Predicitons of this years winner...

This year's grand tour of the Giro d'Italia did not bring any tense moments. Everything is very predictable. Even when we watched the broadcasts of the stages at our bar, we announced the course of the stage in advance. We were all smart, but at the end of the stage, it was about as we had predicted. There were almost no quarrels and fights haha. We usually quarrel a little at all races. We didn't this time! (hahaha) I haven’t had my favorite rider in a long time. Who would you cheer for? I also asked the boss who he would like the final victory to be, but he also didn’t know. But we agreed that we didn't like Carapaz. (wow) And now you're going to say, why not? We just don't like it. It is true that he rides the most beautiful bike for us, but he is not a nice cyclist. But he definitely is in a good shape. And so we decided to keep our fists up for the Australian.

Jai Hindley's best win! He had already won once and we really wanted him to win. Bora-Hansgrohe showed very good teamwork. In my opinion. They surprised me so much. They showed something new. Kämna proved to be a great helper and the whole team saved a lot of style from what is not Sagana.

A taste of Giro di'Italia

Since part of the 19th stage took place on Slovenian soil, we decided not to miss it. In a good two days, we left the bar and went to Kobarid with a group of friends. On Thursday we started cycling from Ljubljana. Five men and two girls. Boško put together a really nice route. If you follow me on Strava, you can watch it. Time served us! We drove past Škofja Loka, to Železniki, where we stopped for coffee. We had some drinks, got some rest, and climbed on Petrova Brdo. Boško crashed into the last serpentines, me and the boss behind him, the others did not follow. The jump was a success! (hehe). A few kilometers earlier, in the village of Kneža, we turned onto Podmelec and drove to Tolmin along a beautiful road, without traffic and almost without a living soul. From here we were quickly in Kobarid. And here everything is pink! Beautifully decorated streets, school, kindergarten, fire station, bars, hotel,… In short, everything. Waiters in pink T-shirts, waitresses with pink nails, and even shop assistants were all in pink.

Combining hard work with fun!

We were located a little out of Kobarid, in the village of Mangold. There are about 5 kilometers of slope to get there! And so only we and of course, Boško went up. Others went in cars. And it paid off. Tanja good job! She booked a really beautiful house, with a beautiful view of the mountains. We quickly settled in and Ali had already lit the grill. Tjaša pulled a huge karaoke speaker from somewhere and it started! Great food, drinks, dancing, and karaoke. And then Boško convenes a meeting. Plan for tomorrow. He did explain it for an hour, but let me sum it up. We drove 40 kilometers, made 1700 m of altitudes, and then cheer. Oh, dear! It's almost midnight, we dance, and in the morning… In the morning we got up, got dressed in cycling clothes, and drove everything according to Boško's instructions. Beautiful route, full of views and of course steep slopes (hahaha). From Kobarid to Livek, then to Kolovrat, descent to Dreko and back to Livek.

Entertaining the racers... yes, please!

For lunch, we had pasta with truffles. Great! Made on a stall at Livko, but better than in a five-star restaurant. They also had a cute beer stand at this stall, about a meter and a half long (hehe). But it was easily carried by our little Dani. Soon we heard the helicopter, the honking, and the screaming. We grabbed Slovenian flags and cheered. And for who? Yes, for everyone! Since we have already ridden this slope today, we admired all the competitors who flew to this same slope with incredible speed as we were attracted (high). Boško and Ali couldn't resist the small pink children's bikes along the road and grabbed them, riding with them next to the peloton and the disco group. The contestants laughed at them, van Der Poel chuckled with laughter. We hoped that some kind of attack would happen at this stage, but it was peaceful. If there is no attack tomorrow, this Giro will really remain in my memory as the most boring since I have been watching cycling.

Last climb for the win...

