Okay I swear this is not a National Lampoon story, but it does have its comical moments, and definitely ends with that happy feeling you always get after watching Love Actually or The Holiday. On Monday I spent the best 190 euro (the bike was 130 euro, I swear helmets are expensive, but I guess it is my head!) I have ever spent, or whatever that converts to dollars as well! I bought a bike, of course with helmet and gloves too! It’s not a fancy Italian Bianchi or Ritchie and does not have gorgeous Campagnolo components, but it is a new working mountain bike, with basic Shimano components, and today I had the most fun on a bike I have had almost ever! I put on my Bella gear, my tennis shoes, because I don’t have clipless pedals, which is very weird, threw my bike over my shoulder, and headed down the stairs of my apartment to the door. After adjusting my seat and getting the first few pedal strokes and realizing I wasn’t actually connected to my bike, I carefully crossed the street and headed in the direction of Villa Pamphili (Pam-pheel-ee). Now as some of you may know the streets of Rome are a dangerous place for pedestrian, car, and scooters, alike…let alone a bike! So I avoided any mishaps, checked behind me every few seconds, figured the street lights out, and rode off to the park. It’s about a 7-minute ride with traffic, with a good hill to climb. But then I am there!!!
Villa Pamphili is the villa of a family in the Renaissance that built a palazzo, triumphal arch, chapel, and extended gardens, surrounded by 400 acres of lush grass, big trees, good trails, and lots of places to descend and climb, that is now the largest public park in Rome! It’s pretty much a cross lovers’ haven!!! I figured out the shifting, I even have a triple up front, and starting some serious getting dirty in true mountain biking style!!! It rained this morning and some last night, so there were plenty of puddles to ride through, mud to fly up onto my bike (and me), slick road to slide on, and lots of fun to have! The grass here is great to ride through and I found some super cool descents to go down, and yes plenty of nice hills to climb, Hernando! I was practically laughing out loud the whole time because I was having so much fun!! Really! I saw a few other cyclists, and of course waved hello and said ciao! It is so cool riding and you look to your right and there is a 500-year-old statue, and a fountain down the way, a huge casino on the horizon, and gorgeous stuff everywhere! It is very surreal! There’s even a gorgeous lake to ride around, and it being Rome, plenty of water spouts to drink from.
Just as I was flying down another grassy hill about to hit another little trail, the wind changed and I took a look up at the sky and knew that it would not be long before the rain came again. So I pedaled back over to one of the entrances, maneuvered through some cars and I was back on the street heading home. I fly down the street that I take back to my apartment that leads to a roundabout and then a nice little hill to really push me in my last effort. I turned onto my street and low and behold I began to feel sprinkles. I pedaled up to my door, found a hose and rinsed off some parts of my bike that were especially muddy, and then headed back up to my apartment. I opened the door, which takes about five minutes, and parked my bike inside, oh yeah it has a kick stand too!!!, and then took off my long sleeve jersey and my helmet and gloves. I headed to the bathroom to find my face covered in mud! The way every ride should be! Then I decided to have a little photo shoot with my bike (see pictures) and then definitely determined I needed a shower, especially considering my full-length mud pants!!! I had sooooo much fun today! I am so happy that I bought a bike to have here in Rome because I am now so much happier than I was! So to end my story, I know it has been a long one, but a true lover affair takes a while to recount, I just wanted everyone to know that Velo Bella has ventured to Rome for all to see and wonder how they two can become a Velo Bella! Thank you all for making me love cycling so much that I couldn’t even go one month without it before breaking down and buy myself a bike!
