September 05

It's happened. The dream is over. We awoke today to an appropriately overcast sky, more threatening than most. The "B" group left about 9am, planned "A" group departure +/-9:30am. At 9:25am the sky opened and it rained harder than any day of the trip. Andy called the B group back and we would regroup throughout the morning. 11am, still raining too hard, noon, and a bit of brightening, so off to pasta for lunch and 2pm ride. By 2pm the sun was shining. A vaguely organized ride with Andy to the Marmolada. But, Marcella the guide had ridden the Marmolada (the east side of the Fedia) on the rest day and had suggested that he would rather throw his bike from the road than ride the "widow maker" again. Bill and I, along with Ian from Windsor CA, opted for a ride to the Passo Falzerego. A perfectly manageable ride with just shy of 4,000 feet of climbing. Please note how "merely" 4,000 feet of climbing has so easily slipped into to page. This was a great pass to finish the week on, again mostly 8 - 12% climbs with accelerating moments in the 34/23 and 21 and I had good legs. Topped the summit with the obligatory cappuccino and then one final decent. 25K (10 or 11 miles) of fantastic final descent. The Parlee was in it's element carving the final turns chasing some red BMW down the mountain. The last moments were certainly bittersweet, hanging outside the bike garage at the hotel, not wanting to quit the week or the dream. I must have stood with the bike between my legs for half an hour. It was over. We had climbed 42,000 feet vertical and probably a bit over 200 (or 300) miles horizontal, maybe more, in the past 7 days. In retrospect, my imagination was completely inadequate to have considered the scale of the week. I am satisfied. The itch has been scratched.

Now, what about bon jour to the Alps next year?

Ciao.