Things have been extemely busy since we got back from Italy, so we're a little late posting about our trip.  We had an amazing time and met some amazing people.   The weather was unseasonably warm for most of the trip and it was clear and sunny almost everyday.

Brian Roberts from Goodyear, Arizona joined Kristine and I for the entire trip.  Our first week included a few days in Abruzzo riding the lower slopes of the Appenine Mountains.  The warm weather and clear blue skies followed us up into Tuscany for a few day, where we spent a day in Sienna, toured the Volpaia Winery, went to Brolio Castle and stopped for some wine tasting at the Ricasoli Winery.  Brolio Castle is almost perfectly preserved and is still a full-time residence. 

For the second leg of the trip, we headed back to Abruzzo and picked up Scott and Katharine Elliot in Rome on the way.   While in Abruzzo, we went to watch stage 17 of the race.  That stage finishes with a monster climb and we arrived early enough to pick a great spot to camp out in the small village of Pretoro, where the climb really kicks upward, then ride those those last 15kms to the stage finish.  I did manage to ride the additional 5 kms beyond the finish to the actual Blockhaus summit, which rough roads and lingering snow kept the stage from going all the way up.   There was just enough time to ride back down before the road closed and we watched the approaching helicopters and race caravan come through.  The riders eventually came by more-or-less groupo compacto.  Di Luca was the regional favorite but Menchov stayed glued to his wheel all the way up.  Pellizotti snuck away early in the climb and stayed clear for the win.  Di Luca attacked repeatedly but never could shake Menchov until the final 100 meters.   Armstrong put in a solid effort to chase down Pellizoti but never could make up much ground and finished well off.   Once the race came through, we headed back to Roio for a quite dinner.  The last fews days of the trip was spent in Rome.  We spent one very-full day doing the Coliseum, Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, and a quick trip over to see the Vatican.  Our apartment for the weekend was right on the Piazza Navona and was amazing.  The final day of the trip was spent watching the final time trial though the streets of Rome.  We had a perfect spot right at the start chute.  Once the last riders went off, we walked across the piazza to catch them coming back into the final couple km's .   Some light rain had been falling off and on for the last 20 riders going off, but Menchov had the worst of it since he was last. After Menchov flew past us, apparently he fell in the last km only to recover quickly and take the Maglia Rosa home.

All in all, we had a fantastic time. Two weeks filled with riding the Italian countryside - Abruzzo mountains, 'Strade Bianche', and along the shoreline of the Adriatic - lots of wonderful site seeing, good food and most importantly, we had great company. It was great to spend our travels with our new friends Brian (Harv), Scott and Katharine. Grazie tutti!