My 'Heroic Feat' according to l'Eroica!

While checking some information about this year's l'Eroica, I stumbled across a couple of interesting bits. When I crossed the line last year, the old guy in the chute looked at my bike and noted my completing the 205km course on such an old and 'limited' machine. Needless to say, I now found out that I was given the 9th most 'heroic feat' of the event! Check out the shot from their website...

PS - as I read it, also the only non-Italian! That is assuming Robert pronounces it 'nor-ga-te' and not Norgate!

Tucker Is No Longer With Us. Rest Now 'Roo'. Chase Rabbits!

Almost thirteen years ago I got the greatest birthday present ever... Tucker Murphy Mason. Thirteen joyous years later, we had to do the most difficult thing ever... release him from his pain and send him to a far better place. A place where you can chase rabbits, eat poo (yes, that's right), bark at the old lady, pull the tablecloth off to get to food, bark in every restaurant, make a mad dash towards the neighbor's yard, squirt out the crack in the fence, or just chew on a bone for hours and hours.

Tucker had epileptic seizures his whole life and took a handful of strong pills daily to control them. He had a history of bladder infections, intestinal issues (probably from all that poo), and back troubles. Each time, we'd take him to the vet or as he usually decided to get REALLY bad on a Friday or Saturday night, to the emergency vet. Here in Basel, all the local vets do a rotation for the late night emergencies and between Tucker and Daisy, we got to know most of them! He'd get more pills and eventually get a little better. Last year, he was 100% blind, so we decided to get him cataracts surgery... presto, new eyes! I would joke that 'he better live another five years to amortize those eyes!'

The past year or so, he began to get worse and worse with a digestive problem due to a strong bacterial infection. Damn poo again! Since the pups were regular fans at Liquigas races, they are now known to many in the pro peloton. Two Liquigas staff members in particular are dog lovers as well. One of them, a team doctor, talked me through a rough diagnosis at team camp. His remedy seemed to work for a while. Tucker gained back some weight and perked right up, only to head back down. This time, he referred me to his friend at a vet hospital in Padova, where he and I, along with Daisy, spent a day full of diagnoses and tests. Turns out, it is not only the best hospital in Italy, but of Europe! Once again, we got new meds to combat issues with his thyroid, intestines and even more. Again, it worked... for a while.

The past few weeks have been rough on him. We were away, so he and Daisy were well taken care of at the kennel. I like to think that he waited for us to get home again. It being Easter weekend and all vets closed, we spent our time taking care of him and debating the inevitable. It was finally time. He was no longer the same and was surely in pain. After telling the nice man with the sick cat in the waiting room this afternoon about all Tucker's problems, I summed up by saying that he had no good organs left... except his heart.

Goodbye, Tucker. You're missed already. We are far richer for having had you for thirteen great years. Your sister misses you too, even though she's enjoying the extra attention already!

Ghisallo (and D.A.M.) Wooden Rims

My last (no, really) restoration has been selected... It's likely to be my bike for the next l'Eroica, provided I can finish it in time! I know, it's eight months away, but a summer of traveling and moving back to the US might get in the way of that! It's a 1935 Airolg with Cambio Vittoria Margherita! Airolg was an entry-level sub brand of Gloria (spell it backwards). I have the original decals and color information and am ready to go! The Margherita shifter is the last one that I really want. To do 205km on that will make me wish for the Legnano with Cambio Corsa!

Anyway, the wheels for this will consist of flip-flop hubs with 4 cogs on one side and a fixed on the other, mounted to Ghisallo wood rims. Antonio invited me up to pick up the rims and I couldn't resist taking a few shots and video. His shop lies just down the hill a block away from the Ghisallo chapel and museum. He found a set of unfinished "raw" rims that I will stain a bit darker than they are usually available. He also gave me two sets of older decals. D.A.M. was considered one of if not the best wood rim of the time. They were made by Antonio's grandfather, also Antonio.

For a better (and older!) video on how they make these incredible and once-again in-demand rims, check out the following...

Galmozzi Restoration!

The 1950 Galmozzi with Cambio Corsa is ready for its maiden voyage finally! It was quite a long process, like all restorations, but well worth it. I've added a couple more details since then, namely the period-correct Columbus decal and the non-period-correct black bar tape with red stitching!

The man towards the end is Angelo Galmozzi, son of Francesco (a co-founder of Gloria and considered one of the best Italian framebuilders of the early days), who took the reigns from his father until finally closing the company in the mid-70's. He is full of stories from "back in the day" and even more from BEFORE "back in the day". He's quite the Italian historian, and is quick to let his political ideas seep into and eventually become major players in his recounting of growing up in Italy. He was impressed with the bike, and even more so by the Galmozzi t-shirt I was sporting under my Lambo sweatshirt! I guess I need to get another one on order!

Great New Video of l'Eroica

So why old bikes? This video explains it perfectly! Some of my friends are in here like Giancarlo, Hermes and Luciano. And speaking of l'Eroica, I just got the confirmation I was looking for after a not-so-precise entry process... I'm officially doing it again (as if there was any doubt). Now I just have to decide on a bike, but I have something up my wool sleeve for that too!

L'EROICA (english version) from Edouardi Sepulchro on Vimeo.

"Vintage" Bottles to Actually Drink From!

Riding old bikes is great... the obvious lack of mechanical advances makes for a more challenging yet very inspiring ride. However, every once in awhile you need a break from the difficulties of days gone by. Nasty aluminum water bottles corked up on the front of your handlebars can remain nostalgic only for SO long. I just picked up my latest mad creation... Zefal alloy bottles resprayed and made up in Legnano, Galmozzi and Cicli Masini colors. Ok, so the Galmozzi isn't pictured because it's just champagne colored. And through some Photoshop magic, you can see both sides of the Legnano bottle.

Not much riding going on right now, so these are relegated to sipping expensive import Mountain Dew!

Hugo Koblet DVD, Out Now!

The Hugo Koblet - Pédaleur de Charme DVD came out recently here in Switzerland. Amazon.de has it as well. They can ship to Switzerland I know, but I'm not sure to what other European countries they will ship. It's a region 2 (Europe) disc with subtitles in German, Italian, French and... English!

It's so much better with the subtitles! My Swiss German is absolutely zero, but that didn't stop me from seeing it in the theater on opening night. It's a great film about a great Swiss champion.

One thing stood out to me upon my second viewing. The oft-seen scene that's shown below when he first sees Waltraut Haas has a great gaffe for the vintage crowd, as Hugo and his teammate are wearing cycling caps with Rapha logos on them! They're white-on-white stitched, but eagle-eyed viewers will clearly see them.

I highly suggest finding this one!

Lo Sport Illustrato 06/16/1949

Last installment of the 1949 Giro d'Italia coverage by Lo Sport Illustrato is now here.

Just Won On eBay... Bartali Razors!

So I finally got around to clicking on my own ad. I found the right Bartali razor package that I wanted and hit the old "buy now" button! It's certainly not Oakley or Red Bull money, and I can't see today's heroes shilling for Gillette, but I love the Bartali endorsement for these razor blades! They were 'super fast' after all.

Speaking of Saddles... almost ready!