Giro d’Italia 2019 – Day 1

Happy to be about to ride despite the weather

I woke up this morning in Milan and took a commuter train thirty miles to Bergamo. The Trek Travel folks met us at the train station and took us by bus to where our ride started for the day. 

The cyclists in the Giro are resting today. We, however, are starting our cycling journey. Today's ride is the easiest of the week at around 30 miles with 3,500 feet of climbing. Check out my ride data on Strava for more info. Trek Travel supplied the Garmin, so it was not set up the way I like it. It will be for tomorrow's ride. 

Some of the other riders listening to the day's directions

Before we started the ride, we had a good lunch. There were lots of delicious Italian carbs to prepare us for the ride. I fear this may be a trip where I gain weight despite all the exercise!

The day was fairly dreary and drizzly with temperature in the 50s. However, we were riding in Italy, so all was good. 

Unfortunately, the weather minimized the opportunities for taking photos along the ride. I included below only one that I managed to take. 

The weather cleared enough to get a picture of this church

This evening we start off with some social time to get to know the other riders and guides a bit, followed by dinner. The three guides are from the Czech Republic and Italy. A couple of the riders are from Australia, but most are from the United States. I met folks from Augusta, Georgia, a couple cities in Texas, and San Francisco, California. I'm sure I will meet them all, though who knows if I'll remember their names. It is a pretty diverse group. It will be interesting to get to know them both on and off the road over the coming days. 

We have to start riding at 7:30am, so I'm going to post this early. Tomorrow's ride will have a lot more climbing including Mortirolo and finishes in the town we are staying in, Ponte di Legno. The weather may not be any better, but I'm looking forward to the day/fearful of it!