The Cyclists Ch. 03

That evening, we attended the nightly information gathering and listened to the band that played afterwards. According to the veterans we spoke with at dinner, people got going very early in the morning, so we decide to get to bed early. As we settled into our sleeping bags, Kate said, "Based on how much I can hear from the people around us, I don't think we will be having sex all week!"

Julie giggled and asked, "Will you survive, Kate?" The four of us laughed and managed to fall asleep.

We were awakened by the noise of tent and sleeping bag zippers opening and the slamming of porta-potty doors. We got up and noticed it was very cold, cold enough for the condensation on the top of our tent to freeze! Luckily, we took the advice of the veterans and slept with our riding clothes in our sleeping bags. We quickly dressed, stowed all of our gear, dropped it all off with the trucks and headed for breakfast. When we had finished eating, we aired our tires up, filled our water bottles and then hit the road.

The air was quite chilly and very bracing, but as the sun got higher in the sky, the day warmed up quickly. We stopped at the first rest stop and dropped our excess gear with the gear drop guy to be hauled into camp. We then stood in line to relieve ourselves of our morning coffee and then grabbed some food. Once we were back on the road, we really started riding. We rode our regular paceline as we breezed down the road passing lots of other riders. The route took us through Bend (where we had lunch), Sunriver and to our destination of La Pine.

As we rode into La Pine, I asked Julie and Kate if they wanted to stop into the gas station and say hi to their friend? They both laughed and explained the joke to Sarah. Once we got into camp, we got our gear, set up our tent and bags and then hit the showers. We were amongst the first to arrive and discovered that we were hungry, but dinner wasn't until 5pm and it was just 2:30. There was a guy who made smoothies, one selling Ben and Jerry's ice cream and near the beer garden was pizza. We all opted for pizza and then ice cream!

The second day's ride took us from La Pine to Diamond Lake via a very circuitous route. By the end of the day we had logged 97 miles, so we rode the extra 3 to get our century. We set up our tent in an area that wouldn't allow us to have neighbors close by. Before we hit the showers, Kate asked me to fuck her, so Julie and Sarah hit the showers and left us alone.

It was interesting having sex with Kate in the tent. She was trying very hard to keep quiet, though her natural inclination was scream out her joy. I ended up fucking her doggy style so that she could bury her face into her pillow. We were both very horny due to the absence of sex during the ride, so we both took advantage of this opportunity. Kate, after a long session in her vagina, told me she wanted me to cum in her ass, so I pulled out of her vagina and after finding some chamois cream, lubed up my cock and impaled her cute little rosebud.

I had just begun pounding Kate's backdoor when I heard the tent zipper being undone. "Aren't you two finished yet?" uttered Julie.

Kate and I ignored Julie and kept fucking until we both climaxed. When we had recovered enough, Kate said, "You can have him next Julie." Kate and I then headed for the showers and left Julie and Sarah. When we returned we heard some moaning and when we opened the tent flap we found Julie and Sarah in a 69. When they finished, Kate asked, "Did you two have fun?" Suddenly all three women began laughing and giggling.

The next day was designated as a rest day which meant we would camp in the same place for a second night. The rest day ride was up to and around Crater lake which was arranged by special permission from the National Park Service. This time we went up and down the side we didn't take last year. It was a glorious day and the blue of the lake was incredible. Sarah had never been to Crater Lake before and was amazed by the beauty.

The following day took us to Dorena Lake which was at a much lower altitude, thus the temperatures were much warmer. The ride was mostly downhill, so we covered the 60 odd miles very quickly. We had only three more days of riding and all four of us were wishing it would keep on going.

One day, Sarah was riding alongside me and asked, "I was wondering if you and Kate would mind if I came to Italy with you? I can pay my own way. It's just that I really like riding with you guys and I was loving the descriptions of Italy and the mountains. If it would be a pain, I'll understand."

"Well, let me talk to Kate and see what she thinks, okay?"

Sarah said that would be fine, so I drifted back to Kate and told her about Sarah's request. Kate said, "I don't know. I think it would be unfair to Julie if she gets left behind."

"I know I thought that too, so what I'm thinking is we tell Julie to quit her job and all four of us will go. I know Julie will feel like she's leeching off of us, but I think she'll feel better if we tell her she gets to cook every night. Frankly, I'd love that."

