S3EB67ARYc70KTOU0rQGwEXZ5s-WNJy6sFO-jq1iSSfJJvrkl5b_y-Fy-iJJ1EPmAO2MsBQGn4Unsyo1Q9FDamVzS4Zs/s200/IMG_8213.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhktTZm1EUeB7LtnAMDf36sk8PyRSX17L58mcR0InOaC0Ex4VuYicKGGkDyTSFtKd7CCr7P1tgom5QflvlmozFlk4zZ4F-sRhcZjUFuWhVFYKnq9jWtFhRa7oXBrctooDTwdWMp8JS7Vbk/s1600/IMG_8210.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhktTZm1EUeB7LtnAMDf36sk8PyRSX17L58mcR0InOaC0Ex4VuYicKGGkDyTSFtKd7CCr7P1tgom5QflvlmozFlk4zZ4F-sRhcZjUFuWhVFYKnq9jWtFhRa7oXBrctooDTwdWMp8JS7Vbk/s320/IMG_8210.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiizmnWjiLYVy0n_SjRATWr_oV-ggy3w5FVRkhQ3OYFuSGNP_vuOHohn0kgBsP9RPUQEe4yVLeYLWWHpKm0IvqNJSetUNLur6ttV3MGjzNQOaHzslFfnA_yU0vF3GqIGeTGuyOTX0Fvc4/s1600/IMG_8227.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiizmnWjiLYVy0n_SjRATWr_oV-ggy3w5FVRkhQ3OYFuSGNP_vuOHohn0kgBsP9RPUQEe4yVLeYLWWHpKm0IvqNJSetUNLur6ttV3MGjzNQOaHzslFfnA_yU0vF3GqIGeTGuyOTX0Fvc4/s320/IMG_8227.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ian, Steve, Lyndsay & me (don't look too close at Steve's skinsuit)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5am and various groans & moans later we were having breakfast together. A picture paints a thousand words, but we looked rather splendid (see photo- this was at 5am).</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-JffPkvGNmhdwDTeA2v8jleqau6c0dBErObt13-5cMQ9vhmobzA5oWube_DrOrkYtnA0-6eRQ1VDEFLFAubkogR-UMvb2-ullEmDp-xOtumZNjAxlYzgn23a30JDO8q70kYwPRTCxL5A/s1600/Photo0129.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-JffPkvGNmhdwDTeA2v8jleqau6c0dBErObt13-5cMQ9vhmobzA5oWube_DrOrkYtnA0-6eRQ1VDEFLFAubkogR-UMvb2-ullEmDp-xOtumZNjAxlYzgn23a30JDO8q70kYwPRTCxL5A/s320/Photo0129.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Leaving the villa and Lorraine & Carlo behind the journey to Gaiole gave hope, it wasn’t raining, infact the sun was coming up and the roads were almost dry.</span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbp_Qe8Sqn3UsoDrasT-4iZQxNa25ei93VYtiH9ovJu1Xx-Kq8MW2d9JeJ7tLCdzpNFb5YS3-JiKXZiNv_gjNM51gam_9cF-iS30hunoMgzP8lN9dWAZwjvU78q89uiGKyfgfF5br4nRA/s1600/Photo0130.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbp_Qe8Sqn3UsoDrasT-4iZQxNa25ei93VYtiH9ovJu1Xx-Kq8MW2d9JeJ7tLCdzpNFb5YS3-JiKXZiNv_gjNM51gam_9cF-iS30hunoMgzP8lN9dWAZwjvU78q89uiGKyfgfF5br4nRA/s320/Photo0130.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1st section of strade bianche</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ_3mA79eFPGvmIpyeSk4Mo_lDpf7B0sASF7d0Bnu3zaoxbf4Nz9jfKJy_J-c8TECbj49eU17kS7ipnGOi1N2pIe9STROFRH5Cjz7Q8pUdrwWz8ogpa-NKPxksxjyD4VGtiWKui-b9VSQ/s1600/Photo0131.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ_3mA79eFPGvmIpyeSk4Mo_lDpf7B0sASF7d0Bnu3zaoxbf4Nz9jfKJy_J-c8TECbj49eU17kS7ipnGOi1N2pIe9STROFRH5Cjz7Q8pUdrwWz8ogpa-NKPxksxjyD4VGtiWKui-b9VSQ/s200/Photo0131.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a perfect day</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We crossed the start line at 7am and made off for a surprisingly swift first 10km. It’s funny how there is never any wind early in the day or late at night.We then hit the first section of strade bianche. It took us 2h30’ to get to Radi (first food stop) at 48km. What a welcome feed station that was. The selection was vast and included raw mince, horse meat, various salamis, bread soaked in wine, nutella, ham, honey, fruits, wine and water as well as many desserts & biscuits. That took at least half an hour. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRGKf04IVXCbl1arGYLih6Sj5r7k54MosUtnZMStMcG5BACHw5BqST6eSj8xiZqoO60wx_o0xjLoPiva760RKgTgeX3zvQDyccc-ts8exITXgSjczBi2Rxkb2N_RAIfi9Gl3ac-E1yx9Y/s1600/Photo0132.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRGKf04IVXCbl1arGYLih6Sj5r7k54MosUtnZMStMcG5BACHw5BqST6eSj8xiZqoO60wx_o0xjLoPiva760RKgTgeX3zvQDyccc-ts8exITXgSjczBi2Rxkb2N_RAIfi9Gl3ac-E1yx9Y/s320/Photo0132.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Steve & Lyndsay</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqGBfe2mpjQ6xEjnBOkanKbyxtaJoALv_3b-tQpBa68IMV6NdVIMcV_2cySeuAvTs36JXuK-MbMJ0wtVoSU6-Jdn3jkjOoec3nuYPRX67tQjwmDRjQZ1lxNNGA5UgMoRISAuQkJaRl1RM/s1600/Photo0133.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqGBfe2mpjQ6xEjnBOkanKbyxtaJoALv_3b-tQpBa68IMV6NdVIMcV_2cySeuAvTs36JXuK-MbMJ0wtVoSU6-Jdn3jkjOoec3nuYPRX67tQjwmDRjQZ1lxNNGA5UgMoRISAuQkJaRl1RM/s320/Photo0133.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">buon apetito</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF7_Po3R3RyNbk3eLTJKB69DnSrHed3nwXKSC_fZJ0o25oAxUkfwsRdgvbG7LoGRIoL6Zc_2kMsV0iT9w2fpQsudmLrkAq2grZG0Z9Ywt-o_3NplP6cfm44KEOw95a674yKqDq-Lh2jBk/s1600/Photo0135.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF7_Po3R3RyNbk3eLTJKB69DnSrHed3nwXKSC_fZJ0o25oAxUkfwsRdgvbG7LoGRIoL6Zc_2kMsV0iT9w2fpQsudmLrkAq2grZG0Z9Ywt-o_3NplP6cfm44KEOw95a674yKqDq-Lh2jBk/s320/Photo0135.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ristoro Radi</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtJ2LMNFPIUr_w-S-xX9yFXM_NHmBC_m31DQGC7uoaXEYZb2iAG8h1vQ4WCeOfoEfNV_yEfvnEeAPxim4wJub6QA3Mk_z2M2TDcmpi7vz-X-HE4uEzx8JpOqiZm9rO0dcKGENH0ifHLgg/s1600/Photo0134.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtJ2LMNFPIUr_w-S-xX9yFXM_NHmBC_m31DQGC7uoaXEYZb2iAG8h1vQ4WCeOfoEfNV_yEfvnEeAPxim4wJub6QA3Mk_z2M2TDcmpi7vz-X-HE4uEzx8JpOqiZm9rO0dcKGENH0ifHLgg/s320/Photo0134.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">how much wine would you like sir? Fill her up guv</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15;">We started to not worry about the time. This ride would take more than 4hrs.</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb67_GPZuBAPlt7FTCJ8QpdvSqofT-i7xMdJIcuisUBY-diXwqhGorBd9BhCOU7eMSsf8y5LFgbwiLhhoEzZVlvGrumYWaSqEOm_dpTN9taJZdcDrEQIN1ZNptO_i8-orWtSSPCX_kPtE/s1600/Photo0140.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb67_GPZuBAPlt7FTCJ8QpdvSqofT-i7xMdJIcuisUBY-diXwqhGorBd9BhCOU7eMSsf8y5LFgbwiLhhoEzZVlvGrumYWaSqEOm_dpTN9taJZdcDrEQIN1ZNptO_i8-orWtSSPCX_kPtE/s200/Photo0140.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The sun was really belting down at 10am and the never ending views made it feel great.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaprhOUwxjBn0utmayTUPVU6gsy34qgxAO9xYgJnl8aoBicUFrcLID-JDcU9wvuxTYV0JE3PuC_RJDSvqFtbQGGlIqt8HG4DOj1EWKviIn0d4XPfYatKHkcWtD99iO6A7d8yLMNyOrMFw/s1600/Photo0141.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaprhOUwxjBn0utmayTUPVU6gsy34qgxAO9xYgJnl8aoBicUFrcLID-JDcU9wvuxTYV0JE3PuC_RJDSvqFtbQGGlIqt8HG4DOj1EWKviIn0d4XPfYatKHkcWtD99iO6A7d8yLMNyOrMFw/s200/Photo0141.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ian met a team-mate</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMvgvLFbSsPO3J9xEo11nAvQ1zgDN9fc6EMKaeXWocqTGYeeGU-9VW5vOlV40jJehdwQqCMNMvk32lu4oSL3AyxqbmhJ-_rn3x6Deq54ZbZempHkJzz4_wIYPzXJjgad13MDAVW7jRH60/s1600/Photo0142.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMvgvLFbSsPO3J9xEo11nAvQ1zgDN9fc6EMKaeXWocqTGYeeGU-9VW5vOlV40jJehdwQqCMNMvk32lu4oSL3AyxqbmhJ-_rn3x6Deq54ZbZempHkJzz4_wIYPzXJjgad13MDAVW7jRH60/s320/Photo0142.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Some of the climbs (and descents) on the strade bianche were very challenging in gradient, trying to maintain grip and keeping your feet in the toeclips, avoiding the ruts caused by the rain the previous day. One particular descent had me worried, too slow and you were off, too fast and you’d overcook the bend at the bottom.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a rather nice soup awaited us</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxcmEWb7rRouDmndkeQLGC9OTuT7tCEXskJZmWiPLOhwDPywyoquHz1MC8zn3Q-ZJ3fcMtRS-u64AsRl1KK-0wkOShLcMZHoF8bs9NYCPNaoETl3Gz2miPf9Xzz8xJzXmbl5j6Y1X3Beo/s1600/Photo0144.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxcmEWb7rRouDmndkeQLGC9OTuT7tCEXskJZmWiPLOhwDPywyoquHz1MC8zn3Q-ZJ3fcMtRS-u64AsRl1KK-0wkOShLcMZHoF8bs9NYCPNaoETl3Gz2miPf9Xzz8xJzXmbl5j6Y1X3Beo/s200/Photo0144.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">mechanics were on hand if required</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4 white roads out of the way and two more by the time we reached the next feed station with more of the same fayre in Asciano at 12 :22. That made a total of 29km on the rough stuff 84km in total, over half way. One more food stop and 4 hours later we finished in Gaiole at 4:50pm. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihIe2MDyEaMSKEmjkdIsD5YMn3mq1rA5uke8RiFZsnzxxrLvwsseim4RBhc0DM_QBhdPdubeKCzP8U_FH0ZpF1a5FDE4amxEvmXisnN8EFkE8zyLrGSC2dMXS4QcBIxHZI74qeyrceXIk/s1600/IMG_8277.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihIe2MDyEaMSKEmjkdIsD5YMn3mq1rA5uke8RiFZsnzxxrLvwsseim4RBhc0DM_QBhdPdubeKCzP8U_FH0ZpF1a5FDE4amxEvmXisnN8EFkE8zyLrGSC2dMXS4QcBIxHZI74qeyrceXIk/s320/IMG_8277.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">back at the villa after a long day in the saddle</td></tr>
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A welcome beer sat on the cobbles of the main street went down well. It seemed like half the route was on gravel when infact only 33km was. It certainly sapped the energy. We reckoned less than 10% of people rode up all the gravel climbs. It certainly was a satisfying experience and all the better for riding it as a group. Would we do it again? Maybe next year. As for using ‘old style’ bikes & gear:</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsl_8MeDO9Q5jFyEtVvdOCYVA1GQjvkJLAcLbcRNofe9c0LlDt9Q19TQt_1kzRTpjCn6dNh5eJC02ZlAy1lN6K7ata5KW_rEZrjOfeAE4vsoATXp3KhMnBKmAC2ziQVmNWWGsiIBebLVI/s1600/Photo0145.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsl_8MeDO9Q5jFyEtVvdOCYVA1GQjvkJLAcLbcRNofe9c0LlDt9Q19TQt_1kzRTpjCn6dNh5eJC02ZlAy1lN6K7ata5KW_rEZrjOfeAE4vsoATXp3KhMnBKmAC2ziQVmNWWGsiIBebLVI/s320/Photo0145.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Back at the villa, couldn't keep my eyes open after the third glass of wine</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1. don’t waste your time trawling ebay, shop local</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2. steel IS real</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3. new technology is not necessarily better</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">4. old lycra is not forgiving (Steve wore his Dad’s old 80’s skinsuit).</span><br />
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Speroni !Julianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02767939210604136539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4089850566008638790.post-36566261141764696002013-11-17T22:37:00.000+01:002013-11-19T19:45:29.547+01:00Italian Clarion section news:Stivali !<br />
