going off air for a week or two...

The new tour leaders are trickling in just this moment for a couple weeks of training, riding, drinking and of course, eating... Im sure I will have a whopper of a post when they leave, including details of a metal show way up north, an american themed party in which I plan on wearing cut off denims, an american flag as a cape, with as pervvy a moustache I can muster, and loads of working through the next two weeks. Till then here are some photos of the last week including an introduction to the newest, youngest (La Una is no longer the kid) and smallest of the crew...

Lydia Malpenza Price (spelling unverified, but cute as can be eh?)

I dont care how crazy busy the summer gets! When you can take a 5 minute break with a smile like that its hard to complain...

Saturday a big mountain bike ride with some shady characters...

still a little nervous from their north african adventures this winter...

to see an old villa open to the public for one day only...

complete with frescoes...

and a LLAMA!! Cool.

And then a ton of local hills....

and the strangest of lunch stops. The restaurant here had a fake greeter...

a left over nativity scene with holy goats...

some deserts of questionable ethnic description...

and some really solid advice from warning signs....

their specialty was fried frogs, and snails, and horsetails...strange indeed.

Sunday there was a carnival...

during which I chucked handfulls of coriandoli at these people and more...

and cheered on the Lady Sciucaren, or whip players. They crack a whip as a percussion instrument during traditional folk music. Usually old dudes, this time however...HUBBA HUBBA!

At the end of the day, even the shooting stars had to rest their laurels...

and another old building with suits of armour inside...

Monday a little after work ride through the colour-changing countryside...

and home for the big burger and fries I had wanted all weekend...

Stay tuned for more.... its going to be BUSY week(s)

Scotty

get springgy with it...

Aaaahhh ssssspriiiinnnng. A time for newness, a time for rebirth, a time for fresh faces, and new beginnings. A time to dust off the blankets of winter and plan the next caper, the next adventure. Time to get your sea legs back and get the juices flowing again. Time to get some colour in your pallid skin, shave off that winter warmth and start thinking about short sleeves and iced drinks... I started the week off with a shave...yeah, fuckit. Anyone interrested in a slightly used "hipster survival kit" complete with moustache scissors, comb and wax, tight jeans, and vintage cycling cap - let me know.







Had a delivery on Saturday near Cortona. And awoke to blurry visions of the classic Romagna Neebia (fog).



not much snow to melt into the reservoirs this summer, gonna be a dry year!



Readers of this bullshit assemblage of nonsense will recognize Cortona as the home of many things, like views...



massive churches atop steep hills...



and Hot Dog Pizza!



Got back in time to get scooped up and rushed to a Metal Show near Piacenza, 2 HOURS DRIVE away! A long day in a car needs an equally long night throwing devil horns, blasting air guitar riffs, and head banging with your friends.



Cheer Up Electric Wizard!







Sunday - BIKE! Mountain bike to be exact, over the steep hills around the farm to an amazingly fast downhill, up a ridge line past a climbing spot loaded with families enjoying early warm temps (70°!) and back up over the ridge line through a farm with more mud than expected.









A perfect weekend. But the delivery on Saturday earned me a Monday off and gallivanting around on Loni, familiar hills and new dirt roads, then lunch and a switch to Mary for a ride around with Livia nella Campina (in the farm country) and into town to meet with Yer Man John Wheatley for a pint. So many friends and all 3 bikes in such a short amount of time? You can keep your Asian twins fantasy, My weekend was 90% perfect!

And in case you were wondering...it works best whilst standing like this...



CEE-YAA!

the first week back in the shop

I don't want anyone to get the idea that Life in It-Lee is all sitting around sipping vino, eating massive piles of pasta, and gawking at the outside world passin by. This first week back has left me sick in bed for most of Saturday resting and drinking water after more physical days that I had conjured up upon my return.

The place was a MESS! A quick walk with broom and vacuum and the shop was neat again, tools sorted floors cleaned, trashes out.



The Garage was another story. With roofers fixing the cracking beams with grinder and trough this winter, the place was not only packed into a small corner of itself, but covered in as much silt and dust from the roof repair. Needless to say NOT a one man job.







I busied myself with things I could do alone, tagging all the warrantied wheels on the hybrids was no small task. All the wheels were on the wrong bikes and a domino effect of searching ensued that had the garage floor covered by midday.



Building new bikes and organizing the shop took the rest of the week. As well as an early Wednesday ride into town for a cappuccino proper, past some amazingly detailed new graffiti on the bike underpass.

















Igor returned Friday from Ireland scouting for a new tour this year and lent his mighty hands and back to the efforts of a full days work. With the help of muscles and a power washer, and some old roof racks to double as storage shelves, we have the majority of the mess at least back to "normal".









NOTHING on the floors this year, and thanks to the week I spent at the end of last season all the "like items are together" as Mom used to say. Everything is labeled and ready to be destroyed this season and I cant wait.





Friday after work Bea put together a little aperitif for us all that might become a tradition.



I woke on Saturday with a head cold in full swing! A TON of rest, a load of water, and some good reading was in order. Managed to spread out some art work I wanted to do for a while now too.





The rest of my chocolates did not make it through the night, nor did the left over emergen-c's I brought for just this sort of occasion. Sunday I managed to muster the strength to prune all the trees on the property telling the neighbor Ivo "un giorno adesso, non a tutti il giorni tutti le staggione!" (in my shitty Italian: One day now, not every day all summer long!) I hacked all the branches that will pose a problem for tall vans and allergy sufferers alike and mapped some things I would like to do to the area just as you enter the farm, some landscaping taken from Cousins example of native plants and low water use.



Glad to be back at it, to be at the Farm with a routine all my own, and to have Frank's undivided attention.