"Do you think she'll go for that?"

"We won't know until we ask her."

Kate laughed and said, "Then let's ask her!"

I rode up alongside Julie and said, "Julie, Sarah asked if she could come to Italy with Kate and I and we didn't think that would be fair to you being left behind. So, she and I have come up with a solution that we think is a good one. Kate and I would like you to quit your library job and just cook for all of us full time. That way you'd have the flexibility we have to ride all of the time with us. Between Kate and I we make more than enough money to support us all and we'd really like you to be able to do everything with us. What do you think?"

Julie rode along for a long while without any facial expression at all and then began to slow down and stopped at the side of the road. I stopped next to her wondering what she was thinking and then I saw the tears forming in her eyes and I thought, 'uh-oh'. After a few seconds she twisted her torso towards me, leaned forward and hugged me as she said, "That would be wonderful. And, Reg...I love you so much it hurts!"

I smiled and hugged her back and said, "I love you too, Julie and I hope you live with us forever because I'd die if you left us."

Julie and I remounted and pushed hard to catch up with Kate and Sarah. When the four of us were all together I said, "Okay, here's the deal. We are all going to Italy for two weeks. I'll email Daniele in Italy and get him to secure two more places in the Lombardia sportif when we get to camp. When we get home, I'll start arranging transportation to and from Europe for all of us, all of our hotels and a van to carry everything in."

When I finished all three of my girls whooped for joy. Kate began telling them both about how beautiful Lake Como was and how cool it was to watch the race. Kate then turned to me and asked, "Do you think we can get a new bike for Sarah while in Milan?" I told her I would include that request in my email to Daniele.

The remainder of our Cycle Oregon ride was overshadowed by everyone's excitement about Italy. When we finally got home and had everything put away, I sat down at my computer to begin making arrangements for flights and hotels. I got a nice long email from Daniele which said that getting a bike for Sarah was no problem and to come to the factory as soon as we arrived. He also said that he and Giulia would like us all to stay with them a night or two when we arrive. So, based on that I made our plans.

When I had everything done, I sat everyone down and said, "Okay, here's the plan for Italy. The day we arrive we will pick up our van and drive directly to the Bianchi plant where Sarah will get sized and get her new bike."

Sarah's eyes got big as she said, "I'm getting a new bike?"

Kate said, "Yeah, one like ours. We're on a team so we should all ride the same bikes!"

I then continued, "We'll spend a couple of nights with Daniele and Giulia at their place. Next, we'll drive to Bormio and spend a couple of nights there. When we arrive and after we get our hotel, we'll do a ride up the Stelvio pass and then back to Bormio. It will be short but a lot of climbing and descending. That will be a warm up for the next day which will be very hard. We'll ride down the valley to Mazzo di Valtellina and up the Passo di Mortirolo, considered one of the hardest climbs in cycling. We'll descend into Monno and then head east to Ponte di Legno and then head north to the Passo di Gavia and back to Bormio. This day would test a European pro it will be so difficult, but I think we can do it.

"After that we can take a day off and drive to Cortina d'Ampezzo and then spend a few days around there. Next, I thought we could drive south and spend a couple of days in Venice doing the tourist thing and then head to Garda and ride around Lake Garda. Last, before we head to Lake Como, I'd like to go to Parma because of a book by John Grisham called 'Playing for Pizza'. Parma is famous for its cheese, Parmesan, and for its prosciutto or Parma ham.

"Lastly, we'll head to Civenna to stay at the Mirabeau while we do the sportif and watch the race. We'll spend a couple of nights in Milano and then fly back from there. Sound good?"

The three girls all nodded and then Kate asked, "Could you show us on a map?"

I had an older map and highlighted everything that was planned and then showed it to them. They all said it sounded great and said we should, probably, do a lot of climbing beforehand. We had about two and a half weeks before we were leaving, so we planned multiple rides up to Timberline Lodge and to Larch mountain.

A few days before our departure, I packed Kate's, Julie's and my bikes in hard cases and FedEx'd them to Daniele in Milano. We had to use our old bikes with the fenders on for our last few rides at home, but thought it worth it to know they would be there for us. As the day of our departure grew nearer, the excitement level grew amongst us.