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-510f14ba-67fc-38ae-1d84-03d3cbb8cc69"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 19px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 19px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">2013 has been a fantastic year. Section membership has more than doubled. We welcome Giovanni Bazzoni (roadie) to the Clarion since last writing. Gio is our first Italian member. Dick Ayres new (another new member) rode the Quebrantahuesos in June, 200km in the Pyrenees, including col du Somport 1700m at 50km and Portalet 1800m at 150km, a total of 3800m of climbing. Having paced himself early on he wishes he’d gone full gas as he felt great at the end of just less than 8 hours riding (finishing 4158 out of 9000 starters), well done Dick who is looking for another big challenge in 2014.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Since the summer we have had a tour at Lago d’Iseo, climbing passo san fermo with long sections of 1:5 at it’s base. We also met up with members of Fenland at l’Eroica in Tuscany (see story elsewhere).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dick took part in the Garmin Triathlon Barcelona taking on the Olympic distance in 2 hours 26.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaiHV3yLGfY9N1K6yf7LJirs639K0dlOBHy6RVb_TeGIzNLl3egRzT2uBH0ssvJ7zQ-I2Wqx9Phme4Q9ZTlcd4UppOlhNHnCc8yAc2Rj__Udlkj_aJYGbEZBtxNbG-YaISyt6L3D-6tJE/s1600/bcn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaiHV3yLGfY9N1K6yf7LJirs639K0dlOBHy6RVb_TeGIzNLl3egRzT2uBH0ssvJ7zQ-I2Wqx9Phme4Q9ZTlcd4UppOlhNHnCc8yAc2Rj__Udlkj_aJYGbEZBtxNbG-YaISyt6L3D-6tJE/s320/bcn.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-510f14ba-67fd-8e40-322d-4547a3bee6b0"><span style="font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dick Ayres, bottom left at the Garmin Triathlon Barcelona</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Next year the Giro passes through Chieri where we are based, with the tt the day before from Barbaresco to Barolo, two of the best wines you’ll ever try. We’re a little excited about that. BuonNatale a tutti !</span></div>
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Speroni !Julianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02767939210604136539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4089850566008638790.post-78225374622510246802013-06-09T23:38:00.000+02:002013-11-14T23:50:10.940+01:00Stivali !<br />
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Italian Clarion section news:<br />
So far, 2013 has been a colder than usual year in Piemonte and the rest of northern Italy. But that hasn’t<br />
stopped riders getting out & about to race in events such as Gf Laigueglia, chilly but sunny and to see the Giro<br />
(when it wasn’t raining or snowing). Section membership has doubled, though double figures are yet to be<br />
reached. Welcome to Richard Ayres of Madrid (triathlete & roadie). Dick is riding the Quebrantahuesos on 22nd<br />
June, 200km in the Pyrenees, good luck to him going over Somport 1700m at 50km and Portalet 1800m at<br />
150km ouch ! Also welcome to Rob Morson of Chieri who plans to get out on his bike more as he retires this<br />
June. Finally, congratulations to Lorraine & Julian who are proud new parents of new member Carlo Alan Mortel<br />
born on 11th May. He’ll ride the track, road and mountain bike if his mother and father have any influence. He is<br />
already practicing spinning his legs and saluting at every nappy change Forza Italian Clarion!<br />
Following successful meetups with Stockport section and Cicli Piazza last year two more weekend breaks are<br />
being organised that might interest other sections:<br />
Le Langhe weekend, optional routes taking in between 200km to 300km for the weekend, 29th June and High<br />
Alps tour on 6th September, taking in the Marmotte and Colle dell’Agnello. Alla prossima, arrivederci.<br />
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Photos:<br />
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Le Langhe, home of fine wines truffles, hazelnuts & chocolate<br />
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Wake up and smell the coffee, Italian style<br />
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Laiueglia1 Julian Mortel riding Gf Laigueglia in February<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMpKaVzx-JKiW54B3wpC_Sq4eIcgmljD1V6bsgoTjD_4eq_pWNscgPQ0cE8xrIAA75g_AiO8b8-vXCEQoDK7tn3ZJzpNJKbaS7D6eYSqlh7cT9fytpMlb5WIgHhQ_q3mgrXSxzDoEXVNM/s1600/2013-10-06+12.46.12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMpKaVzx-JKiW54B3wpC_Sq4eIcgmljD1V6bsgoTjD_4eq_pWNscgPQ0cE8xrIAA75g_AiO8b8-vXCEQoDK7tn3ZJzpNJKbaS7D6eYSqlh7cT9fytpMlb5WIgHhQ_q3mgrXSxzDoEXVNM/s320/2013-10-06+12.46.12.jpg" width="240" /></a>Carlo Alan Mortel, Italian Clarion’s most special member</div>
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Speroni !Julianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02767939210604136539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4089850566008638790.post-16888228924770478862013-01-11T13:44:00.004+01:002013-01-11T13:44:50.078+01:00live with less - enjoy moreStivali !<br />
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<span id="internal-source-marker_0.9498315877281129"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At Christmas and the start of the new year, it’s nice to reflect and make plans for the future. Christmas is a time for giving to those who need, not those who don’t really need.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Is that being a scrooge? Well perhaps, but it highlights a point that Xmas is all too much about consumerism. We sometimes buy because we think we have to, but do they really need that present? Or is it just getting you off the hook?</span><br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Let’s consider the things that really matter. Not putting words into mouths, but there are only a handful of things we really need to survive, </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">aren't</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> there? And, money isn’t one of them. That’s just a thing we use to get them, or do we? Love, fun & friendship are free aren’t they? The other essentials to survive can be obtained through cooperation.</span></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So, money. Could we live without it? No? Well, what about living with less. They say ‘live with less and enjoy more’. That’s our experience here and our motto for 2013. If you have to give something and are lost for suggestions my best Xmas gift was a recommendation to read ‘start something that matters’ by Blake Mycoskie. Get it from the library.</span></span><span id="internal-source-marker_0.9498315877281129"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Remember; live with less - enjoy more.</span></span><br />
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Speroni !Julianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02767939210604136539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4089850566008638790.post-63758337868573448262012-08-12T12:35:00.001+02:002012-08-12T17:18:16.700+02:00the new kit is here.......Stivali !<br />
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This morning we went out on our first ride since getting back from our summer trip. First ride in the new kit too. It feels & looks great and turned quite a few heads on our short ride this morning.<br />
Those of you who have ordered, it is now winging its way to you.<br />
Here are some pics from today, send us some of yours when you get it.<br />
Thanks to <a href="http://champ-sys.co.uk/" target="_blank">Champion System</a><br />
More options available now too (triathlon, winter gear, accessories, casual wear etc..). Will be placing another order mid-September. See our 'club clothing' page at <a href="http://www.italianclarion.com/">www.italianclarion.com</a><br />
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Speroni !Julianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02767939210604136539noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4089850566008638790.post-17272309426054297462012-06-03T18:37:00.003+02:002012-06-14T09:08:02.305+02:00cronoscalata 'Castelnuovo Don Bosco to Albugnano'Stivali !<br />
When we first moved to Italy 5 years ago we lived in Moncalieri. I went out on a ride with a couple of guys who were pretty handy on the bike and made me earn my turn in their jetstream on one particular day. I suppose they were weighing me up and decided to take me up this hill I'd never ridden before. They said before we got there it was about 5km long and the record was 11 minutes. Well, I thought yeah, when you're fresh and haven't raced on the flat for 70km beforehand.<br />
So we hit the climb and the speed didn't let up. The gauntlet had been thrown down and I was up for a challenge. After a few minutes racing together, Marco started to open up a gap. His pal Giampaolo then let on that it was Marco who held the record from a few years previous. Well, mentally that gave me the excuse to ease off. Or maybe I was just knackered.<br />
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Since then I've always held that hill as a test of form and never got anywhere near the 11 minute mark.<br />
A couple of years ago we moved much closer to Castelnuovo Don Bosco and it's now our local hill climb and having learnt that 2nd June was to be the first of 2 events this year I thought I'd have a go and see if competition could motivate me to go that bit quicker, even though I hadn't done any specific training.<br />
At the very least it would be a good experience and chance to spread the knowledge of the Clarion.<br />
10€ to enter, not bad and prizes for the top 5 in each category.<br />
<a href="http://www.bikemap.net/route/1617104#lat=45.061507330699&lng=7.967715&zoom=13&maptype=terrain" target="_blank">5km to climb 250m, that's 1 in 20, not too bad</a>, but in fact like any rider knows, it only hurts as much as you allow yourself to be hurt.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">nice day for a hill climb - at the sign on</td></tr>
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At the sign on I had to convince the judges that my Clarion membership card was sufficient to ride their prestigious event and that it was equivalent to their tessera - it wasn't and I knew it. After much consultation between the judges they decided that as this is Italy and I was British, their only International rider, and as it turned out, their most special entry, I could ride.<br />
I was so special in fact that, when I signed on as rider No. 55 they had run out of saftey pins, the amateur riders fix it method for sticking your number on. We had ridden from home and definitely didn't think of bringing any with us.<br />
Once again the organisers were most accommodating. Behind the signing on tent was the pizzeria who was laying on a little aperitivo. His wife had a needle and thread but only Paolo could sew the number on because he knew a little English. He worked in Brentford for FIAT between 1968 & 1972, the best 4 years of his life he said because it was the time of the Beatles, the mini-skirt & hot-pants.
