We arrive mid morning in a damp and dreary capital city... this isn't how it's supposed to be in Rome- where's the sun!?
We collect our bikes and head off to get a taxi- plenty of them here- like flies round sh*t wanting a fare. "I have good taxi- where you want to be? yes, I know that well €80"
"HOW MUCH!? Jon, tell him to ____ off!" We'd seen signs in the airport saying taxi to Rome should be about €40.... well maybe that's each? "Ok, Ok, let's go"
Great hotel, not in the centre- about 3km out but great price and facilities. Our room was pretty big too- needed to be as we turned it into a workshop to get the bikes ready! MIND THE WHITE SHEETS WITH THAT CHAIN!
So, with the bikes built, we headed off to the Circo Massimo and a very damp event village. Now languages are not my forté but I'll give it a go and struggle/mime my way through any communications but registration was an absolute bun fight. No shelter for people registering and all trying to get to a desk to speak to someone. Meanwhile, Jon and I- looking very confused try in a very British way to attract some attention eventually find someone whose English is marginally better than our Italian. This is the point where we find if our race licenses are any good.... and it's all fine. They have a good look at the license- pass it round and a few shrugs and nods, we're signed in- no problem! Phew. We collect our race chip and jersey, have a look at the damp displays and head off for food and shelter. Walking through this area of Rome is bizarre. It's kind of like Pompeii but still in use. So you get a mixture of, say 80AD buildings with 20th Century buildings tacked on or built round. The Colosseum is a classic example: it's surrounded by offices, restaurants and roads!
I have no idea what this archway is (I'll look it up and add a link) but it is STUNNING. And it's right next to the Colosseum. The detail is incredible and, guessing this is about 2000 years old, amazing for it's age.
Back to the hotel, dinner and an early night. We checked our weather apps to see what was in store for us on race day: in varying degrees, they all said....rain! Bugger. Was hoping dry at least. Oh well, no choice I guess, just take it easy on the descents. Also, within the race pack, total time allowed to complete had been changed from 7 hours to 6.30 hours which we felt was borderline for us doing the long course. We'll see on the day!
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| shot with my iPhone on the new 'panorma' setting- fantastic and good size files! |
As you can see, the sun came out and the rain stayed away. Slight technical problem at the start: Jon's bike had been bashed in transit on the plane and his rear derailleur adjuster had been bust (so much for the tough bike box he'd hire!) so we got one of the many mechanics to sort him out. We were set!
Once we set off we had a sort of 'procession' stage which was 7 km around Rome and the Colusseum- plenty of pavé to ride on which played havoc with people's cameras! Once we'd completed this amazing loop, we were out on the road. Fantastic course and all closed roads. 5000 cyclists is quite a sight! We stuck with the 60 mile route (though with hind sight, we could have completed the 95 miles) - the climbing was wonderful, the roads were fast as were the descents. I lost Jon which I kind of expected as we were all in the same jersey. Some people had ribbon attached to their helmets- good idea and one to remember!!
One image that was mildly amusing was an ambulance with sires and lights coming toward us and the passenger paramedic was smoking out of the window!!
Short film showing some of the day...Run VT!
Time for this one was 3hrs 34min. Back to the race village for some pasta, bikes back to the hotel then off into town for some proper food...and wine!!
The following day we had some free time before we had to be back at the airport so we did the tourist think... Vatican, Trevi Fountain etc and with the weather still holding (it was supposed to be rain and lightening this day!) we even went looking for a bike shop! well, that was why we were there!!
Finally we set off for the airport. We'd book a taxi at the hotel. Got to Fiumicino and was charged.....€40- totally ripped off by the previous taxi but we know for the future! Ciao x
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