We came to Kobarid, where we had cars. We changed into "gyro" uniforms and pink T-shirts of the organizer. Cycling enthusiasts from all over were already gathering in the main square. We just walked across the square and met a lot of familiar faces. The "Zvita feltna" ensemble was already warming up on stage. The guys were phenomenal and so were we. After all the kilometers we danced until late hours and this finished our "Giro". It was raining on Saturday and we headed back to the bar. Together with our guests, we watched the last stage, which would bring changes. And really! The final ascent to Marmolada (Passo Fedaia) served us with interesting events. First, we hoped that the stage would be won by a Slovenian, Domen Novak - Lojz. Unfortunately, he failed. Then, with excellent performance, the Bora-Hansgrohe team achieved its goal. They got rid of Carapaza! Jai was noticeably too strong for him and so he took over the pink shirt. Let me say that I have already taken this ascent. Well, it would be better if I said I was drawn to the top. I didn’t even know where I was going. We were with the company and I just drove where they said. A strenuous climb. Steep. The last two kilometers do not allow you even a little rest, there is no possibility to turn your legs. During the ultimate turn, I thought I would lean on the guardrail a bit, only then I wouldn't start. (hahaha) Jai Hindley just pedaled to the top and arrived at the finish line with a big smile.

Last and not least...

Finally, the last Sunday has come. Chronometer. We did not expect any changes at the top. We would cycle along two routes of varying difficulty, see the chronometer, and finish by drawing a Pony bike. So we had a good time. Anyway, the guys from Kofirajr came (podcast over coffee). Towards the end of the chronometer, a huge number of us gathered. The bar was full. We all followed the last moments of the chronometer. And again me with my observation. I watched our guests. Some are really real cyclists, some a little less, and also those who are not at all. But they, too, watched it all with interest. “How long till the start?”, “How many?”, “Who starts first”, “Why did he catch up?” “Lots of questions. Those who know why they are answering calmly, even the boss. And all in all, it’s really cute.

We got a winner of our own!

Giro d'Italia 2022 is over! Not here yet. We had 10 bags of nice prizes ready and of course a pink Pony bike. Among the prizes were sweaters, polo shirts, and water bottles from Approved, ceramic cups and photo stand Kofirajd, and some other little things from our suppliers. The main prize for the Pony bike was contributed by Velo Črnuče. Old and young, women and men, were waiting for this, as well as a few dogs that were in the bar at the time. (hahaha) Irena won the bike, who cried out so much that his dog Arči ran away under the table and stayed there for a long time.

The guests slowly dispersed, and my boss and I had already started packing the pink props. All the pink balloons were picked up by a local entertainer and taken to an unknown destination. So we had fun in pink for three weeks, now a little break and then we'll dress the bar in yellow!

Until then, join us in our mid-rounds. We gather every Wednesday at 4.45 pm, classify ourselves into different strength groups, do a nice 50 km and chat over a drink. We regularly publish weekend trips on social networks. See you!

ZAKLJUČEK GIRA NAS JE UTRUDIL

Letošnji grand tour Giro d'Italia ni prinesel kakšnih napetih trenutkov. Vse je potekalo zelo predvideno. Tudi, ko smo gledali prenose etap pri nas v lokalu, smo že v naprej napovedali potek etape. Vsi smo pametovali, a na koncu etape je bilo približno tako, kot smo napovedali. Kregov in prepirov skoraj ni bilo. Po navadi se pri vseh tekmah vsaj malo skregamo. Tokrat se nismo! (hahaha)

Jaz dolgo časa nisem našla svojega favorita. Za koga bi navijala? Tudi šefa sem spraševala komu bi želel končno zmago, pa tudi ni vedel. Bila sva pa složna, da nama Carapaz ni všeč. (ojoj) In sedaj boste rekli kako da ne? Pač nama ni všeč. Res, da vozi nama najlepše kolo, a ni simpatičen kolesar. Je pa dober in v formi. In tako sva se odločila, da drživa pesti za Avstralca. Naj zmaga Jai Hindley! Enkrat mu je zmaga že ušla in res sva si želela, da zmaga. Bora–Hansgrohe je pokazala zelo dobro timsko delo. Moje mnenje. Mene so presenetili. Pokazali so nekaj novega. Kämna se je izkazal kot odličen pomočnik in celotna ekipa je zelo spremila stil od kar ni Sagana.

