If you’ve watched Gomer Pyle reruns, you’ll know how to say that title with the right southern twang, and silly grin. Nina and I were nursing “would be” injuries today. The last blog I noted how Nina began to have severe knee pain at about 75 miles. She completed the stage but we were all worried about how to rest and recover it with a century required each day in front of us, and with climbing starting at the end of today’s longest stage. You can see pics of all stages by clicking the link.

I advised that she sit out about 30 to 40 “grunge miles” (stuff through industrial or commercial areas that simply exist to get you from one point to another). That way, when we get into the more interesting places, she could start again. At first she wouldn’t agree, and we put in about 70 km all together, since she didn’t want to sit anything out at all. However, she decided to, well, as she puts it “think like a grown up” and give her knee a rest during some of the less interesting riding.

For me, I was feeling a bit of leg fatigue from the first century, but was not pushing it too hard. We got caught by the caravan just before the first of a series of supposedly easy climbs, so it was perfect timing for Nina’s return. Once the caravan went through, we started down the road to our first “little” climb. I could not believe what I saw – at least 18 to 20 percent climb of unknown distance with hundreds of people lining both sides of the streets, and well into the road, with stuff painted on road – just like you see on TV. There was just enough space for maybe one car to get through.

This was 5 to 6 mph stuff, the kind of speed that if you go any slower you’d likely fall over. I’ve only seen 2 or three hills of this steepness in PA near where I live, and PA is known for its climbing. In 6 years of riding in Italy, it was the steepest I’ve seen. First thing I thought of was how would Nina’s knee take this – after so much pain yesterday, some soreness today, and no warm up since she rejoined us. That question was quickly answered as she powered past me and through the crowds ahead.

I was also a bit cooled down from watching the caravan go by and refueling, so I was at threshold or 5 beats below it for the whole climb. Each time I got to a crest it would turn up more or in another direction. I climbed “walls” before, but never one this long. The only thing that kept me on the bike before was the ability to see the top, but now, it seemed to never end. It turns out it was 1.5km long – just under 1 mile. Cars and people both had trouble getting up that hill. This is why we knew we had to give Nina the “polka dot jersey, and call her King of the Mountains (Queen just sounds too weird).

When I got to the top, Nina was waiting on me, and so I asked her how she felt. She said really good; as far as I’m concerned that was a miracle given the pain she had been in. That was surprise #1. But my turn was to come. She asked me how mine was, and it was truly ok – a bit stressed as any would be, but no cramping or pre-cramp feelings.

Then it happened…

Our next section of road were some rollers before a small climb to the finish. As I stood to power up the roller, I felt the right quad begin to cramp. I sat down right away, lowered the gear and tried to spin it out. It responded, and I knew that I was on the edge. I thought I had done everything right; drinking plenty, taking electrolytes, etc – how could this be?? That was surprise #2. Since the caravan had passed, and it took us a while to suffer up that hill, so I knew the pros were not far behind. I used this as an opportunity to let the muscles recover a bit from that wicked climb, and also watch the pros go by.

We found a short cut to eliminate a couple of the climbs since that first one definitely hurt us all, and we wanted to see the pros come in at some point. The timing of our “guestimated” short cut was amazing. As we came through one section of road, we noticed a bunch of cars and people, and we could hear the roar of the helicopter. We saw a man rushing two small kids up to the line of people who were lined on both sides of the road – we had just come up to where they were coming through for the final finish, and we were going to see it! This was surprise #3 – getting to see the pros TWICE in one stage is indeed rare. Each stage has been like an entire trip in itself. We are experiencing new things each and every kilometer. The land, the people, the culture, the architecture, and along the way we are learning things about ourselves, our training, this sport. Now, on to Padova!