Giro up close

Cyclists know what the Giro is. For everyone else: The Giro d'Italia (Tour of Italy) is the second most famous bicycle race in the world, after Tour de France. Like the Tour, the Giro is a stage race, consisting of a series of one-day races which together make something like a grand tour of a region. And like the Tour, the Giro isn't always confined to its home country. Last year the Tour began in Britain. This year the Giro had one stage that started in Italy and ended in Switzerland, and another that starts in Switzerland and ends in Italy. The Italy-to-Switzerland stage was today, and it went right through Lugano.

Being a master of organization, of course I was scheduled to give a public lecture not only on the day the Giro came through Switzerland, but in fact at the very time it was scheduled to pass through Lugano. After some cajoling by graduate students I asked to postpone my seminar by half an hour, and a small group of us made an expedition to a particular roundabout that was close (10-15 minute walk) and seemed like a good viewpoint.

Some minutes before the cyclists reached our viewpoint, a van selling souvenirs drove through. A recorded voice exclaimed, in Italian, what a wonderful deal it was to get a souvenir T-shirt for just 10 Euros, or a bandana for 3. I actually approached the van, but heard the driver telling another prospective customer that the prices were in Euros and he would only accept Euros; Swiss Franks were not accepted at any exchange rate. Just as well, probably.

The street was edged with a curb of two or three inches to the sidewalk, which formed a corner at the exit of the roundabout where we were stationed. A policeman told us to stand back, because the cyclists would go over that section of sidewalk. We obeyed, but I knew he must be mistaken because there was no way you'd want to hit that curb at high speed. It would surely break rims or at least spokes.

I was wrong ... the cyclists did indeed pass over that corner of the sidewalk. Most did an elegant little bunny hop (at about 30mph) to just clear the lip. A few didn't quite hop it but still cushioned the blow a bit. I was very surprised, and impressed at the skill and quick judgment.

As expected, the opportunity to actually see the riders was short. The first group of three (the "break") passed, and then a couple minutes later the main group passed, and it was just a few seconds for each. After that quite a convoy of team and other support vehicles passed. I might have stretched that time out a bit if I had ridden out to the Monte Ceneri pass to watch them go up the hill. As it happens, that is part of my regular weekend route to Bellinzona, and it would have been fun to watch these top professionals riding the same rode I have ridden many times. But it was fun anyway to see a top professional race, and it was a good return on an investment of only about an hour and a half all together, counting the walk to and and from and time waiting.