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a first time for everything</td></tr>
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With an hour to spare before my ride we decided to ride gently up and suss out the finish. It wasn't where I expected on the minor road up as it crests to go down to Cinzano and Abazia di Vezzolano, but right up in the piazza of Albugnano, a vicious final 200m of 1 in 5 to 1 in 6. Ouch.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the start of the final 200m</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">trying to keep the front wheel on the ground as the power is put through the back wheel</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">it hurt but I stopped it from hurting too much - feeble</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">passing a walking rider helped moral</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">cresting the top I remembered why I don't like hill climbing competitions</td></tr>
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The winning time was 11'33", unbelievable. He won by over 1 minute and nearly broke the record.</div>
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The last 200m were a killer and equal to the gradient of any of the shorter hill climbs you might find in the Peak District.</div>
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The 1st Clarion rider and 1st British rider came in in 29th spot at 15'13" leaving a realisation how off form I was.</div>
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Even so, we came away with a prize. Two nice bottles of red & some inner tubes as 4th in the senior category and an invite to the next event on the same hill on Oct 20th</div>
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Speroni !Julianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02767939210604136539noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4089850566008638790.post-18564475620017725152012-06-01T10:21:00.002+02:002012-06-14T09:08:37.244+02:00A Clarion Team, 900 miles and the 1998 FBD Milk RásStivali!<br />
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In June of 1997, Graham Pearce, the Stockport Clarion race guru came back from that years edition of the Rás telling us all of the great experience. He was leading one of the teams from their support vehicle. He made it sound ridiculously hard & insane, but also like the nearest an amateur could get to a true ‘tour’ experience. Over 30 teams, 9 days of racing, over 100 miles each day, 170 riders, team support vehicles, racing around Ireland, the home of Kelly, Roche, Earley & ofcourse Guinness. It sounded epic. It was…..This was going to be something we’d never forget.<br />
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At the next meeting Hamrag laid it on the line about the amount of training we’d need – laughing as he did, in his way of relating how impossible this race was. There was the cost – we’d need sponsors, vehicles a support team. We’d need to change, be more disciplined in what we ate & drunk. No more beery nights out & kebabs. But, if we could pull it all together, the Guru reckoned he could enter a Clarion team into the event. This was a real challenge. Even so, we had a year to get it sorted.<br />
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Well, no not really, training started in November 1997. In this year, we would all learn what our bodies were truly capable of.<br />
Racing in 2nd & 3rd CAT races of 60 to 70 miles was one thing, but 9 days of elite level racing over 900 miles was another world. We’d done 3 day stage racing before in Ireland & Wales but at 2nd CAT level.<br />
The previous year we’d hired a sports scientist to try to achieve better performances in racing. He provided a structured training plan and things seemed to work well. We’d need him again this year with the 1998 Rás as the target.<br />
In September we met up with him. The team had 3 committed riders (Duncan Hewitt, Will Sanderson & myself) and others who could not commit at this stage. Graham Pearce was the team manager, with Andy Magee as team mechanic and Dave Armstrong as soigneur.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The support Team & riders: Back L-R Wayne Randle, Rob Numan, Julian Mortel, Duncan Hewitt, Will Sanderson<br />
Front L-R Andy Magee, Graham Pearce, Dave Armstrong</td></tr>
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We went through what time we had available for training. We all worked full time, Duncan at Gardner Merchant and Will at Royal & Sun Alliance in Salford & Manchester respectively and I had a contract about to start in Stockport, meaning we could all feasibly get out on the bikes each evening together. Learning to ride together, know each other abilities, strength’s & weaknesses were an important part of the team bonding. We would have to suffer together, support each other with motivation & encouragement. We had to learn to hold on to that wheel in front even when it felt impossible to continue.<br />
We did an initial ramp test to set our individual levels and a plan was drawn up from that. Initially it was all about getting the miles in. Saturdays & Sundays were 100 mile days, steady. Monday was rest (no riding). Tuesday, intervals at Manchester track league, Wednesday; steady riding in the chaingang, Thursday; intervals on turbo or on the road and Friday group road ride.<br />
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To be continued<br />
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Speroni !Julianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02767939210604136539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4089850566008638790.post-30559462487374602802012-05-30T11:02:00.002+02:002012-06-14T09:25:13.018+02:00New Team Kit FinalisedStivali !<br />
We are about to place our order for the new kit:<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left;">Final design approved, now taking orders. Please visit </span><a avglsprocessed="1" href="http://www.italianclarion.com/" rel="nofollow nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">www.italianclarion.com</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left;"> if you want some kit.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left;">For payment please email me: info@italianclarion.com</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left;">Many thanks</span><br />
Speroni !Julianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02767939210604136539noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4089850566008638790.post-59613895491638958932012-05-30T10:49:00.002+02:002012-06-14T09:09:59.088+02:00Monza - SanRemo 330kmStivali !<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Monza - the depart</td></tr>
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Our rides 'percorso' was a little different to the professionals held annually in March. We started in Monza, thanks to the support offered by a local team there, '<a href="http://www.ciclipiazza.net/" target="_blank">cicli piazza</a>'. We also stopped off at the half-way point in Acqui Terme for the night.<br />
The ride started off at 8am in Monza and we headed south through Milano, past the Duomo and San Siro. It was then pretty monotonous as we made our way through the flat lands of the rice fields. However the comradeship of our new friends kept things interesting, as well as the two support vehicles who motivated us with cheers from the roadside, from within the cars and at the cafe bars.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">PUNCTURE ! - don't panic</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">riding through the streets of Milano</td></tr>
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Salvatore was our Captain for the ride, leading the way on his nice titanium Bianchi. He's a strong old bugger and often had to correct the conflicting information coming from other riders Garmin800's.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a commuter joins the train</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">San Siro</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cafe? - si grazie - prego</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">hmm, too much coffee perhaps</td></tr>
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As we approached Acqui Terme and the area that was the home of Fausto Coppi, the landscape changed and became a little lumpier, although, I must remind myself, the total dis-level for Saturday was on 21m !!!<br />
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After a hard ride you need to rest your weary body, and the Hotel laid on was just the ticket, luxurious and good service, large rooms and a good hot shower with TV to catch up on the Giro.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the hotel was quite classey</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">arrival at Acqui Terme</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the water comes up at 50 degrees, ouch</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">beer me</td></tr>
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We arrived in plenty of time for refreshing ourselves and getting out for a stroll and then relaxing with a drink for aperitivo.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">oh well, perhaps a mojito then</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">evening meal on Saturday was fantastic with a view overlooking the rooftops of the town</td></tr>
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A 5 course meal refueled the body, ready for the next day. The ride out of Acqui Terme was a very steady climb over the Alpi Liguri, where the weather started to close in. The descent to Savona, normally rapid, was dampened a bit due to the wet road surface.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">team talk prior to depart</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">prepping for the Sunday depart and final leg </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">another puncture</td></tr>
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Once on the Ligurian coast line the riding became much more interesting, even though we missed out the 3 climbs (le Manie / Cipresa / Poggio) due to the poor weather. They'll be there again for another day. As a group we flew through the towns of Noli, Finale, Albenga, Alassio, Laigueglia, Andora, Diano Marina and Imperia before reaching SanRemo, tired and wet, but with a great feeling of satisfaction.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">after a wet final 100km the arrival in SanRemo was welcome</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">how to celebrate? seafood, beer & wine</td></tr>
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Grazie mille a tutti !<br />
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Speroni !Julianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02767939210604136539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4089850566008638790.post-59500426116822611622012-05-07T23:05:00.000+02:002012-06-14T09:11:07.725+02:00Bra - BraStivali !<br />
First of all, I should clarify; Bra is a place, a beautiful place in Le Langhe, not far from us.<br />
Today we took part in the Medio Fondo event 110km over very undulating terrain (1740m dsl) in this stunning wine region.<br />
