Friday, GhisalloIt has been a while since we did this ride, but I wrote a bunch of notes each day while we were in Italy on our FinKraft Camp, a trip that you do no forget anyway. I have not had time to post everything, but I will finish off the whole camp, so you guys can see what it was all about and if interested next year you can sign up.
Today was a pretty nostalgic ride to Ghisallo. A ride we all were looking forward, scenic, but nothing crazy climbing. Uphill for sure and an hour to the base in Bellagio along side Lake Como, we are feeling good and really enjoying the view.
The Ghisallo climb is about 12 K , we took the Super Ghilsalo , since it is a little longer , isn't that what you supposed to do anyway , no short cuts !
A few rain drops, but nothing that would spoil the day. Legs were good today and if it was a race, I think I would have had a chance! 
At the top there is the very famous Madonna del Ghisallo , a bike sanctuary filled with nostalgic bike from way back , some thing you would never see some where else .
This is bike “heaven “ with a museum next door and a restaurant, which we picked over the museum, it was lunchtime and the boys were hungry! 
We had a quick lunch and then back on the bikes, we took the back way, around the mountain a nice route were the Giro di Lombardi goes as well on October, fare amount of climbing, but nice roads and not much cars.
We ride by all the lakes around the Como region and after a nice 4-hour loop we are back at Cascina Belvedi. 
A perfect ride, perfect timing to watch the Giro while having some cheese, bread and wine. Big day at the Giro, Mortirolo and finishing at Aprica. We were just there 2 day ago, familiar grounds and even more exciting to watch. Tomorrow is our off day and we get to watch the Giro live 2 feet away from Basso and the rest of the crew.
A relaxing night and more great food !Ciao
Roger
To be more exact; Cita Alta. Some round stone covered streets, not exactly easy to ride on in the rain and uphill, thru the famous gate where the Giro and the World Cup Race; Tour of Lombardi has passed thru so many times.
Quick stop at the town square and by now it is raining pretty hard. Enough of the sightseeing and time to head back towards the Hotel, we passed some slopes with wine yards and some really old building all surrounded by a wall, with the road snaking along the wall in between some really cool old houses, what a great place to live. Paolo takes us by his property he bought and intends to start an apple orchard on in the future, a really cool hidden location right in the middle of history. The rain just picks up and it is a couple of inches of water on the road by now and it is starting to get cold. We are soaked to the bone by the time we get back to the Hotel, but no big deal. 2 ½ hours in the rain is not the end of the world. Little lunch and a good clean up is next on the menu. 
This afternoon we have a visit at the De Rosa factory scheduled.
We get to see the step-by-step procedure and a great explanation of the actual manufacturing of these sexy bikes. They are very open, no secrets here! 
These frames go through pretty stiff testing and the Italian craftsman ship is very is not compromised at any stage.
Now if we only could sneak one out. This one was actually presented as a gift to me at the end of the visit ( sold it already on e-bay , sorry) 
Many Pro Teams has ridden these frames and still do today.Riders like Pettachi and De Luca and Garcelli have all been on these bikes .
De Rosa has always been a bike that competed with Colonago and Bianchi, in other words the big league! Some souvenirs and we are on the way to a clothing company call Rosti . The Italian version of Verge . Cool to see how the cycling clothing is made and designed. We bought a few pieces to see what Paolo's Team clothing is like . 
A fun day and now we are recovered and re-energized to do another epic ride , I am thinking Ghisallo!
Paolo had a asked a few team mates of his to join us on this epic day and Gian Carlo and Mr Moreti himself showed up in style with the Moreti Team Van . 
I wonder where I am going to sit ? Mark is thinking ;not back here 
We arrive in Tirano and find a parking area and we unload the bikes and get kitted up, the girls would continue to Bormio for a day of sight seeing and shopping. 