Ker je potekal del 19. etape po slovenskih tleh, sva se odločila, da tega ne bova zamudila. Za dobra dva dni sva zapustila lokal in s skupino prijateljev odšla v Kobarid. V četrtek smo s kolesi štartali iz Ljubljane. Pet mož in dve deklini. Boško je sestavil res lepo traso. Če mi slediš na Stravi, si jo lahko ogledaš. Vreme nam je služilo! Peljali smo se mimo Škofje Loke, v Železnike, kjer smo se ustavili na kavici. Malo smo se napojili, malo spočili in se vzpeli na Petrovo Brdo. Boško se je zapodil v zadnje serpentine, jaz in šef za njim, ostali niso sledili. Skok je uspel! (hehehe) Nato smo se dolgo časa spuščali proti Mostu na Soči. Nekaj kilometrov prej smo v vasi Kneža zavili na Podmelec in se po čudoviti cesti, brez prometa in skoraj brez žive duše pripeljali v Tolmin. Od tu pa smo bili hitro v Kobaridu. Tukaj pa vse roza! Krasno okrašene ulice, šola, vrtec, gasilski dom, lokali, hotel,… Skratka vse. Natakarji v roza majicah, natakarice z roza nohti in celo prodajalka v trgovini vsa v roza. Da ti grejo kocine pokonci! Zabava se je začela že ta dan.

Mi smo bili nameščeni malo ven iz Kobarida, v vasi Magozd. Do tja pa še približno 5 kilometrov klanca! In tako smo se gor odpravili samo midva in seveda Boško. Ostali z avtomobili. In se je izplačalo. Tanja bravo! Rezervirala je res čudovito hišo, s krasnim pogledom na gore. Hitro smo se namestili in Ali je že zakuril žar. Tjaša je iz nekje privlekla ogromen zvočnik za karaoke in začelo se je! Odlična hrana, pijača, ples in karaoke. In nato Boško skliče sestanek. Plan za jutri. On ga je sicer razlagal eno uro, vendar naj povzamem. Prevozimo 40 kilometrov, naredimo 1700 m višincev in nato navijamo. O mati mila! Ura skoraj pol noč, mi plešemo, zjutraj pa… Zjutraj pa smo vstali, se oblekli v kolesarska oblačila in odpeljali vse po Boškovih navodilih. Krasna trasa, polna razgledov in seveda strmih klancev. (hahaha) Iz Kobarida na Livek, nato na Kolovrat, spust v Dreko in nazaj na Livek. Čisto enostavno.

(če verjameš) Pred kosilom. Fuži s tartufato. Odlični! Narejeni na stojnici na Livku, ampak boljši kot v restavraciji s petimi zvezdicami. Na tej stojnici so imeli tudi luštno stojalo za pivo. Dolgo približno meter in pol. (hehehe) Ga je pa z lahkoto nesla naša drobna Dani. Ko smo se napojili, pa smo že zaslišali helikopter, trobljenje in vpitje. Pograbili smo slovenske zastave in bučno navijali. A za koga? Ja, za vse! Ker smo ta klanec danes že zvozili, smo občudovali čisto vse tekmovalce, ki so z neverjetno brzino leteli v ta isti klanec, kot smo se mi privlekli. (hihihi) Boško in Ali se nista mogla upreti majhnim roza otroškim kolesom ob cesti in sta jih pograbila, ter se z njimi vozila ob pelotonu in disko grupi. (O moj bog!) Tekmovalci so se jima smejali, van der Poel je crkaval od smeha. Upali smo, da se bo na tej etapi zgodil kakšen napad, a vse po starem. Če jutri ne bo napada, bo pa res tale Giro ostal v spominu kot najbolj dolgočasen od kar spremljam kolesarstvo.