<a href="http://www.bikemap.net/route/1557685">http://www.bikemap.net/route/1557685</a> is the route.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="font-size: medium; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
over 2000 riders took part</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">we were way back at the start, but made up good ground .....</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">....over the climbs & down the descents</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: -webkit-auto;">some cloud cover prevented overheating</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjawx2RpYoIClJz1wMxY9R0ypDezL2cWdHb7X1aLxgPfzjrtd3rVjifwkUkoR3ggG_sBGF6EE-SsUVid8_KT1u_407MDt4fB3r0G8WPD1xjYyzlCMauA8XQCz7C64dtbUgNsbUnxNCeDPU/s1600/profile.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjawx2RpYoIClJz1wMxY9R0ypDezL2cWdHb7X1aLxgPfzjrtd3rVjifwkUkoR3ggG_sBGF6EE-SsUVid8_KT1u_407MDt4fB3r0G8WPD1xjYyzlCMauA8XQCz7C64dtbUgNsbUnxNCeDPU/s1600/profile.gif" /></a></div>
As we were finishing (ultimo 2km) the winners of the Gran Fondo event passed us, 3 guys in a break, looking smooth getting ready to sprint it out.<br />
Loz did fantastically well in her first event, so here's to the next event - Milano San Remo in 2 weeks.<br />
<br />
Speroni !Julianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02767939210604136539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4089850566008638790.post-91982535062250813472012-05-05T13:27:00.001+02:002012-06-14T09:11:25.949+02:00pretty in pink?Stivali !<br />
As it's the start of the Giro today, here's our pink offering. What about these:<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ8fke1np_74b-CUUKQM3iw86rqbHeIa5LKs7kyubpTwf_Jy9N33TWOnDPFMOCTMMGpfxsgwIoLhQZhXRROgaaEI9FjcskV2kyKHDrzF8sFI4Tedo58tfOerMMJmwhZRcKjx7P74xeZoE/s1600/italianclarionjerseyblockspink.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ8fke1np_74b-CUUKQM3iw86rqbHeIa5LKs7kyubpTwf_Jy9N33TWOnDPFMOCTMMGpfxsgwIoLhQZhXRROgaaEI9FjcskV2kyKHDrzF8sFI4Tedo58tfOerMMJmwhZRcKjx7P74xeZoE/s320/italianclarionjerseyblockspink.JPG" width="301" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWLs5J3GOjThrdsdwZYfWJghAkAeokCj5r8-wHM1cAq05_TM7tgOsmWEx1NOGMSGyF3VBc620w6u2-z3TpDfJi_B4eoFj3xVl96ZHr8w2Z6omyZqurzRBHBDodng9DwRWkcuBksAGgK7U/s1600/italianclarionjerseyblockspinkback.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWLs5J3GOjThrdsdwZYfWJghAkAeokCj5r8-wHM1cAq05_TM7tgOsmWEx1NOGMSGyF3VBc620w6u2-z3TpDfJi_B4eoFj3xVl96ZHr8w2Z6omyZqurzRBHBDodng9DwRWkcuBksAGgK7U/s320/italianclarionjerseyblockspinkback.jpg" width="294" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_HUsLQsK99vyuZSNGk7Tr7nj-pViOJGpj03KpjQuINCmEMXfGPFPywbyJE8F3t94viVjIseV1e5k69kNj1GNmitugSf37TbW3lhQJ9qjYwtiKFTKCOAEdg-v5uENNeIKplz7dm4Q2jFQ/s1600/italianclarionjerseyhoopspink.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_HUsLQsK99vyuZSNGk7Tr7nj-pViOJGpj03KpjQuINCmEMXfGPFPywbyJE8F3t94viVjIseV1e5k69kNj1GNmitugSf37TbW3lhQJ9qjYwtiKFTKCOAEdg-v5uENNeIKplz7dm4Q2jFQ/s320/italianclarionjerseyhoopspink.JPG" width="308" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcYDOrsC1EX1yDelyn_-7okOvPI5SZCQyw-FOpvLpCqZmr3kgLpfgx1JUrIxTnr7VE1ziWvkIK6lSA7gYNieJgXos4k1brLljn88G2KnKASHrcAHUzLBEZy5I219A8LEiPSD8xo2B_j_I/s1600/italianclarionjerseyhoopspinkback.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcYDOrsC1EX1yDelyn_-7okOvPI5SZCQyw-FOpvLpCqZmr3kgLpfgx1JUrIxTnr7VE1ziWvkIK6lSA7gYNieJgXos4k1brLljn88G2KnKASHrcAHUzLBEZy5I219A8LEiPSD8xo2B_j_I/s320/italianclarionjerseyhoopspinkback.jpg" width="294" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAENeMoGSaB2USFBA4gJDXP7yBSNTDyMcDdJEQGH35yxGwfvc83TQrg7cMd9PlHSanRs_z3JdqyhcEM-PytKlttkMySc01CyJ5WJ0g-WXCacvHWP-VozrV-kWB7Jl37iCgCpVD4e58no4/s1600/italianclariontightsswooshpink.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAENeMoGSaB2USFBA4gJDXP7yBSNTDyMcDdJEQGH35yxGwfvc83TQrg7cMd9PlHSanRs_z3JdqyhcEM-PytKlttkMySc01CyJ5WJ0g-WXCacvHWP-VozrV-kWB7Jl37iCgCpVD4e58no4/s320/italianclariontightsswooshpink.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Speroni !Julianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02767939210604136539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4089850566008638790.post-36953519667150327872012-05-05T12:36:00.000+02:002012-06-14T09:11:39.867+02:00designs for italian clarion team kitStivali !<br />
<br />
We have finally come up with some proposals for our team kit.<br />
Options are as per the Italian national champions jersey:<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI2DpjWVE1kxEBKMcYg1z24485RVZhDtOG5edTN9V3CsycDCy2rVAHI6y1-iOFKem3wIn435wYg_Jh_ALw1uk0Wwaf5e5hYO61jeFMICvVr8nIbyonnb5ViVh2J0jFSE9FEf-oAlNEJFw/s1600/italianclarionjerseyblocksback.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI2DpjWVE1kxEBKMcYg1z24485RVZhDtOG5edTN9V3CsycDCy2rVAHI6y1-iOFKem3wIn435wYg_Jh_ALw1uk0Wwaf5e5hYO61jeFMICvVr8nIbyonnb5ViVh2J0jFSE9FEf-oAlNEJFw/s320/italianclarionjerseyblocksback.JPG" width="286" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAnUqkD6eeEzq-ZYTthPJu3MXVUuYZvY0oBazFAKHkmo938v9BDynfecGUGEVMuNHvuEcnIM7iZ3YmbuK875nXidpP3fYfhjj13Tg6cO-2tKEvBV6EA0MRVWVcZLhIYeIBLTPlA77ZrDs/s1600/italianclarionjerseyblocks.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAnUqkD6eeEzq-ZYTthPJu3MXVUuYZvY0oBazFAKHkmo938v9BDynfecGUGEVMuNHvuEcnIM7iZ3YmbuK875nXidpP3fYfhjj13Tg6cO-2tKEvBV6EA0MRVWVcZLhIYeIBLTPlA77ZrDs/s320/italianclarionjerseyblocks.JPG" width="293" /></a></div>
Or a variation on the GB Champs jersey:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh07HysWQXubnqT188AOqQhPsf7Alfexo02zvaCrTaXQirAxRKvd6ESHDJ4bdHd83QrvtAMAXddtR7L671-6JlQrjx6rUipk47XqkXUAWy1KrwZaP6ypgB5sNipHGE9MRBa0KEN0hElswE/s1600/italianclarionjerseyhoops.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh07HysWQXubnqT188AOqQhPsf7Alfexo02zvaCrTaXQirAxRKvd6ESHDJ4bdHd83QrvtAMAXddtR7L671-6JlQrjx6rUipk47XqkXUAWy1KrwZaP6ypgB5sNipHGE9MRBa0KEN0hElswE/s320/italianclarionjerseyhoops.JPG" width="303" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTXovu3RBRn_FDMs0iTHbGojHD83zsr0h7u1sZdrWivJR1pGy0kSXbLWub2AudXJ5S1P8koQk8TmcXdyw9quSdtd_jUC9rkgeAMIRGfP3P7Yd_bSyV3-d2XG6H_1snMIT7XJwxtRvmqVo/s1600/italianclarionjerseyhoopsback.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTXovu3RBRn_FDMs0iTHbGojHD83zsr0h7u1sZdrWivJR1pGy0kSXbLWub2AudXJ5S1P8koQk8TmcXdyw9quSdtd_jUC9rkgeAMIRGfP3P7Yd_bSyV3-d2XG6H_1snMIT7XJwxtRvmqVo/s320/italianclarionjerseyhoopsback.JPG" width="285" /></a></div>
And, there's the shorts to go with it, black or white:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9M9nUrMlO0MOX-A7yNp4GqRA08huTwed8AdnR22mWVKKCnVx585lK5DYE5IySPa8cbTUA58_RLUe4JJ-I-kbhQTU6OhsaI0eo_0YgPabbxJWtAtPJsqlFXUoGtusQmrnrp3wetLeT8BI/s1600/italianclariontightsswoosh.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9M9nUrMlO0MOX-A7yNp4GqRA08huTwed8AdnR22mWVKKCnVx585lK5DYE5IySPa8cbTUA58_RLUe4JJ-I-kbhQTU6OhsaI0eo_0YgPabbxJWtAtPJsqlFXUoGtusQmrnrp3wetLeT8BI/s320/italianclariontightsswoosh.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNY2-fXSEAT8mssoKAKVvy2dEA82Fx5UJ0dPTk7F0PfG7rT0kHdkS87za6955e_vqjKcscoPUW4pKMWUUMtxk5csRitDwMNtuClKJhEg3GkHMWQxuOe0OBuVR6471CEo-661wNOtg0dvw/s1600/italianclariontightsswooshwhite.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNY2-fXSEAT8mssoKAKVvy2dEA82Fx5UJ0dPTk7F0PfG7rT0kHdkS87za6955e_vqjKcscoPUW4pKMWUUMtxk5csRitDwMNtuClKJhEg3GkHMWQxuOe0OBuVR6471CEo-661wNOtg0dvw/s320/italianclariontightsswooshwhite.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
So, what do you think?<br />
Colours ok?<br />
What about the logo?<br />
What about pink?<br />
<br />
Speroni !Julianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02767939210604136539noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4089850566008638790.post-91719688604037830542011-12-16T11:20:00.002+01:002012-06-14T09:11:56.940+02:00Our first gran fondo of 2012 will be the Gf LaiguegliaStivali !<br />
12th February 2012<br />
That's the date for the Gf Laigueglia held in Liguria<br />
It's a great event with many riders using as preparation for the coming season, be they pros, semi-pros or amateurs. Here is the route:<br />
<a href="http://www.bikemap.net/route/1359044">http://www.bikemap.net/route/1359044</a><br />
110km & 1800m of climbing<br />
Bring your leg & arm warmers as weather can be changeable this time of year<br />
Get in touch if you want to join us:<br />
info@italianclarion.com<br />
tel: +44 161 408 1965<br />
mob: +39 348 086 1958<br />
Speroni !Julianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02767939210604136539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4089850566008638790.post-87416431233677413192011-12-01T09:53:00.001+01:002012-06-14T09:20:36.785+02:00Want to see the Giro in 2012 (5th to 27th May)?Stivali !<br />
<br />
<div align="justify">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: Corbel; font-size: medium;">Want to see the Giro in 2012 (5th to 27th May)?</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 10px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: normal; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; font-family: Corbel; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<strong style="background-color: white;">Once again in 2012 we are privileged to have the Giro pass by our doorstep. This time on Stage 13 & 14 on it's way from Savona up to the mountaintop finish at Cervinia.</strong><br />
<a name='more'></a></div>
<div style="background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; font-family: Corbel; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<strong style="background-color: white;">On the 18th May we'll see the sprinters finish at Cervere, perhaps Cav's last stage if he's riding. Cervere is only a 60km ride away through some beautiful vineyards. Enough time to work up a thirst / appetite while soaking in the relaxed atmosphere you'll only find at the Giro.</strong></div>
<div style="background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; font-family: Corbel; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<strong style="background-color: white;">On Stage 14, 19th May the race route passes by <a href="http://www.giostorino.it/" target="_blank">Gios-Torino</a> in Volpiano. The famous historical Italian bike manufacturer. Marco Gios has suggested we join him and Aldo for this spectacle outside their premises. Their shop is something special to see on any ordinary day. This is a 40km ride, again through beautiful scenery.</strong></div>
<div style="background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; font-family: Corbel; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<strong style="background-color: white;">Visit www.italianclarion.com - check itineraries or 'book online'</strong></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: black;"><a href="http://www.gazzetta.it/Speciali/Giroditalia/2012/download/BROCHURE_GIRO_2012_web.pdf" style="font-family: Corbel; line-height: 24px;" target="_blank"><strong>Race History & Details</strong><span style="text-decoration: none;"><strong> - click here</strong></span></a><strong style="font-family: Corbel; line-height: 24px;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> for a pdf document and <a href="http://www.gazzetta.it/Speciali/Giroditalia/2012/en/index.shtml?lang=en" target="_blank">here for </a></span><a href="http://www.gazzetta.it/Speciali/Giroditalia/2012/en/index.shtml?lang=en" target="_blank">2012 Route details</a></strong></span><br />
