Thursday, July 3, 2008

The Tour: Thanx to GFC in General and Massimo in Particular

At our final dinner together at the Boffenigo, we toasted our guide and leader Massimo, who really made the difference on this one, teaching us about the local cycling culture and more, encouraging us on each tough climb, arranging all the meals, the support van and troubleshooting our minor and major problems with good humor. We salute you Massimo!!! Massimo is involved with a local business that organizes sporting related tours of the Garda area and other locations in Italy. Will post more information about his site later.

As we sat around during the final dinner, it was hard to come up with something to complain about on this trip, other than the untimely weather on the first day in the Dolomiti. A big big plug for Gran Fondo Cycling, which organized a great program, with a mix of climbs including around Garda and Como, and an excellent mix of Alpine and Dolomite passes. The hotel and meal arrangements were all excellent and the support was superb. Thanx to Mike Elmer for joining us in La Villa and riding the Dolomite portion, he was a great addition and added to our knowledge of Italian cycling. Thanx to Tobias and Carrie Panek from GFC for a great trip, and hope Carrie will soon be back on the bike....

Finally, a special thanx to Dan, Bruce, Steve, and Michael for sharing the rode, all the meals, including the sausage and sauerkraut panini, inspiring one another to keeping going on hard days, for their great senses of humor, and for making this trip a truly memorable experience! Saluti!!!

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