I've Been Tagged... here you go.

So Carl tagged me a few days ago... here goes.

What was I doing ten years ago? 

Just getting ready to move from Des Moines to Fort Dodge, IA. Just a little relocation so Mrs. Masini could start a great teaching job. I was driving about 60,000 miles a year as a sales rep for the big Cdale (did that for 8 years). I was also riding a YZ125 a little bit. Listening to: Limbaugh, Common Man, Mischke and Jim Rome on the radio (gotta stay awake somehow when driving all night through North Dakota). Also listening to: Guster, Josh Rouse, the Cure, Joy Division, New Order (none of that has really changed). I was not racing on the road or CX, but more mtb. Eventually did well on a single speed hardtail at the local race on a course I knew by heart.

What are five non-work things on my to-do list today?
1. Walk the dogs
2. Backup my old radio shows (Mischke, Common Man, Ron & Fez, Opie & Anthony)
3. Pick up Mrs. Masini from Zurich Airport
4. Watch Liquigas defend their Vuelta lead on Eurosport
5. Watch a replay of the Buccaneers' final preseason game

Snacks I enjoy?
Doritos

Things I would do if I were a billionaire. 

Help groups giving relief in Africa and Asia. 

Small houses in Iowa, Connecticut and Italy. 

Maserati for myself, Jag convertible for the Mrs. 

A little to everyone in the family. 

Bank the rest for the upcoming economic crisis. 

Places I have lived:
Charlotte NC, Ruland SD, Spencer IA, Laurens IA, Ames IA, Florence Italy, Des Moines IA, Ft Dodge IA, New Milford CT, Basel Switz. - In that order!

Jobs I have had:
Gas station grunt, construction, track and tennis court grunt, sales rep, webmaster, sports marketer.

Hollywood and DanGerous - tag, you're it.

The Oldenzaal Museum

Nick told me that he would like to redo the museum at the Holland office so I dug out the Di Luca Giro-winning bike to add to the collection. While the door to the museum was locked, I did get a chance to snap a few of my favorites that are scattered throughout the office. So now I present: the Cipo Black Lightning, Savoldelli's Angel, the white DDL, and various jerseys... enjoy.

Been Busy - Olympic Bikes

This is the kind of stuff I have to call 'work'. How cool is this bike? Each C/V member (as well as LG) got a graphic based on their national flag.

This bike is now showing up on various boards, after an 'unofficial' photo or two got out prematurely. Interesting bits that aren't yet officially known... there are fewer needle bearings in this fork and the internals have been minimized for weight. Notice the fork boot? Or should I say inner tube? Special super secret fork assembly as well. No paint means less weight to the tune of 70-100g. High modulous carbon saves additional weight - this frame is a total 220g lighter than stock. Mavic tubular wheels save tons, as will the Vredestein tubulars. Why go crazy and unreliable when major weight can be saved by true innovation and optimization? Hopefully, Roel, Jakob and Kashi can have a perfect day and grab a medal!

Ernesto Colner?

I know Colnago has branched out into city bikes, but this is rediculous. Spotted in Basel, Switzerland, where one in four bikes is a Cannondale Bad Boy (true). Proving that there is no shame, check out the head tube badge... the famous Colner spade with the world championship stripes. Truly a beautiful bike with a great race heritage.

Oh Yeah

Just found the photos of our encounter with the cop at Lago di Garda that I wrote about here. Thought it was worth posting! This was the moment of clarity... you can see Ivan saying "yeah, it's really me" and the cop saying "ma che cazzo!"


Little man with a badge.


And after.

l'Alpe

Wednesday I was able to get my guests to the start and in their respective team cars for their amazing day at the Tour. After the start, I tucked in to the caravan of team busses and followed them (sometimes slowly) up and down and around the hairpins on the way to Bourg d'Oisans. Once there, I jumped in Dario's car and followed Nibali up the Alpe d'Huez. The fans were amazing. We rounded one bend to see a sea of orange-clad Dutch fans. The devil was spotted quite early up the hill as well. Apparently, there were more fans on the Galibier and Croix de Fer.