Tirano is a border town to Switzerland and there is a train that goes up the mountain through the glacier in to St Moriz, always an option for a scenic day in the Alps. We head out of town, already an up hill right away, kind of an indication what was to come.
Mortirolo is not all that far from Tirano and we get o the base pretty quickly. This climb is not in the open and until you get to the top you are kind of in the woods going up a road averaging 12-18% pretty much the whole way. 
I have a 39/26, the other guys got 27’s or 28’s, but a compact would not be a bad idea!! This hill does not let up and it is like lifting weights for an hour. Kevin hit the gas and did not look back, the Moretti boys took it pretty easy, I rode fast some sections and then stopped and took pictures of the guys or views, in other words I did the Tourist thing. 
We passed the Pantani monument and eventually made it towards the top and guess what; there were already people camping out for the race (does not come up here until Friday) to get a prime spot.
A few more pictures and we put the rain capes on and started the decent. 
It was not as hairy as the uphill part, but it was narrow ad twisty and turny though the woods and eventually through some open fields with some incredible views once again and finally we pass by some villages, we are in the valley and making a left onto the main road. A good pair of aluminum rims and some solid breaks is what you need for this trip.
One down and one more to go, Mortirolo was everything you could ever dream about when it comes to steep climbs, so what would the Gavia be like? I could not wait!
Soon it starts getting colder and the road is o longer open or cars. We go through this tunnel, a very steep section and pitch black in there; I cannot even see my front wheel. It feels like we are riding on gravel or ice, but it is actually salt. 
We finally get out of it and now we have snow banks on each side of the road about 5 feet high in some places. Paolo is feeling good and we are hammering out a good solid pace to the top of the Pass (I think Paolo wanted to sprint for some KOM points, but we just decided not to) 
Now we are at famous lodge of Passo di Gavia, they are putting up a huge Giro sign outside and getting the place ready, it just opened two days ago for the season (the snow might have had something to do with that!) We dry up and warm up with some hot tea and a couple of panni’s all at the same time.
We go through Santa Caterina mach speed, in between old mountain building and this just goes forever. My rear wheel bearing is screaming and is about to lock up I think, but I cannot really slow down either. We make it in one piece to Bormio, a famous ski town and right at the bottom of Stelvio, which we will do next year! I would have liked to check this town out a little, oh well next time!
It is about 4.00 pm already and it is still a long way back to Tirano where we have our team van. 
Since it is still kind of down hill we keep a good pace, almost feels a little like a race. I guess the closest feeling in being in the Giro and I think after climbing Mortirolo and Gavia in one day the adrenalin was flowing pretty well! A couple of raindrops and overcast sky’s makes this valley look even more humbling. A few attacks and a final sprint for the Tirano town line and were are BACK! 
About almost 3 hours after having our tea party at the Passo di Gavia.A great day at the office and now it was time for some Pizza (we are in Italy after all) on the way back to the hotel, we knew it was going to be a late night and our ride time as over 6 hours, so we needed food and a lot of it! The Italians were looking at us and thinking, man those Americans can eat!!
I think after the 
Super organized and nice European style shop called 
We are like kids in a candy store and me and Kevin ordered a pair of 
A must have, to stand out back home in the local races. We all have our bikes looked at by the bike mechanic and he takes great care to get rid of the creaking and noises we all have in the our bikes by now, especially my bike, with stuff being loose and basically falling off! Mr. 
We ride past the hotel and head up towards Paolo’s house into 
We can see our hotel on the other side of he valley , a nice comforting feeling on a recovery day!
This camp's one and only mechanical strikes Jon , the small chain ring buckles and that is the end of his ride , he limps back to the hotel in the big ring and then back to the bike store to get surgery on bike , since it is a 
We continue our recovery climb and we reach the top were there is a nice lunch spot at Valcava, nice view once again , not just mountains !
There is also a lake with some sunbathers at the top of the mountain, if you know what I mean and once again this camera is not that good!( I hope my wife does not read this !) After some 
