Granfondo Marco Pantani Weekend

Ciao a tutti,

After the last Italian trips we have decided to organise another trip to Italy for the weekend of the Granfondo Marco Pantani in September 2019.

You will be able to ride some of Marco’s Climbs.

We will be doing a long weekend leaving the Friday morning from London Heathrow & returning on Monday evening.

The trip include 4 days of cycling in Marco’s Land in the beautiful Region of Emilia Romagna, visiting some of the iconic places where he trained & lived, enjoying the sceneries,history & local cuisine.

Emilia Romagna is also land of many other professionals cyclists,champions of the past & present, hence the Giro D’Italia 2019 had 6 stages in the region including the start & the time trial up to San Marino.

The Granfondo is held the Sunday of the weekend of the 21st & 22nd of September, the day after the UCI 1.1 race which many Pro Tour Teams attend the event to pay respect to Marco.

Marco Pantani at the time of Carrera Team.

We will be staying at 4* Hotel Lungomare in Cesenatico where will be enjoying the amazing facilities & the professional services provided by the hotel staff.

A quick brief of the details are listed below & or you can click here for full details.

PROGRAM

Friday 20th of September 2019

• Flight from London Heathrow to Bologna on BA 540

• Private transfer to 4* Hotel Lungomare in Cesenatico

• Check In Hotel

• Buffet Lunch in hotel

• 3 hours Ride with Guide

• Return on the Hotel,relax in the wellbeing centre & yoga on the beach

• Visit to the Marco Pantani Museum

• Dinner in Cesenatico

Saturday 21th of September 2019

• Breakfast

• 3-4 hours bike ride 

• Watch the arrival of the UCI 1.1 Memorial Marco Pantani Pro Race

• Return on the Hotel,relax in the wellbeing centre & yoga on the beach

• Dinner in Hotel

Sunday 22th of September 2019

• Early Breakfast

• Granfondo Pantani

• Pasta Party

• Return on the Hotel,relax in the wellbeing centre & yoga on the beach

• Aperitif in Cesenatico 

• Dinner in Cesenatico with Marco Pantani’s Mother

Monday 23th of September 2019

• Breakfast

• 3 hours Ride

• Lunch back at the hotel

• Dismount the bikes

• Transfer to Bologna Airport

• Flight Bologna to Heathrow BA545 18:50 arrive at 20:00

If you like to hear more infos please email us ride@saddledrunk.com .

Ciao for now from the SaddleDrunk Team.

SD

Review of "The Program" Movie

SaddleDrunk were this week invited by, Chris Ward of workwhereyoulike.com, to a private screening of “The Program” a film based on the book “Seven Deadly Sins: My Pursuit of Lance Armstrong” by David Walsh, Chief Sports writer at The Sunday Times.

The guests consisted of cycling aficionados, from the boys from www.girocycles.com , www.road.cc and www.milltag.cc amongst many others. So there was an assumption that they were all very familiar with the story that was about to unfold in front of them, albeit from the personal perspective of the author.

The film is directed by Stephen Frears, his notable works include My Beautiful Laundrette, Dangerous Liaisons, High Fidelity, The Queen and Philomena. The films focus was on the systematic use of performance enhancing drugs by Lance Armstrong to win the greatest cycling race of all, Le Tour. The race sequences are well shot using current pro-cyclists, such as Yanto Barker and David Millar was the cycling consultant on the film.

Ben Foster who played Armstrong was strong and very convincing, and at times you believe you are watching Armstrong as was Jesse Plemons (Breaking Bad) playing ultra religious, Floyd Landis.

What none of the audience was expecting were any surprises or shock revelations, there were none. We know the story virtually inside out; we have watched all the documentaries, read the books by former teammates and kept right up to date with all the news via the net. So were we the target audience probably not, the audience I would say are those who are just getting into cycling and sports fans of all genres who care about keeping the future of their sport honest, pure and genuine. But also it’s the age-old story of the underdog taking on power and money at the risk of being ridiculed and discredited, who doesn’t love that story?

It’s a good watch but seek out the documentaries if you have as yet to see them: “Stop at Nothing” and “The Armstrong Lie” for a greater insight as to how this man operated. I would also recommend reading Tyler Hamilton’s “The Secret Race”, a former team mate of Armstrong’s and David Millar’s “Racing Through the Dark: The Fall and Rise of David Millar” to get an insight as to why young men choose to cheat and how they deal with their downfall.

Real life is much more gritty and harsh, the movie was a little too generous to the protagonist. This film was based on the authors personal journey to expose a cheat in a sport he loves, this I understand but now it is time to draw a line under this and all doping affairs and look to a time when this ends. But when fame and fortune are being offered in an arena where only the tough and ruthless survive, this may just be something we all hope may happen.

As a foot note the film has an excellent soundtrack which complements the film.

Chris O"Dowd plays David Walsh, The Sunday Times journalist

Easy reading for a sunny coffee..

The first week of January has gone.

During celebrations chats with friends and family loads of ideas,resolutions has been said,over said 1000 times. This is amazing.But have you actually started.

