Most people probably don’t know that I wasn’t sure I would be doing the Giretto again in 2010 under the Livestrong banner.  Their office was disappointingly unsupportive of us through a very difficult first year launch of our grass roots event, the Giretto d’Italia (Little Tour of Italy).  However, when my aunt, sister-in-law, and a half dozen other friends and family were diagnosed with various forms of cancer this year, that changed everything.  I needed to put my pride aside, and look to the bigger picture.

If you love Italy, hate cancer, and spend as much time as you can on 2 wheels, you should read on.  The Giretto d’Italia (The Little Tour o Italy) is in it’s second year, and enrollment begins now.  This year Cycling Fusion will recruit a minimum of 10 riders before we begin raising the money, booking the airfare, and in general letting the Giretto take over our lives for the next several months.  The Giretto d’Italia is a Livestrong grassroots fund raising event aimed at the best amateur riders in the cycling community, or those that want to be in the lead group.  If you want to find out just how good you can get if you train properly, this is your chance.  All that being said, we will have 2 separate groups of riders this year; the Hammer Heads (who will ride every day), and the Alternators (who will ride day 1, 3 & 5)  If you are an avid cyclist who isn’t quite sure you can “keep up” even with training, you may be able to handle the Alternators group.

It’s a good thing I had almost 10 weeks of base building underneath me before I started training for the Giretto, or I’d be a hurtin’ puppy right now. As it was, the first two weeks (even while I was waiting on approval from Livestrong I started training in earnest) were pretty painful. I am used to training hard for events and races, but the real concern I had was the pain in my most recent hip replacement. The right hip is almost 10 years old, but the left hip is only 1.5 yrs old – still finding it’s way and settling into my humble abode… or … abody. Hence, my concern has been not will my conditioning stand up – even though it has never been tested at this level – it has been will my hips hold up.

As they say, you should be careful what you pray for… you just might get it. On Friday the 6th of March, I was given approval by Colleen Wilson, the Grassroots Fund Raising manager at Livestrong that this would be an official Livestrong event. I could hear the skepticism in her voice… where would I get the riders, how would I handle the accommodations, and other questions I’ve had to pepper myself with before I decided to open my big mouth. Apparently I was convincing enough because she said we are approved, and now it’s put up or shut up.