Several years ago, as you'll know if you have read this blog from the beggining, I lived in the lovely city of Torino in the North of Italy. I still maintain that my love of cycling was born in Turin because (as described at length in my first post!) that is where I got my first bike as an adult, saw the Giro D'Italia and spent countless hours cycling around the city. It was also where I first heard of a remarkable man named Gino Bartali.
Bartali won the Giro three times in his career and the Tour De France once. Bartali's feat of winning three consecutive mountain stages (13, 14 and 15) in the 1948 Tour de France has never been equaled. If that wasn't enough reason to fall in love with someone then know this: during World War II Bartali used his fame as a cyclist as a cover to deliver messages and documents in order to save Jewish people. Pretending to train, he would ride miles and miles to take documents back and forth and also is said to have hidden a Jewish family in his cellar. What a man.
For anyone interested I would strongly recommend reading Road to Valour or if you're up for an emotional rollercoaster you should watch the Rai Television TV adaptation 'Bartali - L'Intramontabile' (Bartali - Timeless) although I can't find it anywhere with English subtitles. It does star Pierfrancesco Favino as Bartali - and there are a lot of action shots of Pierfrancesco riding - and what a sight that is - highly recommended even if you do not speak Italian. It's worth it for Favino and his thighs. Anyway.
Here's a small taste of the glory
The reason I have been thinking about Bartali, other than just because he was brilliant, is because I think I have started to enjoy cycling up hills. I am not sure that I can explain exactly how this strange development has come about but there's a real difference now when I'm on a hill. I stay in the saddle, just like our man Bartali who often stayed in the saddle throughout a 15km climb. Now, I don't think I would like (or be able) to take on a 15km climb, and if I did I am sure I would not enjoy it. Small, steep climbs are great fun though. The sense of achievement at the top of the hill is unlike anything I have felt before. Nice that I am riding the same route as when I first started so I can feel the difference on each bit of the route - I can remember struggling to get out of the Dale and now that feels like one of the easier bits (between Wolsingham and Frosterley).
Cycling is just very good for me. I have noticed a change in my physique - my thighs are very toned and I'm losing weight steadily. I have noticed that my confidence on the bike has gone up; not only do I feel better going uphill but I am less scared of the downhill and am less likely to have the brakes firmly on when I'm descending. This is because I feel like I know the bike better and that I am in control.
So it's all good. I shall continue to channel my inner Bartali and I shall be the Queen of the Mountains (well, hills).
Kimberley
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