Pedaling the Giro D’Italia in 1996 with a bike in hand and a bambino in my belly!
I have just landed in Ferrara, Italy, the land of La Bicicletta, to commence Ciclismo Classico’s 15 day day, 6 region, 800 mile Giro D’Italia. I “gave birth” to this Pedaling Portrait of Italy in 1994. Althouhg it has gone through a few tweeks & permutations, the Giro remains one of my favorite trips. I am excited to embark on this journey after a 17 year “Giro D’Italia” hiatus. The last time I rode this tour, I was 4 months pregnant with my eldest son, Lorenzo. It was a very sentimental journey for I knew that I would be saying “arrivaderci” to one precious phase of my life (guiding bike tours) and a big bulging buon giorno to another phase: MAMMA-HOOD.
Grazie a Dio that motherhood did not force my retirement from cycling (I pedaled till the day I delivered and was back on my bike 2 weeks later) but the call of mamma-hood did transform my cycling passion from endless carefree hours of pedaling to my heart’s content, to shorter, faster jaunts closer to home that I could squeeze in between work & the demands, duties and precious playful moments of motherhood.
As soon as my bambinos were ready for a Burley, they were strapped in with snacks, toys and books and I was off cruising as far as they would let me (and sometimes farther if I could tolerate their cries). From Burley to trail-a-bike, from tandem to tricycles, from training wheels to big, medium and full sized bicycles, my kids have been in tow and leading the way on the bike trail, through the streets of Boston, through several countries and on many Ciclismo Classico family bike tours. While their mamma is still the most addicted cyclist in the family, I am confident that I have fed them enough cycling kool-aid to feel their a pedaling passion, at their own pace.
Now it’s my turn to enjoy long epic rides and I’M BACK on the road again, like days of yore, for a bike journey, senza bambini! Oh, I will miss them so much (heeheeheehee), but geeze, they all have enough IPHONES, IPADS, facetime, and social media gizmos and aps galore to keep in touch with their mamma, if they so desperately miss me (and I know they do)
For the next 15 days, join me and stay tuned as I share my Giro D’Italia cycling journey with 20 guests and two super guides, Massimo & Paolo. I am super excited and I guarantee will have as much fun as possible. I’ll be sharing some pics from the past Giro D’Italia rides too, like this one of me in 1996, on top of a mountain with my Merlin, happy as can be on day 10 in Abruzzo. Lorenzo is kicking in there too. Here’s to you my redheaded boy!
I hope you enjoy the ride!
