Cyclopaat, an alter ego with a twist
Even longer overdue, the “Best Of” picture gallery of our Giro d’Italia 2020 is now also available – if you want the larger original(s), drop me a line.
The (summit) selfies are at the bottom of the recap post for this trip too.
So, how did I fare this Giro d’Italia 2020, compared to what I had in mind beforehand?
Well, I choked on the Mortirolo (from Mazzo) again and – barely – made it up the Bernina, all the way from Tirano.
The difference with last year being, that this did not happen during the same stage and that the Mortirolo was just as hot, but the Bernina was the coldest of all.
But, I kinda, sorta, had my revenge on the Mortirolo, as I was on its summit no less than four times, twice during the same stage.
I also ended up on the Stelvio summit three times, during my prologue and as finishes for stages 7 and 9.
And, I was able to complete the Maratona dles Dolomites, which had been on my to-do/wish list, since I first visited the Dolomites in 2011.
Not surprisingly, that stage (6) also came with the highest elevation difference (D+) of all stages: almost 4,250 meters.
Contrary to my past ‘Grand Tours’, I’m not going to write a road book for my Giro d’Italia 2020.
Every time I put a lot of effort in it and while I usually manage to generally follow the stages I had in mind, I frequently have to change plans anyway.
This can be for any number of reasons, my advancing age probably not being the least important.
But, I’ve also suffered from a cyclist nodule and intense, hernia induced or incident related (back) pains.
Plus, the weather can be a force to reckon with and not seldom have I been cycling in near freezing conditions or ice cold rain one day, only to have my brain blown out because of the heat the next.
And while I have new climbs to discover during this Giro, I am already quite familiar with the area(s) and most of its climbs.
So, I can leave it that and you can stop reading if you’re no longer interested, but I’m writing down a few (loose) ideas anyway…
For I have sinned. It has been… Well, forever.
Oh, fuck that – I haven’t heard any complaints about the lack of updates on this site over the past six months or so, so I’m not apologizing.
Besides, the Corona / Covid-19 crisis has kept everybody busy with other, more important stuff.
But, although we are now in the middle of a worldwide protest around police brutality, while all sorts of other shit is going wrong, that’s my alter ego’s department and I have an announcement of my own to make.
I guess the climbs in my ‘Been there, done that‘ list, are enough to fill anyone’s bucket list.
However, there are so many more I would like to get on the list.
Heck, I suppose there are more on the ‘Not been there, love to do that’ list 😂
Some of those I could cover if I’d just plan that trip to the Pyrenees.