Spustili smo se v Kobarid, kjer smo imeli avtomobile. Preoblekli smo se v »giro« uniforme, roza majice organizatorja. Na glavnem trgu so se že zbirali ljubitelji kolesarstva iz vseh koncev. Samo sprehodili smo se čez trg in srečali veliko poznanih obrazov. Na odru se je že ogreval ansambel Zvita feltna. (hahaha) Fantje so bili fenomenalni in mi tudi. Po vseh prevoženih kilometrih smo še plesali do poznih ur in tako zaključili naš »Giro«. V soboto je padal dež in odpravila sva se nazaj v lokal.

Skupaj z našimi gosti sva si ogledala še zadnjo etapo, ki bi prinesla spremembe. In res! Končni vzpon na Marmolado (Passo Fedaia) nam je postregel z zanimivim dogajanjem. Najprej smo upali, da bo etapo dobil Slovenec, Domen Novak – Lojz. Žal mu ni uspelo. Nato pa je z odličnim nastopom svoje dosegla ekipa Bora–Hansgrohe. Otresli so se Carapaza! Jai je bil zanj občutno premočan in tako je prevzel roza majico. Naj povem, da sem ta vzpon že odpeljala. No bolje bi bilo če bi rekla, da sem se privlekla na vrh. (bruh) Pred leti. Jaz sploh nisem vedela kam grem. Bili smo z družbo in sem se pač vozila kamor so rekli. Naporen vzpon. Strm. Zadnja dva kilometra ti ne dovolita niti malo počitka, ni možnosti, da bi zvrtel noge. Predzadnji ovinek sem pomislila, da se bi kar malo naslonila na zaščitno ograjo, samo potem ne bi več speljala. (hahaha) Jai Hindley pa je kar vrtel pedale do vrha in prispel v cilj z velikim nasmeškom.

Končno je prišla zadnja nedelja. Kronometer. Sprememb na vrhu nismo pričakovali. Pri nas smo imeli pripravljen lep program. Kolesarili bi po dveh različno težkih trasah, si ogledali kronometer in zaključili z žrebanjem kolesa Pony. Pa nam je zagodlo vreme. (piiii…) Vseeno so prišli fantje iz Kofirajda (podcast ob kavi). Proti koncu kronometra se nas je nabralo ogromno. Lokal je bil poln. Vsi smo spremljali zadnje trenutke kronometra. In zopet jaz z mojim opazovanjem. (hihihi) Opazovala sem naše goste. Nekateri resnično pravi kolesarji, nekateri malo manj in tudi taki, ki sploh niso. A tudi ti so vse skupaj gledali z zanimanjem. »Na koliko časa startajo?« , »Koliko jih je?« , »Kdo starta prvi« , »Zakaj ga je dohitel?« Ogromno vprašanj. Tisti, ki vejo zakaj gre jim mirno odgovarjajo, tudi šef. In vse skupaj je res simpatično.

Giro d'Italia 2022 se je končal! Pri nas pa še ne. Imeli smo pripravljenih 10 vrečk z lepimi nagradami in seveda roza kolo Pony. Med nagradami so bili puloverji, polo majice in bidoni Approved, keramične skodelice in stojala za fotkanje koles Kofirajd ter še nekaj malenkosti naših dobaviteljev. Glavno nagrado kolo Pony pa je prispeval Velo Črnuče. Na tega so čakali stari in mladi, ženske in moški, pa tudi nekaj psov je bilo ta čas v lokalu. (hahaha) Izžrebana je bila Irena, ki je tako zavpila, da je njem kuža Arči zbežal pod mizo in ostal tam dolgo časa. (revček)

Gostje so se počasi razšli, midva s šefom pa sva že začela pospravljati roza rekvizite. Vse roza balone je pobral lokalni zabavljač in jih odnesel neznano kam. (čudak) Torej tri teden smo se zabavali v roza barvah, sedaj malo pavze in nato bomo lokal oblekli v rumeno!

Do takrat pa se nam pridružite na naših sredinih rundah. Zberemo se vsako sredo ob 16.45, se razvrstimo v različne jakostne skupine, naredimo lepih 50 km in poklepetamo ob kakšni pijački. Na družabnih omrežjih pa sproti objavljamo vikend izlete. Se vidimo!