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.

We select 5 consecutive stages of the Tour of Italy, ride them in their entirety, just 4 hours ahead of the pros; the same stage, the same route, the same distance, the same conditions.  The only difference is that we will take much longer to get there, hence the earlier departure.  After all, for us it’s not a race, it’s a ride, and we are not pros.  However, that being said, we have to maintain a reasonable pace, or the 4 hrs head start will be erased, and they will beat us to the finish.  We Paceline through the flats and rollers, we regroup at the top of all major climbs (subject to hill specific cut offs), and in general, work as a team for every stage.

There are so many things that are unique about the Giretto, it amazes me that I don’t have a waiting list a mile long to enroll.  I can only surmise that it is still so new that most riders just don’t know about it.  Consequently, I’ve put together the top 10 reasons to ride the Giretto.  Read them, share them, and sign up!

1.            Italy is Cycling Paradise: I can’t count how many times I either said that or thought it during the Giro last year.  Last year it seemed like more than 50% of the roads we cruised on where newly paved; something each town tries to accomplish before the Giro comes through.  Since cycling is such a natural part of their culture (it’s the 2^nd most popular sport next to soccer), vehicle drivers are well accustomed to cyclists, and you get a completely different feel riding there.  In the 7 times I’ve ridden in  Italy, I never remember one time being yelled at from a car, or being forced off the road.  It’s simply magnificent.  The scenery is also breathtaking to say the least, and the food, well – it’s absolutely off the charts.

2.            Cancer Must Be Defeated: Few people have not been either directly or indirectly affected by cancer at some point in their lives.  This year, I’ve multiple family and friends newly attacked by this heinous disease.  Raising money and raising awareness makes this ride something of a higher calling.  If you do a lot of riding, do this little bit – 5 (or 3) hard days for something bigger than yourselves.  Livestrong is making the biggest impact on the fight against cancer in the history of the disease.  How do I know that… well, I have no facts, but with the global army they have inspired, and the money they raise each year, I doubt if ANY disease has had this kind of war waged against it.  Now is your time to get on board, and help us fight the good fight here!

3            A Reason To Train: We have a winter training program at our club in Pittsburgh.  This is a 16 week program that completely transforms each person who dares to enroll.  If the 4.5 hr workout every Saturday isn’t enough, we also track their workouts through the week to make sure they stay “on track”.  One of the requirements of the program is that each person have an event to train for that is “outside their comfort zone”; something they are not quite sure they can do, something that will take a level of commitment and focus they’ve never applied to their riding before.  Believe me, 5 stages of the Giro d’Italia is just such an event.

4.            Self Discover On A Whole New Level: There is something inextricable from training for something “bigger than yourself” – it’s the process of self-discovery that takes your beyond the physical fitness aspects of training.  The Giretto isn’t just a physical challenge.  If you think it is, you don’t “get it”.  This will challenge you emotionally, spiritually, even socially in important ways.  Do you think just working out & riding a lot will get this done.  Unless you are independently wealthy, have no family or friends, and can do just about whatever you want whenever you feel like it, this will challenge and stretch you in multiple ways.  That’s not a bad thing, just know however, that this process does not happen in a vacuum.

5.            Start Your Racing/Riding Season Feeling Like Lance: The two times I went through a training program to prepare for Italy, I came home a different rider.  I remember feeling like I was having an “out-of-body” experience – wondering who was pushing me up the same hills I used to do 20% slower, or in 50% more pain.  The ability to blow apart your own personal records in races, training routes, and with the local club rides is priceless to say the least.  If you do local races, I guarantee you that your results after the Giretto will surpass previous years.

6.            Fantasy Cycling Camp: You’ve heard of the Fantasy sports camps where those with enough $ can play their favorite sport with recently retired pros?  It exists for almost every sport.  While we aren’t riding with the pros, we are almost riding IN their event.  Read my blog post from last year’s Giretto: “Smallest Window, Biggest Opportunity” to get the feel for what I mean.  It was a surreal experience.  The closer we got to the finish line of each stage, more and more people would be out on the streets with their family or business group, tailgating Italian style.  Eager to see the pros, and already waiting for some time, they cheer for you as if you are one of the pros.  More and more roads are closed until you get into the city proper which is lined with barriers, incredible decorations, and hundreds of people in every little “citta” – all excited to see us, the pre-show.  Try to beat that feeling.

7.            Get Professional Training: Everyone who commits to the Giretto d’Italia will receive weekly training plans from Cycling Fusion for 16 weeks, as well as an annual subscription to FitnessJournal.com, where all of their workouts will be logged.   Normally this is a $24/month for 4 months.  In addition, I will personally review or coach every rider who is interested, each week from January to the week before we leave for Italy.  Another savings of $99/month.

8.            Vacation Before or After or Both: The logistics and cost of getting to Italy are such that once you are there, you will want to take some time and see the country.  The ruins of Rome are mind blowing.  The canals and streets of Venice are unforgettable. There are so many reasons to love Italy, but the food has to be up there in the top 3 reasons.  Aside from having access to the best Italian food on the planet, you’ll be able to eat as much as you like – given how much fuel we will need for the consecutive 100+ mile days.

9.            Discover The Secrets of Cycling Fusion: The original idea for the Giretto came about from the desire to prove how powerful indoor training can be for the dedicated outdoor cyclist.  In Pennsylvania, we see cyclists riding in the most brutal and even dangerous conditions outside because, well, the weather can be so lousy that if you don’t ride in bad weather, some years you might not ride at all.  Aside from a steady diet of bad weather, there have also been very few real cycling training centers to offer as an alternative.  Cycling Fusion was founded when Global Ride Training Center opened in the suburbs of Pittsburgh.  The intent was to show how any fitness facility that has Spinning® or Indoor Cycling can also create this type of training, and offer the cycling community something they can relate to, benefit from, and even look forward to each winter.  If you have a trainer for your bike, or somewhere you can take indoor cycling classes, we will provide the information you will need to harness this incredible training.

10.            Make A Memory You Will Never Forget: This will be especially true for couples or two friends who sign up together.  From the 4 ½ months of winter training, to the 5 amazing riding days in Italy, to the self discovery at new levels, you will have a hard time topping this total experience.