<br />
Speroni !Julianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02767939210604136539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4089850566008638790.post-57880950165307104572011-11-08T18:09:00.002+01:002012-06-14T09:15:01.523+02:00Want to see end of Paris-Nice & Milan SanRemo in 2012...Stivali !<br />
<br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Here follows some details of a proposed training
camp. 10th to 18th March 2012</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The 11th March sees the end of Pari-Nice and the 17th March Milan-SanRemo.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
This time of year you can get away with shorts & knee
warmers, even up high at 1000m.<br />
Best to pack leg warmers & tights as well just in
case.<br />
Below are details of 'location', 'accommodation' and 'itinerary'.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b>Location:</b></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Based in <a href="http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molini_di_Triora" target="_blank">Molini di Triora</a>, Imperia 18010,
Italy.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Mark a mate of mine runs <a href="http://www.molinifreeride.com/" target="_blank">Molini Freeride</a> from
here. He maintains the routes & provides the uplifts with his
vehicles. </span>I know Mark from when we rode the Tuesday night track
league in Manchester.</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Although his business is MTB based, I always go with the
road bike. There are numerous route options, although the mountainbiking is great too. Lets face it, the area is steeped in history when it comes to bike racing. At this time of year it is the best place to test the legs in the hills prior to the season back in northern Europe.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Molini is </span>in <a href="http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liguria" target="_blank">Liguria</a> at 450m altitude (1500 feet). It's 25km downhill all the way to the
coast (Arma di Taggia) following the <a href="http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentina_(torrente)" target="_blank">Torrente Argentina</a>.</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanremo" target="_blank">San Remo</a> is 30km away, </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nice" target="_blank">Nice</a>
88km.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">All along the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Riviera" target="_blank">cote d'azur</a> the trains are regular, bike
friendly & cheap compared to UK, so if for example folks want to take the train to Nice & ride home, you can catch the train at <a href="http://www.taggia.it/" target="_blank">Arma di Taggia</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b>Accommodation:</b></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Accommodation for upto 25
guests. We've stayed previously. it's self-catering or B&B fare. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;">Set in an elevated position above Molini. Just
100m from the bars and restaurant. There is a garden to relax in and stunning views over the village and the surrounding mountains. Bedrooms are simple yet
comfortable. There's a combination of bunk beds with a maximum of 4 people per
room, plus several twin bedded rooms to offer flexibility for those who wish to
stay together.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;">There is no surcharge for single
guests. </span><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Cost
would be on or around </span></span>25 <span style="color: black; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">euros per person for B&B which includes cereals, fruit,
yoghurts, toast, brioche, coffee/tea/fruit juice
etc. </span></span><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Catering wise for evenings etc would be extra but not expensive. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Also there is the
option to eat out at pizzerias or the Santo Spirito hotel in village with which there
is a special deal. Options are yours so people can choose to eat in some nights, etc depending on
itinerary. <span style="color: black; font-size: small;">The restaurant Santo Spirito is in
the main street, actually the only street, in Molini, with 4 bars adjacent and
two grocers and a post office nearby. This gives guests the freedom to eat
elsewhere if they so wish in local pizzerias etc.</span></span></span><br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>Itineraries:</b>Below I list some typical itineraries from <a href="http://www.italianclarion.com/">www.italianclarion.com</a> which were proposed on previous trips for this training camp:</div>
<span style="color: black; font-size: small;">
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<h1 align="left" class="tripPage">
<span style="color: black; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
<div align="left" class="tripPage">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><u><b>Possible rides: </b></u>This is a suggested itinerary and if
followed we would probably build in a couple of chill-out / beach / rest days /
easier rides. It's your holiday so we don't want to be prescriptive, this is just an idea of options, if you prefer, you can go off & ride on your own, chill by the sea, walk in the hills, just let us know.</span></span></span></span><u><b><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"><br /></span></b></u></div>
<div style="color: white;">
<u><b><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;">Day
1</span></b></u></div>
<div style="color: white;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;">Collection from Nice airport and transfer to Molini. Check
in to accommodation and assemble bikes (work stand, track pumps and tools
provided) before a quick spin to ensure all is in order.</span></div>
<div style="color: white;">
<u><b><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"><br /></span></b></u></div>
<div style="color: white;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"><b style="text-decoration: underline;">Day 2</b> : </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Calibri;">197km, 2300m of possible climbing.</span></div>
<div style="color: white;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;">Ride to
start at 9.30am heading to Nice taking the coast road to the west. A rolling ride with
the possibility to include three famous climbs; <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMuJUFG2VWA" target="_blank">col d'Eze</a>, 500m (finish
route for the Paris - Nice); Poggio 160m (finish route for the Milan - San
Remo); <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsnAF652bWc" target="_blank">col de la Madone</a>, 925m (Lance Armstrong's favourite test). At some point
we'll see the last stage of Paris - Nice. After we'll ride back to base.</span></div>
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<u><b><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"><br /></span></b></u></div>
<div style="color: white;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"><b style="text-decoration: underline;">Day
3</b> : </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Calibri;">225km, 700m of climbing.</span></div>
<div style="color: white;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;">Today's ride heads to Noli taking the coast road to the
east & back. A gentle rolling ride of great distance over the same scenic
roads the Milan - San Remo will take on Saturday. The beautiful views along this
fast coast road will ease away any of the pain from the previous days
ride.</span></div>
<div style="color: white;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: white;">
<u><b><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;">Day 4</span></b></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Calibri;"> : </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Calibri;">95km, 1600m of climbing.</span></div>
<div style="color: white;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Calibri;">Heading into
the hills up to <a href="http://www.bikemap.net/route/887863#lat=43.88404&lng=7.73849&zoom=10&type=2" target="_blank">colla di Longan</a> 1127m, then <a href="http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pigna_(Italia)" target="_blank">Pigna</a> and down to <a href="http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ventimiglia" target="_blank">Ventimiglia</a> via
<a href="http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isolabona" target="_blank">Isolabona</a> & <a href="http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolceacqua" target="_blank">Dolceacqua</a> and back through San Remo. One major climb.</span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span><br />
<div style="color: white;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"><b style="text-decoration: underline;">Day
5</b> : </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Calibri;">200km, 2100m of climbing.</span></div>
<div style="color: white;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;">Heading west to Ventimiglia then upto colle di Tende at
1870m. This is the major climb of the day.</span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span><br />
<div style="color: white;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"><b style="text-decoration: underline;">Day
6</b> : </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Calibri;">80km, 300m of climbing.</span></div>
<div style="color: white;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;">Along the coast towards <a href="http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperia" target="_blank">Imperia</a>, but returning in time to see
the Milan - San Remo with the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tifosi#Cycling" target="_blank">Italian tifosi</a> on the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milan_%E2%80%93_San_Remo#Route" target="_blank">Poggio</a>.</span></div>
<div style="color: white;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"><u><strong><br /></strong></u></span></div>
<div style="color: white;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"><strong style="text-decoration: underline;">Day 7</strong> : </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Calibri;">85km, 1650m of climbing</span></div>
<div style="color: white;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;">Heading into
the hills towards colla di Longan 1127m, then left & continue climbing
to <a href="http://www.bikemap.net/route/721818#lat=43.8729&lng=7.80201&zoom=12&type=2" target="_blank">Monte Ceppo</a> 1541m and the down twisty roads via Passo Ghimbegna 900m to San
Remo, Arma & finally up the valley to Molini. One major climb.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Calibri;">Hope you can follow all that. This area is full of places you have to see, great food & drink, a love for life and the open road.</span></div>
</div>
</span></span></span></span></h1>
<span style="color: black; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><br />
<div>
Get in touch if you or your club are interested. We need confirmation by the end of 2011 and you need to book your flights we'd suggest with good notice too. Many carriers from various UK airports fly to Nice. </div>
