I’ve been tossing around the idea of trying to “move” to Italy one of these days.  I was really only half serious.  But now, as I sit here writing this from our balcony overlooking the Torrente (river) Nocem, about to go eat delicious pizza once again, I’m getting a bit more serious.  It’s real nice here. 

We’ve been in the “Val di Sole” for about a week and a half now, relaxing and getting ready for the Intergalactic Mountain Bike Championships.  The relaxing has mostly involved pizza, kayaks and haircuts.  The getting ready has mostly involved doing sweet rides around the valley and over some passos.  Like the storied Gavia, which Sam Schultz, his Fisher team Soignieur and I rode to the top of last Friday, with our Swanny Elke volunteering to drive support.  This enabled Sam and I to stash snacks and Dee to get a ride home instead of doing the full 150k…  Good solid team effort. 

As a very important part of resting up for the Worlds Team Relay I somehow ended up networking into a borrowed kayak.  After getting told at most of the rafting companies in the valley (of which there are about a dozen) that I would have to take a “class” or hire a “guide” to get ahold of a proper whitewater kayak, I rocked up to Euro Rafting, off the beaten track at the confluence of the Torrentes Vermiglio and Noce.  There was a Chilean chap there by the name of Rodrigo who knew some of my buddies from Oregon.  A half hour of shooting the breeze later I was floating down the river in his personal boat, with my Giant Helmet on for good measure…  Not a bad way to spend a rainy afternoon in the Valley of Sun… 

The other day I talked with my Mom via Skype (anyone who doesn’t have Skype needs to get on the program) and she mentioned that it looked like I needed a haircut.  So I got one.  Boredom rose to a fever pitch a few nights ago and resulted in the Aussies instructing a surprisingly competent Dee in the implementation of a Right Angle Steve/Roo Boy/Mullet combo being carved onto my head.  Sorry, Mom, it’ll be gone soon…

Another good way to spend the afternoon in the supposed sunny valley is racing your bike in perfect mud.  Well it was perfect for descending at least…  Climbing on the snotty grass they had routed us on as part of some kind of Alps region pact to include at least 2k of freshly mowed field in every course was another story.  One that involved pseudo-running…  Our US team of Georgia Gould, John Bennett and Sam Jurekovic decided to stick with the approach that rewarded us with a Bronze Medal last year.  The reverse of pretty much everyone else, this being Girl, Junior, U23, Elite.  When I took the tag for the fourth and final lap we were in about 13th place or so.  And things were SPREAD OUT…  A bunch of running and crashing will do that to a race.  I rode a solo TT for most of the lap, picking off a lady or flailing fellow every few minutes and having a pretty good time putting the legendary (in Carl and I’s mind) Michelin Green Meanies to good use on the steep slick awesome descents.  I must have made up a bunch of time on those, since my lap was the second fastest of the day and I’m pretty sure my climbing was nothing to write home about…  It’s good to be from Maine sometimes.  I ended up getting in a “Sprint” with a Dutch guy for 7th place.  Fortunately, I had grass wound up in my gears from some creative line choices, which meant my sprint looked like I was at the finish of the SingleSpeed Worlds…  We got 8th.  Sorry, team.  Then the sun came out.  And it still is. 

Proper Worlds race on Sunday afternoon, then it’s off to Prague for the “Prague Stairs” race in the old city before heading HOME on the 26th.  After that it’s all burritos, kayaking and extremely focused, motivated preparation for a big race on August 23rd…