www.crashionitaly.wordpress.com
It started at an early age. My love of freedom. A love of bikes, of speed, of only wanting to go faster than the windblown clouds above; of not paying attention to where I was heading, of nonchalance in face of adversity…and rocks. It was then that I set my riding ambition, one which was to exceed my ability. An ambition I have continued to refine, a ‘signature of the man’ it might be said – my lifelong journey to keep the rubber side down. Not always a successful one.
I’m sure my little sojourn into the Alpes of Italy and France will quickly knock the spring out from under my unconditioned legs but there are always the downhills to look forward to. Those big descents…no, HUGE descents! My reward after the unforgiving and seemingly endless slog to the summits. Then my initial alpine onslaught will be tempered with a dose of coastal cruising and a train or two southwards into the baking landscape of the Sicilian hills. Purely for rehydration and recovery, I can’t over do it.
My first riding day has me pushing upwards for 2,200m through the pass of Colle di Sampeyre. I’m grimacing as I know I will be towing a tandem of great pleasure and great pain, a bit like Cadel on Galibier…yeh right. I will punish my unconditioned legs and knotted back up and over mountain plateaus and on to wind whipped pleasure plunging down great jagged passes and fir lined forests to reach the warm sweep of the summer sea. I’ll try and remember the poetry of that when I ‘digging fence posts’ on my way up the 17 windsept and relentless 10% switchbacks of Colle di Tende…that’s my Day 3 climb from Italy into France and then down an initial 8k of guardrail-less dirt road switchbacks. Surviving the descent will deliver me 60K on to the Riviera and refreshment. Food, swim, beer, sleep. Then get up and do it all again!
It will be interesting to see how my bike handles the onslaught of panniers. I’m hoping that my light luggage and light-weight Tubus Fly rack and Ortleib panniers will not tax my beloved Scott CR1. I first fitted SRAM Red gear to it several years ago, along with a 28-11 cassette to tackle the French Alpes on my life-affirming PolkaDot Tour. Since then I have added Force compact cranks for extra spin with the addtional pannier weight in mind, not to mention my lack of condition! A shiny set of Kyserium SL’s have helped shed a few more grams and given me the confidence which comes with a new wheelset, so I can hammer down those descents.
So bike prepared I am off to indulge in my great loves; cycling, panorama and people, of conversing with cows, horses and sheep that I meet along the way. The joys of new cuisine and wine and writing, all I hope are combined here in this very blog. It is my first. I anticipate writing more as I do climbing more mountains.
I also hope this inspires some of you to ride these great alpes with me in the coming years. I have a desire to lead a group of like minded cyclists and life adventurers on a charity ride. My vision is for a group of like minded riders to accompany me on some of the great mountain climbs in France to help raise money for Wat about Cambodia. Now that is a worthy pursuit but I warn you – you’re going to have to ride for it!
Enough of the talk, it is time to stamp the pedals! France and Italy await. I trust you enjoy Crashion as much as I enjoy creating it.
Ciao
Mark ‘Crashion’ Cashion
CRASHION 