Reflecting on the Giretto, after being home for more than a week now, I feel like I’m still waking up from one of the dreams that you could swear was real. It was grueling, exhilarating, exhausting, rewarding – each emotion at its peak. The overwhelming feeling I am left with is “I can’t wait till next year!” The logistics were as challenging as the training. The fund raising was as challenging as the riding. But the experience was well beyond what I had expected, even though I had previously ridden in Italy on 5 different occasions, including once following the Giro with a tour group.

This time however, was completely different. Doing “portions of stages” is customary for touring groups who cherry pick the most scenic sections, at more “forgiving” distances. Stopping for a hot lunch to break up the day, and riding only a few stages per week, is certainly a lot of fun, and the mountain climbing is still hugely challenging, but it simply can not produce the feelings we got from riding the Giretto.

This not only required a great deal more training and preparation in every facet, but the experience was much more like being part of the race instead of just a spectator. I would venture to say, there is no other race (certainly nothing on the scale of a Grand Tour), that offers an amateur cyclist the feeling of actually being in a professional race like the Giretto has done for our inaugural team.

Typical scene as we enter every little citta'

The Italians are as crazy about cycling and their Giro d’Italia, as the French are about the Tour De France… but the difference is what makes this Giro approachable and inviting for the “total immersion” experience. The Italians are as laid back as the French are uptight. I know I’m making sweeping generalizations, but when one covers over 400 miles, and countless cities big and small in the country, generalizations are indeed in order.

Once the actual routes are made public in the Italian news each year, cities begin to anticipate and prepare for the arrival of the most popular and important cycling event in Italy. Cycling as a sport is second only to soccer nationally, and virtually every city, big and small, has their own local cycling team for local city to city competitions. Youth soccer clubs in the U.S. are matched in numbers by youth cycling clubs in Italy. We saw many groups of young road and MTB cyclists in team kits riding and waiting for the pros to come through as we grinded out our kilometers.

From almost the start of every stage, we were greeted with cheers from spectators, getting their tables, chairs, vino, bread & cheese out and ready for the race – tailgating the Italian way! The closer we got to each destination city, the closer the pros would be coming behind us (closing the time gap we began each day with), and thus the more excited the crowds became. They were ready… had been ready for months, and well, we were the “opening act”. What else do they have to do, but cheer for us, and cheer they did! Did it matter that we were not a part of the official race – not at all. Did it matter that we were not even an “officially sanctioned” event by the Giro organizers – not in the slightest.

The locals embrace cycling in all its forms, and seemed to truly appreciate us riding in formation, and picking up speed through every little town leading to the finish line. While cars and spectators are consistently shuffled off the roads, and even parked cars “taped in” so they can’t be moved, we as a group continued to be given the green light; figuratively and literally.

Imagine the scenes you’ve seen watching the Tour de France on TV, and now put yourself in that scene… on the bike, crowds cheering (maybe not running along side), but at least cheering “Vai! Vai! Forza, Forza! (Go! Go! Come on! Ride Hard!). Imagine flying through towns, decorated to the hilt for the race, giant banners, balloons and home made signs everywhere you look. Imagine the feeling when you’ve started at the same “Partenza” as the pros, and are arriving at the same “Arrivo”. Could there be any other situation that would get you closer to this “pro-like” experience? This only happens for a few hours each year – the day the Giro comes to town, and just a few hours in front of the pros. Of all the riding, indoors and out, and in all the places in the world where I have ridden, none compare to the Giretto. It was the smallest window of opportunity and the biggest experience I’ve had on 2 wheels.