<div>
<a href="mailto:info@italianclarion.com">info@italianclarion.com</a><br />
<br />
<br />
Speroni !</div>Julianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02767939210604136539noreply@blogger.com0Via Argentina, 66-70, 18010 Molini di Triora Imperia, Italy43.988738932682352 7.775745391845703143.977314432682356 7.7560043918457033 44.000163432682349 7.7954863918457029tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4089850566008638790.post-76256613031700736382011-11-02T16:36:00.003+01:002012-06-14T09:19:20.524+02:00Baldichieri d'AstiStivali ! <span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px;"> </span><a href="http://italianclarioncc.blogspot.com/2011/11/baldichieri-dasti.html" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">(view original post here, some links don't seem to work on FB)</a><br />
<br />
Bit of a nip in the air setting off today, first time for tights & overshoes.<br />
Still finding fantastic new routes here, right on our doorstep<br />
<a href="http://www.bikemap.net/route/1321598">http://www.bikemap.net/route/1321598</a><br />
Also stumbled upon a great CX circuit through the hazelnut tree groves<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimorirGHDQ-7XkbQz-8Dob5TYXt6qggn783889NvSilzk0L3DIq8U_sVsmFtzLUsm7vUKSgFc5J8nHrkjZBMbwo9KQ_G9imR7twkn19tg7BvwpIIvTWq6lxwl4-jWapjKsZGa5trkFO9Y/s1600/DSC07529.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimorirGHDQ-7XkbQz-8Dob5TYXt6qggn783889NvSilzk0L3DIq8U_sVsmFtzLUsm7vUKSgFc5J8nHrkjZBMbwo9KQ_G9imR7twkn19tg7BvwpIIvTWq6lxwl4-jWapjKsZGa5trkFO9Y/s320/DSC07529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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supersmooth country lanes</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4zfNgqXD6emGXuQBenqkzFfzO2DXfhWioDOnCssnSw4jpmTHlZFLdDgTaMOvkIoYqmz4WLeV8TaP9p_Wdm57FcryG-Mb7OUCckIOgc6JWKORbm0ZFylXghXD3RyqNP7q5c-ku2yC8iWc/s1600/DSC07530.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4zfNgqXD6emGXuQBenqkzFfzO2DXfhWioDOnCssnSw4jpmTHlZFLdDgTaMOvkIoYqmz4WLeV8TaP9p_Wdm57FcryG-Mb7OUCckIOgc6JWKORbm0ZFylXghXD3RyqNP7q5c-ku2yC8iWc/s320/DSC07530.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqSrYOBe0vRJf_U4WAV5oaPCbgBjQ8e7LFXhII5mPOeehaIEKskCq4HJtUAknTlg0lnGpasjiQy6dAMLzm097UcfMAiq5XYWhwkWQ41OyVHk4netXDHvBMoaU9Y5Pt2tWN0TobbsAwtbA/s1600/DSC07531.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqSrYOBe0vRJf_U4WAV5oaPCbgBjQ8e7LFXhII5mPOeehaIEKskCq4HJtUAknTlg0lnGpasjiQy6dAMLzm097UcfMAiq5XYWhwkWQ41OyVHk4netXDHvBMoaU9Y5Pt2tWN0TobbsAwtbA/s320/DSC07531.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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info about the CX circuit</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXU8LuOzTUFl2J2QOq5H1Z1Cx59F7sh4Nqj6119RbMrcrW3Cs164tKtkO7ugqmTQo9Jg_zS18FLqAPlGmD71amB9jC-dca-JVIwB6rrU080h_EuC8Ynylp-8s3Xs1JsyE3TvonHdU3RRY/s1600/DSC07538.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXU8LuOzTUFl2J2QOq5H1Z1Cx59F7sh4Nqj6119RbMrcrW3Cs164tKtkO7ugqmTQo9Jg_zS18FLqAPlGmD71amB9jC-dca-JVIwB6rrU080h_EuC8Ynylp-8s3Xs1JsyE3TvonHdU3RRY/s320/DSC07538.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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part of the circuit or percorso della nocciola</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC3HXARKOhcKfeD_sGgT9G04OtG0F4TfUqum5D_7FyX_G7kCPdRtz75RCYv32Sp2-VRC-nrUlVsP5IxHYYxuX1vfCmAw-lonDD6J8PzchC8iwiyGe8tHq2cJdgBE4U-BQGQCzfUFHO5xE/s1600/DSC07532.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC3HXARKOhcKfeD_sGgT9G04OtG0F4TfUqum5D_7FyX_G7kCPdRtz75RCYv32Sp2-VRC-nrUlVsP5IxHYYxuX1vfCmAw-lonDD6J8PzchC8iwiyGe8tHq2cJdgBE4U-BQGQCzfUFHO5xE/s320/DSC07532.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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yes they are hazelnut trees, it's why <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michele_Ferrero" target="_blank">Ferrero</a> set up business here in Piemonte</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtMrxQPn24nmAU5dRmm2Ny6PK22AMlmLLdLMuuETEoIfSIRI-ce-mmMZ-cXpvclb3LvvHZeHW9as5WnD3MoF-i_XiRMmGAvvLCjBeiUsRioaSdZ-DqPq2PMWvtcdHfkB7Y1HmB_gzB1Xo/s1600/DSC07535.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtMrxQPn24nmAU5dRmm2Ny6PK22AMlmLLdLMuuETEoIfSIRI-ce-mmMZ-cXpvclb3LvvHZeHW9as5WnD3MoF-i_XiRMmGAvvLCjBeiUsRioaSdZ-DqPq2PMWvtcdHfkB7Y1HmB_gzB1Xo/s320/DSC07535.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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well signed</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZleuthqrDddQ-DPZSvAYheDk7vNAJ4n24xpTZ56WeFLwT2Ow6Oy2bSPuCZ0RP8WKEWP6aYYAhbjuqgZaRwJa_uhOHDFwLE84hxIBpdTnUdXPmUwnZdkwKSAT1yFepwIppO53oE0Us7tU/s1600/DSC07534.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZleuthqrDddQ-DPZSvAYheDk7vNAJ4n24xpTZ56WeFLwT2Ow6Oy2bSPuCZ0RP8WKEWP6aYYAhbjuqgZaRwJa_uhOHDFwLE84hxIBpdTnUdXPmUwnZdkwKSAT1yFepwIppO53oE0Us7tU/s320/DSC07534.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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even suitable for the road bike on a day like today</div>
<br />
Speroni !Julianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02767939210604136539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4089850566008638790.post-50416203961972469832011-11-01T19:05:00.001+01:002012-06-14T09:20:05.944+02:00offroad terre dei santiStivali !<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px;"> </span><a href="http://italianclarioncc.blogspot.com/2011/11/offroad-terre-dei-santi.html" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">(view original post here, some links don't seem to work on FB)</a><br />
<br />
mountainbiking today on all saints day. What ever happened to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Saints_(group)" target="_blank">all saints</a>?<br />
Well if they liked mountainbiking they'd have liked today's ride.<br />
Beautiful colours with the sun shining and the leaves on the vines & trees turning a lovely yellow / orange / red / brown - fantastic.<br />
We went out today to help a damsel in distress, a mountainbiker with a broken valve on her inner tube, no spare & no shops open on all saints day. They were quite big in Italy. We rode to her abode in Chieri, offroad, to meet her & then to take her out, down the tracks & trails local to her. But.....<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
I took 2 inners & her rim would only accept presta not schrader.<br />
Next time I'll take one of each.<br />
We had a great ride back home.<br />
<a href="http://www.bikemap.net/route/1320354">http://www.bikemap.net/route/1320354</a><br />
It's going to be just as nice tomorrow so we'll try again<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp-rjWW4HGuFtBEqB7usSk0Pegru1sJPT72Nhj-FVuRDuc1JOXSkx1m-MUTWya2GeVD22E0keGOCsB590kE-QydSaVFpKfNRZopCCw2YapKltinslsDIz-2Ok6AZ1q5nOEY5lqtpN6hrs/s1600/IMG_5521.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp-rjWW4HGuFtBEqB7usSk0Pegru1sJPT72Nhj-FVuRDuc1JOXSkx1m-MUTWya2GeVD22E0keGOCsB590kE-QydSaVFpKfNRZopCCw2YapKltinslsDIz-2Ok6AZ1q5nOEY5lqtpN6hrs/s320/IMG_5521.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">an old FIAT among the vines</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBHlojWFZBpUlQx_1SQJWNXA2sT23Td-I_It2kLVtBPnxtmHwdkIaXpWIpxoT8dLSvhQztz23Kkf58lFv694UcdC-2wBGETKY7RTdXlpYPuc3GM7Eh1jPiJxboCLbrS9pb5wJDObloFpY/s1600/IMG_5543.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBHlojWFZBpUlQx_1SQJWNXA2sT23Td-I_It2kLVtBPnxtmHwdkIaXpWIpxoT8dLSvhQztz23Kkf58lFv694UcdC-2wBGETKY7RTdXlpYPuc3GM7Eh1jPiJxboCLbrS9pb5wJDObloFpY/s320/IMG_5543.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Montafia through the trees</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">our house through the trees</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Montafia</td></tr>
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Speroni !Julianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02767939210604136539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4089850566008638790.post-23181368011140981252011-10-29T16:52:00.000+02:002011-10-29T16:53:12.102+02:00Isolabella, bella giornataStivali !<br />
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Loads of riders out today making the most of the good weather before winter sets in.<br />
<a href="http://www.bikemap.net/route/1316215">http://www.bikemap.net/route/1316215</a><br />
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Speroni !Julianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02767939210604136539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4089850566008638790.post-51979564366955811982011-10-26T20:00:00.003+02:002011-10-26T20:00:51.106+02:00bella vista social club ....Stivali !<br />
Well what a view today, beautiful snow capped Alps all the way from MonViso round to Monte Rosa, 180 degrees of mountains, you've got to see it to believe it.<br />
<a href="http://www.bikemap.net/route/1313631">Nice ride too</a><br />
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<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/Mg-k_Torino_Alpi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="382" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/Mg-k_Torino_Alpi.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Speroni !Julianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02767939210604136539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4089850566008638790.post-17360756095193279872011-10-14T07:53:00.000+02:002012-06-14T09:21:21.061+02:00How much Italian is in Cavendish:Stivali ! <a href="http://italianclarioncc.blogspot.com/2011/10/stivali-interview-with-cav-prior-to.html" target="_blank">(view original post here, some links don't seem to work on FB)</a><br />
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interview by <a href="http://www.gazzetta.it/">http://www.gazzetta.it/</a> with Cav prior to GranPiemonte & after signing with sky:<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; line-height: 9px;"></span><br />
<div class="intro-block" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: 10px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 42px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 8px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<h1 style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 3em; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Cavendish: "La mia Italia<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />tra il Brunello e la Toscana"</h1>
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<div class="title" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; float: left; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; height: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 3px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="pay pay-title-article" style="background-image: url(http://images2.gazzettaobjects.it/libs4/css/assets/stella-pay.png?v=201107041315); background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-width: 0px; color: #9a2a46; display: block; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.1em; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">Pubblicato nell'edizione del 13 ottobre 2011</span></div>
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<h5 class="date" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #999999; font-family: inherit; font-size: 1.2em; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Fossano (Cn), 13 ottobre 2011</h5>
