a glimpse of Italy

I was let out of the cage.
Myself and a handful of teammates went into town in search of a bike shop.
Within minutes the road turned into narrow side streets of coblestone. We turned the mirrors inwards in attempt not to scrap the stone walls of the centurys old buildings. Pedestrians, bicycles even dogs clogged these pathways but the tiny euro cars whipped around like go carts.
I had high hopes while walking into an Italian bike shop but I must sat it was disappointing. The shops in Colo. Springs were superior in everyway.
We did stop for Gelato and that did not disappoint.
The trip was brief but offered a break from sitting in the hotel for another afternoon.

Tomorrow we rest. The team is divided in two. The Time Trial which is the first event will be held over two days. The first group mainly being the handcycles. Myself and most of the traditional bikes will go off the next day.
I'll pedal down to the nearest cafe and sip on (hopefully) some good Italian coffee.
I've noticed that if you ask for coffee and not expresso then they refer to it as American black coffee. Sounds like they prefer expresso.
The afternoon will be a light rub down of the legs and a nap.
There's a reason I bust my ass all year long for these races.