I have returned from the Italy trip safe and sound and, unfortunately, with a nasty cold. Thankfully, there are signs that it is loosening its grip on my head and chest. My chances of racing this weekend are poor however.

Anyway, the trip was a lot of fun with great riding. Anyone who followed the Giro knows the weather was less than ideal and we were not immune from the conditions either. No day was a complete washout but after a while it seemed that every morning you expected to be cold and rained on. Our clothes never seemed to dry out.

Enough of the complaining. As I wrote above, the riding was great and the country was still beautiful. The land was as stunning as I had hoped for and seen in pictures. In my trips to France I found that country to have some very pretty areas but Italy is at another level.

Over the coming days I will be weeding through my photos and hope to post a few with recaps of each days activities.