2007 Giro d'Italia...
The 2007 Giro d'Italia came to Spoleto (for the second year in a row). It was great to see one of the grand cycling tours up close and personal (since I've watched them for years on TV). The three grand cycling tours are the Giro d'Italia (tour of Italy), Le Tour de France (tour of France), and La Vuelta a Espana (tour of Spain). Cycling is a big sport in Italy. Italians are courteous to cyclists (always giving plenty of space as they pass). You have to be careful though in the corners because you can never assume that drivers are on their side of the road. Still, I felt much safer riding in Italy than I do in the United States.I have been all over Tuscany and Umbria on my bike (a pure Italian bike that I brought with me). My closest riding buddy, Massimo Lauro (grandson to Achille Lauro whose family was at one time the richest family in Italy) rode a Trek (the traitor!). Massimo lived and worked in Naples but on weekends would return to his second home in Citta' della Pieve and we would go riding on Saturdays (usually 60-100 kilometers). Together with Bruno (who should have been named Brutto for how bad he crushed me on these rides), I was exposed to just about every road in the region (some I want to remember and others I prefer to forget). I became a much stronger rider in Italy.
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