Giro d'Ville 2018

At the start of Dry Run, slight derailleur explosion delay.

Grand tours have been going on for the past few decades up and down the East Coast, and the Giro is the first of the year, a Spring treat.  Don’t be fooled, however, and come prepared. Giro will sneak up on an unprepared slummer!

Friday - Day 1 we all met in the GWNF outside Clifton Forge, VA with VIVA on the brain! We rolled out to start our weekend with a 26 mile loop (4500’ elevation). A party pace climb to the first Giro stage – a rolling ‘net’ downhill called Dry Run – this time of year not so dry! A few Class 2 rapids on trail and OTBs left and right throughout the peloton warmed us all up very nicely for the second stage. A brutal grassy ridgetop fire road vortex through field after field of bright sunshine and tall grass to an incredible, freshly brushed downhill that just kept ripping on and on across and down the mountain. We popped out right at our cars and drove up to camp in a pocket between Warm Springs and Brushy Mountains.

Party pace regroup.

Critical handoffs

1st party pace climb of Giro 2018!

Ellen loved Day 1's second downhill.

Saturday we woke up to pancake breakfast and rolled out of camp around 10 am to tackle Day 2, 36 miles and 5800’ of climbing.  

Group shot

On the way to the firetower.

Morning of Day 2.

Winston crushed his first Giro full pull.

SAG so good.

Sam and I before Sandy Gap downhill.

 

 

Men's leader Nick Bragg wore the pink jersey every day!

 

 

Compton dislocated his hand, still gave Giro SAG love.

We party paced up a long dirt road climb to see the sights from the fire tower before bombing Sandy Gap downhill as our first timed section of the day. I was so sad to flat early on in this stage, as I was leading a serious party train and I wanted so badly to slide through some CCC built cribwall turns... but alas, when you ride like an asshole you better put more air in your EXOs!!! After 8 plugs and all my CO2 gone, (aka Lindsey is the unprepared slummer- who carries a pump or tubes?!?!) then Wendy hooked me up with a pump, then Shirey with a tube, and Cheng with the flat change assist!! Thankfully Sam brought the heat and covered Team Salsa with a stage win. I got down just in time for a quick face stuff and we rolled out to climb to our next stage start. A ridge ride north on Fore Mountain to a sweet hairpin switchback descent. Blowing turns and then bombing through skinny singletrack covered in a foot of leaves with many surprises lying underneath. Sometimes our front wheels had minds of their own! This trail in particular was the best of the mountain laurel hallways, it made watching Dicky hang on to a bucking rigid singlespeed even more beautiful. We then rode as a group through Douthat State Park, upping the stoke with some party pace descending through the peaked laurel, blooming rhododendron and azalea.

Hoy and the laurel.

iL Director Marty!

We needed all the flower power we could get to race back to camp, 2000’ above us. As we climbed we ascended into clouds of misty rain, thank goodness because we were all hot as balls. Strong local knowledge around us motivated our posse to pedal steady and hike strong up Brushy Mountain before a quick rocky ripper to drop 200 feet down to our Giro camp zone. 

 

Day 3 we had an early breakfast of lox bagels, and packed up to drive southeast an hour to Arcadia, VA to camp on the James River. This day turned out to be very classy, very splashy, and quite raw ass-y. The peloton rode from the river to start on the stick of the lollipop loop we rode that day through the Jefferson National Forest. We rode fire road to singletrack up and then turned down a lot of tight tight switchbacks and regrouped before timing up a second climb that popped out on the Blue Ridge Parkway. 80% of the peloton made it in before the skies opened, and we had a bridge penguin huddle party for lunch. Gritty chamoised and full bellied, we rode the parkway a few miles before a mass start downhill with a few punchy mini climbs and surprise rock gardens. One wheel explosion on this stage – sorry Christian! And quite a few flats – including one fixed in an impressive 2 minutes by Giro Men’s Leader Nick Bragg. Once the carnage was sorted, we continued on to a long gravel and dirt road transfer. Incredibly scenic roads led us to another SAG stop before we somehow ended up back on the lollipop stick and timed the trails we had ridden earlier in the opposite direction back to river camp. We rode 39 miles and 6600’ of climbing this day, pasta dinner and WOP sauce made fresh by Giro kitchen was earned!!

Recycle balloon trash for warmth!

Parkway bridge lunch rain shelter.

Monday morning, so bittersweet! 37 miles and 6100’ elevation. Day 4 of Giro was the most fun, with an immense amount of STEEP party pace climbing and two sweet timed sections – the first a ripping ridge to a wet, loose, leaf slide descent that popped out on fast doubletrack with mudslide corners – Sam’s specialty, as he won this stage! Last year this was where I broke out a front tooth, and I had been looking forward to redemption all weekend! We climbed and climbed after this stage to our SAG stop 6 miles above us off of the parkway. Small visits to bonktopia throughout the climb were countered by beautiful waterfalls to stop and snack near. Most made it to lunch and tent shelter as the rain began, so considerate of the Giro gods to plan the weather so accordingly for us the past two days! Now the peloton was primed for a quick transfer to a rolling start for the final stage of the Giro. A few miles of uphill gravel grinding where the downhillers must hurt to get a good hole shot onto trail. Dad and I pushed each other up the road and then we rolled a Carpenter train down Little Cove Mountain to finish our Giro with major adrenaline and big smiles.

Sam kept my Redpoint pimped all weekend.

Pink jersey wearers, Laura and Nick.

Master of course creation Jeff.

Rainy lunch SAG on Day 4.

The Giro is a special gathering of incredible people. The motivation and drive within the peloton among mortals and pros is contagious, and there are always things to learn from complete mountain bike group ride immersion. It's amazing to ride with close to 40 people all with real lives and jobs and educations and families, who crush it. The discomfort of physical fatigue and poison ivy and tick bites is known and collectively shared – so there is no whining, and the amount of positivity and great attitude spreads itself across the group so that a collective peloton can go big. The Giro is a magical weekend spent shredding your lungs, legs, and fabulous trail with inspirational, like-minded people. Thank you to il Directors, Marty Quinn and Chris Hoy, and to all of FOOF for your moves made for sweet camping spots, routes, trail pimping, food, SAG, and stoke. Viva!! 

Pepe on the podium.

Quick tiebreaker.

Nick Bragg with the Sprint jersey (and the pink!!), Coco with the KOM, and Winston with DFL.

 

Endless Giro.. Thank goodness! Viva