Fast Women, Beautiful Roads, and Pastry

In Los Alamos in the mid-1990s there was Jennifer, who had no trouble riding with us boys, and whom I could only drop on the climb to the Valle Grande, out of the back gate. On the flats, she'd be more likely to kick my behind. She wasn't around all the time, because she raced most of the national races with the top women in the U.S., for example the week-long Cascade Classic stage race. In Milwaukee, there was Patti, a two-time national champion, who had also raced the Cascade Classic and who on the flat training rides gave as good as she got (while many others were happy just to be passengers) and who always got better as the rides got longer. She, too, would fall behind on the climbs, but both are good examples of lone women holding their own in groups full of guys. The fact that in more than 20 years of group rides, I can only remember a handful of these women also shows how rare they still are. Then two weeks ago, on the Cote de la Redoute, there was the Flemish girl, and last week there was Erica from Valgatara, Valpolicella, the town with the killer gelato. I had trouble keeping up with the former, and over in the Lake Garda area it was no different with the latter. It's not a real surprise, as Erica's time (last May, with snow coming down) on Mt. Ventoux is almost five minutes faster than mine. She has also finished first in several Granfondo races. I got to ride with Erica thanks to an invitation from my friend Michele, who had gotten to know her on the Ventoux expedition and whose riding has taken flight since he started training with her. Last Tuesday we all met near Fumane, outside of Verona. We climbed to Molina, then on to Breonio. The climb to Molina is a good one: pretty challenging, though not too long. Erica fell a little behind, but I don't think she was really trying. That was the thing on every climb: she just rode up, riding smoothly and light-footed, and she wasn't pushing the smallest gears around. The rest of the ride was a friendly up-and-down, eventually back to Valgatara, but you could not help wondering what it would be like to hang on to her wheel on a long, tough climb when the chips are down. It would be relentless, and it would be painful. The trip to Verona-Lake Garda area was a final chance for a few days of scenic, summer riding, and I think I made the most of it. At the end of the ride with Erica, Michele made me ride home to our perch overlooking the lake while he took the car back, which meant doing the Caprino-Lumini climb with 60 miles of up-and-down in my legs in temperatures not seen in Holland in a while. So that first day was a good opening day. The next day, it was just Michele and I, but only to the little town of Spiazzi. We did a good climb on a little back road through Porcino, but then I was on my own, Michele saving himself for the next day. I rode on, behind the tall ridge overlooking Lake Garda, to Cavallo di Novezza, and eventually to the foot of Monte Altissimo. There was enough climbing on that section, including a mile at 19% coming right after a few kilometers of something around 10%. Then there was a long downhill (ten miles or so), all the way to Avio, which is on the Brenner highway. I paralleled that back to Caprino, for a reunion with the climb to Lumini. 65 miles (more or less this route, clock-wise) and it felt like work. Day three saw us reunited with Erica at the ferry across Lake Garda to start our ride of the three lakes: Lago di Valvestino, Lago d'Idro, and Lago di Ledro. Getting off the ferry, we first stopped for cappucchino and cake, then rode a whole bunch of gorgeous roads, to get back to Lake Garda at its northern tip at Riva di Garda (except for that steep downhill on a gravel trail, bypassing the main road into town--an Oscar Swan ghost road if there ever was one. With her mountainbike background, Erica quickly left us far behind there). The last hour, to show that I really live in flat, windy Holland, I dragged the three of us back in one 35k-long pull along the lake to Torri del Benaco. Because I am from Holland and don't get to climb much, I also got to do the 10k climb home to San Zeno by way of Albisano, while the other two got into the car. The long pull had taken it out of me, so even though I was just five miles from getting a century, I was happy to make the turn into the driveway. Happiness remained, also for Michele, to make us choose a 25k coffee ride for the final day: down the hill to Caprino, a three-pastry stop (hazelnut; rice pudding, whipped cream), then back home over the old Caprino-Lumini climb. Perfect, as with everything on this far too short outing.