<h3 style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font: normal normal bold 1.6em/1.2em Arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Al Gran Piemonte c'è l'inglese campione del mondo che vive a Quarrata: "Il rugby? No, preferisco il calcio"</h3>
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<div class="p" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 1.5em; font-style: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Mark o Marco? Mark l'inglese o Marco l'italiano? Mark inglese dell'Isola di Man o Marco toscano di Quarrata? Scopriamo quanto di italiano c'è in Cavendish, il campione del mondo, oggi al via del Gran Piemonte.</div>
<dl class="image image-right" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; float: right; font-family: inherit; font-size: 10px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 10px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline; width: 300px;">
<dt style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 10px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="Mark Cavendish è nato il 21 maggio 1985 sull'isola di Man. Ipp" class="RS_SKIP" src="http://images2.gazzettaobjects.it/Hermes%20Foto/2011/10/13/0LSYGOGH--300x145.jpg?v=20111013100018" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 10px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Mark Cavendish è nato il 21 maggio 1985 sull'isola di Man. Ipp" /></dt>
<dd style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #858585; font-family: inherit; font-size: 1.3em; font-style: inherit; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 5px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 300px;">Mark Cavendish è nato il 21 maggio 1985 sull'isola di Man. Ipp</dd></dl>
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<span style="border-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">La prima parola imparata?</span><br />
""Flower", fiore, in inglese. "Ciao" in italiano".</div>
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<span style="border-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Cappuccino o tè?</span><br />
"Cappuccino in Italia, tè in Inghilterra. Ma la prima cosa che faccio ogni volta che arrivo in Italia è un caffè: espresso e senza zucchero".</div>
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<span style="border-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Brioche o biscotti? </span><br />
"Brioche".</div>
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<span style="border-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Pane e salame o fish'n'chips?</span><br />
"Tutti e due. Ma i miei preferiti sono i crostini con il prosciutto crudo".</div>
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<span style="border-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Spaghetti o...</span><br />
"Spaghetti!".</div>
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<span style="border-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Fiorentina o roast-beef?</span><br />
"Fiorentina".</div>
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<span style="border-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Gelato o pudding?</span><br />
"Gelato d'estate, pudding d'inverno".</div>
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<span style="border-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Vino o birra?</span><br />
"Vino. Primo: il Brunello di Montalcino".</div>
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<span style="border-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Pavarotti o i Beatles?</span><br />
"I Beatles. Ma la mia band preferita sono gli Arctic Monkeys".</div>
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<span style="border-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"La Gazzetta dello Sport" o... </span><br />
""La Gazzetta". Non esistono quotidiani sportivi inglesi".</div>
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<span style="border-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Calcio o rugby? </span><br />
"Calcio".</div>
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<span style="border-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Inter o Manchester United?</span><br />
"Man U".</div>
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<span style="border-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">La terra rossa del Foro Italico o l'erba di Wimbledon?</span><br />
"Wimbledon è un tempio".</div>
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<span style="border-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Ducati o Norton?</span><br />
"MV Agusta".</div>
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<span style="border-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Ferrari o Aston Martin?</span><br />
"Aston Martin".</div>
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<span style="border-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">GP Monza o Tourist Trophy?</span><br />
"TT".</div>
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<span style="border-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Guida a destra o a sinistra? </span><br />
"Tenere la destra, come in Italia".</div>
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<span style="border-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Meglio il Giro d'Italia o il Giro di Gran Bretagna?</span><br />
"Il Giro d'Italia".</div>
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<div class="RS_SKIP" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 10px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<div class="polymedia box_AudioPlayer" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<div class="box_Player" id="js_box_Player" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 10px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 22px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<div id="js_Player" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 10px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<embed align="middle" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="configId=audio&configUrl=/widget/content/conf/GazzettaPolymediaShow_audio.xml&allowDomains=gazzetta.it,www.gazzetta.it,video.gazzetta.it,video4.gazzetta.it,staging-video.gazzetta.it,staging-static.video.gazzettaobjects.it,static2.video.gazzettaobjects.it,staging-videochat.gazzetta.it&videoId=36ebd15c-e78b-11e0-8172-8c647c7fdd87&videoUrl=/widget/content/video/rss/video_36ebd15c-e78b-11e0-8172-8c647c7fdd87.rss&background=#000000&backgroundAlpha=100&background2=#000000&background2Alpha=100&autostart=false&playerId=1&baseVideoUrl=/widget/content/video/rss/&swfUrl=http://static2.video.gazzettaobjects.it/widget/swf/GazzettaPolymediaShow.swf&configAdvLabel=audio&configNielsenLabel=audio&changeVideoDuringPreroll=true" height="88" id="GazzettaPolymediaShow1" name="GazzettaPolymediaShow1" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/go/getflashplayer" quality="high" src="http://static2.video.gazzettaobjects.it/widget/swf/GazzettaPolymediaShow.swf?v=201109301041" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="473" wmode="opaque"></embed></div>
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<div class="p" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 1.5em; font-style: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Meglio il ciclismo italiano o inglese?</span><br />
"Adesso quello inglese".</div>
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<span style="border-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Meglio Quarrata o l'Isola di Man? </span><br />
"Sono così diverse, e le amo tutte e due".</div>
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<span style="border-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Lei ha due italiani in squadra.</span><br />
"Marco Pinotti, così tranquillo, sembra più inglese che italiano. Valerio Piva, così brillante, è inguaribilmente italiano".</div>
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<span style="border-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Italiani e inglesi: come sono?</span><br />
"Gli italiani rumorosi, gli inglesi silenziosi. Gli italiani guidano come se stessero sempre facendo una volata, invece gli inglesi vanno a singhiozzo, continuano a fermarsi e ripartire".</div>
<div class="p" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 1.5em; font-style: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">E le donne?</span><br />
"Meglio le italiane".</div>
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<span style="border-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Ma la sua fidanzata è inglese. </span><br />
"Una magnifica eccezione".</div>
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<span style="border-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Si chiama Peta, il diminutivo di Petacchi.</span><br />
"E' successo che io parlavo di lei e la gente pensava che mi riferissi a lui. Imbarazzante, ma divertente".</div>
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="150" id="adv_rcs_simply_Bottom1" marginheight="0px" marginwidth="0px" scrolling="no" src="http://rcspfm.simply.com/play.html?code=1331;2;3;1&red=http%3A//www.gazzetta.it/promotion/oas/adv/pf/PF_GAZ_RCT.HTML&tp=http://oas.rcsadv.it/5c/gazzetta.it/ciclismo/L20/2096628287/Bottom1/RCS/PF_GAZ_ROS_RCT_011011/code_simply_cor_ros_rct.html/582f564a75453657674e7741426d2b64?&from=http%3A//www.gazzetta.it/Ciclismo/" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 10px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="180"></iframe> <img height="1" src="http://oas.rcsadv.it/5/gazzetta.it/ciclismo/L20/2096628287/Bottom1/RCS/PF_GAZ_ROS_RCT_011011/code_simply_cor_ros_rct.html/582f564a75453657674e7741426d2b64?_RM_EMPTY_&kw1=http://www.gazzetta.it/premium/plus/Ciclismo/13-10-2011/cavendish-la-mia-italia-803269097193.shtml&XE&Category=SPORT&SubCategory=Empty&tax23_RefDocLoc=http://www.gazzetta.it/Ciclismo/&if_nt_CookieAccept=Y&XE" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 10px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="1" /></div>
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<span style="border-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Da 1 a 10, dia un voto. </span><br />
"Amore: 10. Soldi: 8. Famiglia: 7/8. Carriera: 10. Amici: 10".</div>
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<span style="border-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Voglia di vacanze? </span><br />
"No. Solo voglia di dormire nel mio letto".</div>
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<span style="border-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Quando comincerà la volata verso Londra olimpica 2012?</span><br />
"Già cominciata nel 2010. Sono sulla buona strada".<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; line-height: normal;">Speroni !</span></div>
</div>Julianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02767939210604136539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4089850566008638790.post-4557830017833498122011-10-04T17:28:00.000+02:002011-10-04T17:31:19.705+02:00Staying with Italian Clarion.......Stivali !<br />
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Well We've had a few visitors prior to our 'free accommodation to Clarion CC members' offer.<br />
But since we've had none.<br />