Unfortunately, Nibali ran out of steam but showed a desire to suffer in order to learn the ropes. He picked up rider after rider almost the whole way up. Dario was great as usual, yelling at the young Sicilian the only way a loud mulleted Venetian ex-pro can. He also passed water to almost every rider we went past... Ryder, Schumi, Bruseghin and the rest.

Afterward, we enjoyed dinner at a great French place, got a quick night's sleep, and headed back down the Alpe for the start of the next stage. A road block until 2:00 meant that we couldn't actually leave Bourg d'Oisan! We eventually got back to Basel at about 7:00... whew! glad that's over. Great experience, but a nice week to cross off! I've now been to the Tour and back FOUR times!

Now if I could just get back on my bike...


Convoy!


This guy's gonna be a great GC rider someday.


On the lower slopes of l'Alpe d'Huez.


A little higher up... then my battery kicked it!

Reallon Ski Station

So after three hours of sleep, I did the ten-hour drive to Réallon Ski Station where LG was staying. The hotel itself is at 2100 meters and has spectacular views to the crags above. The drive itself was (other than long and tiring) spectacular. Twisty roads at super high altitudes with no guard rails! I can see how John-Lee fell off course during the day's stage.

Child of the 80's

While we all 'enjoy' the daily drama that is the Tour de France, I thought a distraction is called for so I'm writing about a guilty pleasure - the 80's... I've recently begun using all this high technology that I've surrounded myself with to relive my adolescence.

On my recent trips back stateside, I picked up seasons 1 and 2 of Miami Vice, the quintessential TV show of my youth. Using Mac the Ripper and MPEG Streamclip I ripped and converted the episodes and watched them on my iPod Touch on the flights. It's much better to enjoy your own selection rather than some in-flight chick flick. Why no iPhone yet? Check back - I have some issues to resolve with that first!

Anyway - aside from that, I've also been tuning in to MV on something called the "Sleuth" channel on Slingbox, a program and device that lets me control a friend's DirecTV in Connecticut from my computer in Switzerland! Let's just say Swiss TV doesn't do much for me other than cycling and the odd english movie or TV series. Slingbox is an ex-pat TV junkie's dream device. I can watch my Buccaneers get beat live on Sundays as well.

Where's this leading? 80's music! MV had some of the best (and worst) music soundtracks of ANY TV show then or now. I'm currently going through all the Jan Hammer and Phil Collins tracks and hitting a strong sense of deja vu. Of the 8000 songs in my library, I would bet that almost half of them are at least 20 years old. Next up - VH1 (where they actually play videos still)!

Evidently...

Versus is running some of the Everything Matters spots in certain markets. I've gotten some fan email, so I know it's out there somewhere. This is a pg site, so I can't translate, but it should be fairly easy to figure out. Pippo...

5 Days At Altitude With The Superstar

This week was spent in Park City, Utah for a big meeting. I came with Ivan from Milan after a nice pizza near his place on Sunday night.

We arrived and headed right out on the bikes in a group of about 40. Someone almost ate it after flatting on the descent. Struvie stopped for him - not sure who or what happened, I turned around to give a hand while the group (and Ivan) went ahead only to struggle for 3.5 hours trying to read the "map".

The next 3 days consisted of short 40km rides with Ivan out into the countryside with very little climbing (lucky for me since the altitude made me feel like crap). Ivan would do 100km in the morning and 40km in the afternoon with me, or 40km in the morning with me and then again with a group in the afternoon. Try as we did, we couldn't get him on a mountain bike, which probably wasn't the worst idea since a fall onto a rock could spell disaster.

We had about 150 guests and another 100 of us, for a nice big group who were very enthusiastic to see Ivan and spend some time on the bike with him. He's a good sport and patient in waiting for us slower guys. Good trip, can't wait to get home.