I hope so.If not just start now,it is never too late and make sure you keep rolling.My motto is "just keep rolling".One day you will stop forever,and there will be no going back. Just do it, small or big workouts,exercises, rides does not matter. Be constant,do not feel peer pressured by others.Be you.Let's yourself set the targets,don't follow others.I am not teaching you rocket science,but those are basics, that sometimes we forget.

During this time of the year sales for memberships in gyms,clubs,teams,classes rises above the sky. Again on this, think twice.Make your money going further.Think about the nice weather,the cold weather,all the factors that can happen during 365 days. Remember #outsideisfree , be #SaddleDrunk, intoxicated with the freedom of cycling.

If you are lucky enough to be selected you might join the Rapha Cycling Club, for £ 200 a year to get you a coffee and a cap.Not bad deal.

If you join our club for only £ 36 a year you get more than a coffee.Join our rides,free gifts and more.For more info email us at store@saddledrunk.com .

We,at SaddleDrunk are taking booking for a long weekend of cycling in the Italian Apennines,in the area of Marco Pantani's training land to take part in a Granfondo and degustate some of the local delicacies. The date for it is 26 of April 2015.

We are also planning another ride to Paris for the summer period open to everyone willing to take up this challenge.

For more info about the little trips feel free to get in touch.

Look out for more info for the Racing team.

Be safe in the road.

Have a good weekend.

SD Team.

Bartolo talking to us about Granfondo Selle Italia 2014

No Number for me today!! Cervia, GF Selle Italia: exasperated agonism is not allowed for me today... maybe a bit of "tacchetta" while climbing with my  fellow travellers but at the top of the climb we wait each other to relish the amazing "ristori" (Italian name of food stations which includes cakes made by various "nonna", salami, ham, cheese, pasta and wine).

The Start.

Above all the long time lost friend's company is be the primary reason for me to be here today. He is also a SaddleDrunker, mainly for MTB and not a roadie.

Then, 05:45 wake up call!

Copious breakfast, check backpack to ascertain that everything has been packed (shoes is a must!!), then careful not to wake up the rest of the family, I slide like a snake as quiet as a butterfly to the garage.

Arrival in Cervia at 7.00, where I find all the "chipped riders" already revving up their legs in the line up like horses pawing waiting for the gates to be opened.

This time I am actually taking it easy and I slowly go to the meeting point to wait for my friend's arrival. I call him at 0725 and luckily he is awake but he is running late. Not bad at all!  It means I can indulge myself in a nice "espresso".

Avis Faenza Ciclismo.

I walk inside the bar and...wow..surprise . . : There I find some cyclist friends from 'Avis Faenza Ciclismo", a team from my home town that last winter I joined for occasional rides with my wife.

Yes, they all have race numbers but they seemed relaxed. As they are led by  "Granfondo" expert and veteran Gian Franco Lama, I am sure they will also have a wonderful and enjoyable ride admiring sceneries and the ristori.

Just time for a coffee and a quick chat, then time to join the back of the queue in the grid.

8am we start! I should say at 8am the first ones are departing. We cleat about 10 minutes later: wings of people and loud music follow the riders from the start line along the seafront.

The first 20km are flat and at these kind of events you have to take extra care as the amount of people can easily create crashes.

We rejoin the group of the Avis Faenza Ciclismo, they are really well behaved, all in line like a team and still led by Lama. Sometimes I wish there would be more teams like this one.

Legs are warming up, after a little climb,we approach the first real climb, then again we can start relaxing and chatting...Then another one in S.Teodorano..where we find the first ristoro! Cakes, jam tart, fruit … but the best is the ristoro “d'epoca”. Due to the fact that today there is also the vintage bikes GF, the "ristori" also provide a vintage menu.

The "ristoro d'epoca' provides meat pie, veggie pie, mushrooms, bread with honey, panini with salami, bread with butter and sugar and Sangiovese to avoid the mouth being dry.

We carry on cycling. After various climbs and downhills we reach one of my favourites climbs called "La Ciola".

At the top of "La Ciola".

Then,  at this time my friend starts to experience little pain in his legs. Probably due to the the transition from MTB to Road Bike. Thanks to him having this little pain, we have a chance to take it easy and enjoy the panorama of the surroundings. This is something that most of the time I don't have a chance to do as I push too much on the saddle.

After a little while we approach Montevecchio, “Cima Pantani”, nicknamed in the honour of the Pirata who used to come here and train.

After taking few photos we keep cycling until we reach the last 30km of flat with wind against us. I could see the pain on my friend's face, nothing to be worried it is quite common for cyclists.

We finally cross the finish line with a really good time!

The weather in Cervia is beautiful. The sun is out and the temperature is pleasant making us reluctant to say goodbye to each other.

We had a great morning of cycling, sharing a passion. We discussed the various issues of the morning before heading back to our cars.

SaddleDrunk Kit still looking good after 5 hours of riding.

The wife and the kids are waiting to hear from me. They are looking forward to share my amazing emotions on my return at home.

A quick shower and drive off to a nice cool-down and relaxing with wife and kids.

You can have a look at the profile of the race,click here 

http://www.strava.com/activities/127747300

Ciao for now, and let's get SaddleDrunk.

Bartolo.