Our flights were going to be on United to San Francisco and Lufthansa to Frankfurt and then down to Milano. I splurged and got all of us first class tickets so we would have the beds to sleep on during the 10+ hour flight to Frankfurt. Julie and Sarah had never flown in 1st class, so they were very excited. Our flights all went on time and we arrived in Milano around 10am. We got our van with a bike carrier on the back and headed to the Bianchi plant.

I explained to the receptionist that Daniele was expecting us, so she called him and in a few minutes he came bounding out to the lobby. He gave me a hug and then he hugged Kate followed by Julie. I then introduced him to Sarah and said that she was the one that was getting the bike. Daniele lead the way to the fitting jig and watched as Marco got her fitted. When he was finished, he said in Italian, "So, three women for you and they're all beautiful! You must be quite a man!"

I laughed and replied, "Not really, I think it's my lovable nature!"

Marco laughed and said, "That's alright, you deserve lots of love! I'll have the new bike ready in an hour or so."

Daniele lead us to his office and said, "Julie, you didn't get the full package from me before, so I'd like to give you these gifts and the same for Sarah."

I then asked, "So, how much do we owe on the bicycle for Sarah?"

Daniele looked at me smiled and said, "Nothing, thanks to Kate!"

Kate looked startled and asked, "What do you mean, nothing, thanks to me?"

Daniele laughed and said, "The ad campaign we ran using your picture was a gold mine! We had our best year last year and a lot of that was due to your picture. We sold more bikes this year to women than we ever had before. So, since you won't take money from us, we will give you bikes! It's the best way we have of saying thank you. As a matter of fact, we need to go to the CEO's office."

Daniele herded us to the top floor to the CEO's office. We got a very warm welcome from him, especially Kate. "I just want to thank you, Kate for allowing us to use your picture in our ad campaign for the year. I'm sure Daniele told you we had the best season ever and sold more bikes to women than we ever have in the past. So, I just want to tell you that we are currently working on a new frame that we expect to be far superior to the bikes you have now and when it goes into production, we will send each of you one of those bikes. So, besides Team Ducati next season, only the four of you will be riding that bike! Also, tonight all of you, Daniele and his wife will be joining me for dinner. I realize that you probably don't have nice clothes, so I have instructed Daniele to take you shopping this afternoon. So, until this evening..."

We all took our leave and waited for Daniele to get the call regarding Sarah's bike. When the call finally came, we headed down to the fitting room to see Sarah's gleaming new bike. Marco apologized for taking so long, but he said he had to wait for the paint to dry before he could release it. When Daniele asked what paint, Marco pointed at the top tube which read, To Sarah with love, Kate. When Daniele saw it, he smiled and pointed it out to Sarah who gasped and then flung herself into Kate's arms while crying and blubbering 'thank you' over and over.

We put Sarah's bike on the rack and then followed Daniele to his house. When we arrived, we got a fabulous welcome from Giulia and met their two kids. We dumped our gear and Sarah's bike and then all climbed back into the van to go clothes shopping. I got a really nice Armani suit, while the women all got nice designer evening gowns.

The dinner was at a very nice, upscale restaurant and featured regional specialties in food and wine. There were, also, several Bianchi vice presidents in attendance. After dinner, the CEO made a speech in English honoring Kate's achievement as a rider and how that translated into gold for Bianchi. He said that any victory, no matter how small the race, was a big victory in the eyes of their company.

At the end of the dinner, we were all a little loopy from all of the drink except for Daniele who abstained because he was driving. When we got back to the house, all of us from the US just wanted to sleep due to jetlag. I shared a bed with Kate while Julie and Sarah shared a bed. As we lay there Kate said, "I feel kind of silly with all of this attention over winning a state championship. Compared to winners of the Giro or the Tour, I'm nothing."

I chuckled and said, "No you aren't, you are a winner and the joy on your face in that picture said it all. That could have been in the world championships as far as anyone could tell and you looked like you had just won the rainbow jersey. It was a perfect picture of a perfect moment and the Bianchi folks saw that and I saw that."

Kate kissed me and then said, "Thanks, but I still feel silly."

