Giro di Italia

Today I got to see my first professional bike race, and it was the 100th Anniversary of the Giro di Italia (Ride of Italy). First impresstions: I was overwhelmed with how fast the racers were riding, and equally impressed with how tight of a formation they could hold in the Peleton. There must have been close to 100 riders in the span of the average city bus. What was interesting about the experience, though, was how underwhelming it was... Remember the scene from Indiana Jones (raiders of the lost arc) where an arab swordsman threatens Indy for at least a minute, with intricate sword swirls and such? And Indy just shoots him... All that lead up for a split second, and undramatic finish. Well, ditto for the race. We get off the highway, near our house, and see a crowd formed up where the Poliza have cordoned off the street that they'll be racing on. As time goes by, a number of Poliza cars race by, ensuring the route is clear, and a few vans selling official 'Giro di Italia' t-shirts cruise by. The crowd continues to grow, with an increasing number of the locals buying shirts and such from the 'Giro' vans driving by. To add to the suspense, the crowd down the way starts cheering, just to see an old italian man riding his beater of a bike down the street. Ha! That 'Gotcha' happens a few times. Finally, team vehicles start cruising by, one of the most impressive being the Mavic (French wheel maker) vehicle: an all yellow sports-stationwagon (they don't have these in the States, unfortunately) with all yellow Cannondale racing bikes featuring all yellow Mavic wheels and all yellow seats/saddles. Looked like a chariot of gold. Then more Poliza cars and motorcycles. Then the lead group of cyclists race by, about 20 or so, with the crowd going nuts. About 3 seconds behind the lead group is the main body of the racers. I look frantically for Lance Armstrong in both groups, however my eyes and brain are not able to sort visual data as quickly as the group of cyclist ride by...as all this occurs in less than, oh, 10 seconds. Everyone then hopped in their cars, as the surrounding areas roads had become a parking lot. The area cleared out very quickly; it would have taken at least a half an hour in the states for the drivers to clear the area, but the Italians were able to get back to 'normal' very quickly. Simply amazing to see. Crazy how underwhelming it was, because of the speed involved, and my small perspective of the race. So many kilometers, and I saw mearly a few hundred meters of it. Overall, the experience was great. I'll be there again next year!