What more can I say?<br />
I'm thinking of selling places by raffle. Perhaps for a club / group of riders to come & stay / participate in a training camp.<br />
Does anyone know if this works? Is it legal?<br />
Say a club buys a ticket for our '<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.italianclarion.com/">Paris - Nice finale & Milan - San Remo</a>' trip of 9 days & 8 nights.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">A ticket includes for 12 riders to stay.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Ticket price is say £60</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">To break even we'd need to sell 160 tickets</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">So a club would have a 1 in 160 chance of getting a free trip (excluding flights) for 12 members.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Good eh?</span><br />
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Speroni !Julianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02767939210604136539noreply@blogger.com114014 Montafia Asti, Italy44.9944421 8.018821444.9495261 7.9398574 45.0393581 8.0977854tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4089850566008638790.post-30350378050333927742011-08-06T14:46:00.000+02:002012-06-14T09:21:54.097+02:00PippoStivali !<br />
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We went for a nice <a href="http://www.bikemap.net/route/1165244">little loop</a> yesterday on the mtb's, with 9km to go this little fella 'Pippo' wouldn't get off my tail.<br />
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He followed us for 9km, although ........</div>
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I carried him for the last 1km. Poor chap was only about 4 months old & ran all the way, wouldn't go home.</div>
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After getting home we put him in the car & took him home, his elderly owner was very grateful. Hope to see Pippo again next time.</div>
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Speroni !Julianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02767939210604136539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4089850566008638790.post-13509172447138438382011-05-10T23:30:00.000+02:002012-06-14T09:22:18.400+02:00Giro ttt stage 1 TorinoStivali !<br />
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<span lang="IT">Bella Vita Social Club – Italian Clarion<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Wake up and smell the coffee, no the real coffee, the best in the world. In <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Italy</st1:place></st1:country-region> superlatives prevail, - everything. Be it wines, the landscape or food in general (too many to mention). The people are great too, truly social.</div>
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We can concur with this, currently enjoying our 4<sup>th</sup> year here. Give up your 9 to 5 for a few days or more & come & experience it with us. Whether riding, walking or just chilling at the café or bar enjoying aperitivo, you won’t regret it.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the Alpini</td></tr>
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Recent road rides have taken us through our local countryside, the rolling Monferrato hills and the flat plains of the river Po, to the Milan–Sanremo, locally there are lots of options, and also to Isola d’Elba and Garfagnana - Alpi Apuana mountain biking as well as the single track rides through the woods behind our house. Spring is beautiful with all the blossom, wild flowers and vines taking a hold of the landscape once again.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkGvs5WQNp4RemqsOP9iufg73fXdxgKPl-fTh1Mcg1IDnfu7GA_VyZa_AL1IMtVULy1b7Mt7hyphenhyphenwcQtlv1ASfHeRBsyTP1UF8xQl50vUzLssw7apBpNxsyciwCudrj9H_RDcAurhXtVbbw/s1600/IMG_3903.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkGvs5WQNp4RemqsOP9iufg73fXdxgKPl-fTh1Mcg1IDnfu7GA_VyZa_AL1IMtVULy1b7Mt7hyphenhyphenwcQtlv1ASfHeRBsyTP1UF8xQl50vUzLssw7apBpNxsyciwCudrj9H_RDcAurhXtVbbw/s200/IMG_3903.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alpini car - should have been a FIAT</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2Cg2zrCoVmWavU3rc-GXMja4S_NzYnbiAv7eMqias3Udf5suve57tTpzPGdoqRC5iPuu6hJMcY3Ge6o9VwMkUlZzPsALrMSnYJslLWYyDYq36-RD4sdp2lXFiGYhoFDLE6qa9dbGlz6U/s1600/IMG_3906.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2Cg2zrCoVmWavU3rc-GXMja4S_NzYnbiAv7eMqias3Udf5suve57tTpzPGdoqRC5iPuu6hJMcY3Ge6o9VwMkUlZzPsALrMSnYJslLWYyDYq36-RD4sdp2lXFiGYhoFDLE6qa9dbGlz6U/s200/IMG_3906.JPG" width="200" /></a>Last Saturday we rode into <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Turin</st1:place></st1:city> via Chieri and the colline Torinese to see the stage 1 ttt of the Giro. What an atmosphere, apart from the Giro being in town, the Alpini<sup>1</sup> were also here. Each year they choose a different place to come & party. This year they chose <st1:city w:st="on">Turin</st1:city> to coincide with the 150<sup>th</sup> anniversary of <st1:country-region w:st="on">Italy</st1:country-region>’s unification, when <st1:city w:st="on">Turin</st1:city> was the first capital city of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Italy</st1:place></st1:country-region>. It was like being back in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Britain</st1:place></st1:country-region>, I’ve never seen so many men staggering along Italian streets, there was no trouble though, just a lot of joviality.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc7ZQHVLxZXN3PPWCIxB-iVP40FNFHtV3yx-K-GY5mZ92O4cwcH3nNLcEB-EbFa8hG5XIv1dJfKaeu9B_QxiVuIjfq3iWe46Ls_sC-cM4LjQFjYPiXL0o-f6nfCO0qtYlunSPVCsvS2sA/s1600/IMG_4782.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc7ZQHVLxZXN3PPWCIxB-iVP40FNFHtV3yx-K-GY5mZ92O4cwcH3nNLcEB-EbFa8hG5XIv1dJfKaeu9B_QxiVuIjfq3iWe46Ls_sC-cM4LjQFjYPiXL0o-f6nfCO0qtYlunSPVCsvS2sA/s200/IMG_4782.JPG" width="133" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Millar</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPfyKaiARe34T9a6V5FTjHOxRYtAzLBoWX0MSWOyhjw7bmax4zcxvFk18kdJtnrB8MAQPXWyMKBp_ZYi6cVJjSbEQxqvqMV4pjF53-9yo1gtz9tl33_UqYpWj1DmJMQYGju2rc59FqZCo/s1600/IMG_4771.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPfyKaiARe34T9a6V5FTjHOxRYtAzLBoWX0MSWOyhjw7bmax4zcxvFk18kdJtnrB8MAQPXWyMKBp_ZYi6cVJjSbEQxqvqMV4pjF53-9yo1gtz9tl33_UqYpWj1DmJMQYGju2rc59FqZCo/s200/IMG_4771.JPG" width="133" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Contador</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtfPNGYkrqBKXl4Cj7l5CDY4KEexbMcOyimXpkPzp6VYodObfNMcWyKMlycb9wSonmD0n6MSBP0sj0DfobgN7cU8Hu23zzm4VkGPuMUJ9VIysdu7z2lcNApx0wrMn7h0VKdwY1uvypc5M/s1600/IMG_4787.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtfPNGYkrqBKXl4Cj7l5CDY4KEexbMcOyimXpkPzp6VYodObfNMcWyKMlycb9wSonmD0n6MSBP0sj0DfobgN7cU8Hu23zzm4VkGPuMUJ9VIysdu7z2lcNApx0wrMn7h0VKdwY1uvypc5M/s200/IMG_4787.JPG" width="133" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pettachi - stripping off</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0o7bLuCjv6CJ79io1QYtGyNKDxetvKv-StgNvCzsRnqBxEC9hbCzZRrZVxJ-VHdwZmnKl1TsjnwUkj8miZ-Nd02AhwRHWTFhX9-Hd04e0Vd2NwC9rQq92yBzv9j17GPvRo3SWwvXgyHc/s1600/IMG_4790.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0o7bLuCjv6CJ79io1QYtGyNKDxetvKv-StgNvCzsRnqBxEC9hbCzZRrZVxJ-VHdwZmnKl1TsjnwUkj8miZ-Nd02AhwRHWTFhX9-Hd04e0Vd2NwC9rQq92yBzv9j17GPvRo3SWwvXgyHc/s200/IMG_4790.JPG" width="133" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scarponi</td></tr>
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Back to the Giro, after tucking into barbequed steak, sausage & beer we saw the first teams race into Piazza Vittorio <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:state w:st="on">Veneto</st1:state></st1:place>. Though this was no good for meeting the riders, so we went back to the exit point from the circuit, just after the finish line. I missed Adam Blyth but congratulated Russ Downing on his ride, he said thanks but was too hot & sweaty to chat & went straight to the showers. It was difficult to pick out the riders wearing their aero helmets & shades, but Menchov, Sastre, AC, Millar, Pettachi were easily recognisable as they slid past. That’s the great thing about the Giro, it’s a big tour attracting big names, but the atmosphere is relaxed, unlike the Tour de France. You can really get up close. On the way back home we rode to where the team cars were waiting & spoke to Valerio Piva, htc team manager. Then Cav appeared strolling down the main road with his girlfriend and a big bunch of flowers. Nobody around him, no pressure. He was elated. We’ve ridden to see the Giro each year, and in 2011 it’s coming back again on its way to Sestriere on the breathtaking penultimate stage. See our blog at <a href="http://www.italianclarion.com/">www.italianclarion.com</a> for pictures & further info. Our offer for Clarionettes still stands. Call me on my English number 0161 408 1965 (local rates apply) or email <a href="mailto:info@italianclarion.com">info@italianclarion.com</a> if you fancy coming over. It’s the best riding in <st1:place w:st="on">Europe</st1:place>.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizvoqZfTmIZj0h_l9lnpeiIWHQxhPZ5PAnAPBA-zBtcuO5sXjuKtjq5IpcsAk5G0MTieQ-vuUPQEwDcw_FmDc4Sud5J-64F_Xeikwwmy97tJUCphr8xfMvcCqlhemfQ1dLn0JpupclXAo/s1600/IMG_3991.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizvoqZfTmIZj0h_l9lnpeiIWHQxhPZ5PAnAPBA-zBtcuO5sXjuKtjq5IpcsAk5G0MTieQ-vuUPQEwDcw_FmDc4Sud5J-64F_Xeikwwmy97tJUCphr8xfMvcCqlhemfQ1dLn0JpupclXAo/s200/IMG_3991.JPG" width="112" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cavendish</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZyub8ZSsf8aD0Gb5uEh0XywLSGDSnoU8RC4dZ1q6hW_th7_SKarzL0yVkzTI2djttgLnO5esk43Bdu3i8GVN8BzRF8ETZc6EgMt-Rs1PLcxwRs-_-GcpZYb8xYvPYw9kTv6dpFGlYABg/s1600/IMG_3933.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZyub8ZSsf8aD0Gb5uEh0XywLSGDSnoU8RC4dZ1q6hW_th7_SKarzL0yVkzTI2djttgLnO5esk43Bdu3i8GVN8BzRF8ETZc6EgMt-Rs1PLcxwRs-_-GcpZYb8xYvPYw9kTv6dpFGlYABg/s200/IMG_3933.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pettachi</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb1KJdtoavydslu0MMv3ftLdgAYuZpooSlPiBkFzkndyPQYE6lgadmOhCI8X0gQXTKG3eXJ-Yylf0mTVOYlbvhQQC_6Z-ve3sxIv7lUuhVVhWcO-ZkhOFUgZcV8HyKR3-cRiLDwbSU-1o/s1600/IMG_4848.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb1KJdtoavydslu0MMv3ftLdgAYuZpooSlPiBkFzkndyPQYE6lgadmOhCI8X0gQXTKG3eXJ-Yylf0mTVOYlbvhQQC_6Z-ve3sxIv7lUuhVVhWcO-ZkhOFUgZcV8HyKR3-cRiLDwbSU-1o/s200/IMG_4848.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the ride home</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTjuxO9U3zcvoUs-WnzbufnFeklobBKqiW9CtLKpBly1NueCQJvQmo4ep3rURxX_PcBq_NuMq4RqWK1dmju3kitlFmQz1so_WPdlB_Ktu-Tg5a0GRuCsnGUmtui8r9njifVRfdt0WJ3L8/s1600/IMG_4773.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTjuxO9U3zcvoUs-WnzbufnFeklobBKqiW9CtLKpBly1NueCQJvQmo4ep3rURxX_PcBq_NuMq4RqWK1dmju3kitlFmQz1so_WPdlB_Ktu-Tg5a0GRuCsnGUmtui8r9njifVRfdt0WJ3L8/s200/IMG_4773.JPG" width="200" /></a>In addition, anyone any ideas for an Italian Clarion jersey design? Let us know.</div>
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1. Alpini – the Italian elite mountain warfare soldiers.<br />
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Speroni !Julianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02767939210604136539noreply@blogger.com0