We went to sleep and slept until about 11am. When we awoke, we drank coffee and entertained Daniele and Giulia's little girls. They were the spitting image of their mother and would grow up to be quite beautiful I was sure. Daniele and I spent the day reassembling the bikes I had shipped and talking while the women sat out on the deck taking in the autumn sun.

The next morning, Kate, Julie, Sarah and I took off for Bormio very early in order that we would have enough time to ride up the Stelvio and back. Upon arrival in Bormio, we checked into our hotel early, changed clothes and then headed out on our bikes.

We rode northeast up the first part of the Stelvio climb and then turned left up the Umbrail pass and the long way around to Prato allo Stelvio which was a little over 50km. After a long downhill and a relatively flat ride through a valley, we got to Prato allo Stelvio and stopped for some food, drink and to replenish our water bottles. After around 30 minutes we started out again up the iconic east side of the climb with the 48 switchbacks to an altitude of over 9000 feet above sea level, the second highest paved road in Europe.

I had ridden this climb multiple times in races and reconnaissance rides during my racing days. I let Kate set the pace which everyone was used to as we made our way up the hill. Everyone was spinning a nice low gear and were looking very comfortable as we ascended. We were passed by a multitude of motorcyclists who liked racing up the switchbacks. Thankfully they gave us a wide berth and caused no problems.

The higher we went the colder the air got and after a while we could see the remnants of an early snow fall. It took us about 2 hours to finally get to the top of the climb and all three girls had huge smiles on their faces when we summited. We took individual pictures with the summit sign and then got a motorcycle rider to take a group picture of us. I was so proud of all three women!

While stopped Julie asked Sarah, "So, how's the new bike?"

Sarah had a grin from ear to ear and replied, "It felt as though I was floating up the hill! It's wonderful!"

The ride downhill was going to be pretty fast and technical with more hairpin turns as well as pretty cold, so we put on jackets and long fingered gloves and began our descent back down to Bormio. Julie really liked descending fast, so she led the way down. She almost lost it on one of the hairpins because of water on the road, but managed to stay upright. Upon our arrival at our hotel, we were all excited but tired. We had two rooms and, on this night, I was with Julie. We showered in our respective rooms and then gave each other leg massages.

After we had freshened up, we went to an early dinner because we were all starving from our effort. As we ate, I told the girls about our ride the next day. "The length is a longer than today and there are two monster climbs with the Mortirolo first and then the Gavia. So, I think the ride will be pretty tough. The Mortirolo is very steep in places and is considered one of the hardest climbs in professional racing. It will be challenging, but I'm confident you will all do well."

Julie wanted to have sex despite how hard the day was and she wanted to ride me, so I lay on my back as she straddled me. She was riding me nice and slow while taking me in her long and deep. "Reg, I want you to know how thankful I am that you and Kate have taken me in. I love you both so much! I'm loving this trip and the ride today was spectacular and I can't wait until tomorrow."

"I love you too, Julie and I'm very glad that you are in my life."

The next morning, we ate breakfast and then got ready for our ride. We rode south through a long valley to Mazzo di Valtellina where the climb of the Mortirolo starts. The side we were riding is considered the hardest with some extremely steep ramps. None of the girls had ever ridden anything quite as severe as the steepness of the Mortirolo, but they performed admirably and nobody was left behind. When we got to the top, we stopped for a few minutes to take pictures again. Sarah said, "We should all be proud of ourselves for tackling that! When we get back to Bormio, I think we should visit the spa I read about as a treat to ourselves."

"I agree," Kate concurred. "Laying in a hot pool sounds wonderful right now!"

We remounted our bikes and headed downhill towards our next obstacle, the Gavia pass. At the bottom of the hill we turned left at the village of Monno towards the village of Ponti di Legno where we stopped for coffee and lunch.

After refilling our water bottles we headed back up hill towards the Gavia Pass, another legendary climb of the Giro d'Italia. The first part of the climb was through a forested area where the ramps kicked up to 16%. Once out of the trees, the views of the mountains were spectacular. We could see the road snake up the hill which could be a little intimidating, but the four of us persevered and were rewarded with the view from the top. We stopped for pictures again at the top and then put our jackets on because it was quite cool at the summit.