I'm in this great little place (sort of a B&B) near the Spanish Steps in Roma tonight. They have a computer and I don't have to pay for it, yippee (finally). I want to get a little caught up in picture posting since I can already predict very little time for this when I get home and I just don't want to lose any of the memories or not share them with you!
This story comes from the second to the last day of the bike trip (we were riding to Sorano from Orvieto, I believe). I took the extra loop option (was always a good thing since I had lots of time to rap with whoever the ride leader was that day...I learned so much extra stuff about Italy, the culture, history, etc., this way since our leaders are so full of info. And, the pace was pretty steadily high so it was good training at the same time. That day I was riding with Frank (oh, random cool info: his girlfriend is related to the Zarlengo family in Denver! I never really thought about it, that they are Italian.)
Anyway, we found this little old bike shop that looked closed up. We were looking in the windows when the happiest, healthiest little old man (83 years old, but looked at least a decade younger) came over and opened the door. He is still so passionate about bikes as he has been throughout his life. He will work in the shop forever, he has no plans to sell.
Outside of the shop.
This bike (the one where you see the front wheel in the left part of the shot) is one he still uses. It has a motor on it, and the mechanism to allow the whole thing to be used as a pedaled bike or motorized one is really neat to see.
Floor mat as you walk in the door:
This is me with the shop owner. I have his info, he wants a copy of this picture. (He doesn't speak a word of English, again, another reason I need to learn Italian. I have a very long list of reasons at this point.) =)
Tiny shop, but tons of bikes!
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