Wednesday, December 23, 2009

you can take the fondo out of italy . .



but can you keep the italy in the fondo ??

i have watched and admired the gran fondo's since the days when they would be picured in winning magazine. now, after levi L's acclaimed gran fondo out in cali, they are popping up all over the place, including wisconsin. my initial impression was crazy-hell enthusiasm, but since then a few people have given me pause to wonder . . . . . .can this scene really transplant to america ??

i always perceived the whole bit about them to be true spectacles of gentleman-racing. probably "won" by a hi-profile recent ex-pro, but civilly and superbely and classily ridden by the masses. i know a lot of bike riders, but who other than russel fits that description on this side of the pond ?? what are the other 7999 guys gonna look like, and more importantly - RIDE like ??? !! ???

i dunno. maybe it'll be great, or maybe it'll be a nutcase crashfest of american hacks. maybe the only sure thing is i should really go to italy.

2 comments:

Jennifer said...

There's one in Boulder next year too. What's even more interesting to me is that they (at least the Boulder one) are being put on by Graham Frazier and co. I'm still not sure if the Ironman folks getting into the bike business is a good thing or not.

Cheers,
chick scum

The Shed Master said...

I'm accepting resumes for the priveledge to wheel suck My Bad Ol' Self for the Gran Fondue in MadCity.