That's how we ... ride

In the last few years I have been reading of more and more professional riders that have made of bicycling their favorite form of training . Indeed, Robert Lombardi and I met because of our love for bicycles. Back in 1996 Robert was already a NJ mountain bike champion and a mutual friend of ours told him that there was a new “ginny” in the neighbor who used to road-race bicycle professionally in Italy. So one day I was in front his shop making eights on my Italian Scapin and Rob while looking at me thought “that guy is fat, but his legs …. and the way he keeps the balance on the pedals ….he must be the famous ginny!!!”: Robert approached me and here we are …
Today we race at local level (yes, recently he has convinced me to compete again after 23 years) and we consider bicycling as the best tool to improve our physical condition. There is not other sport that you could practice for hours with such precise control of the aerobic/anaerobic stages. Yes, running is easy, cheap, and quick but heavy onyour feet, ankles, knees and back and it doesn’t really matter how slow you go because it still causes physical stress. A long list of riders has chosen bicycling to control weight, strength their legs and improve their stamina, all critical variables in racing motorcycles at professional level. I definitely recall Bayliss, Stoner, Melandri, Capirossi, Hopkins, Biaggi, the Haydens, Mladin, Duhamel as passionate riders hitting the road 3 to 5 times a week as part of their training program.
Personally I integrate bicycling with rowing in order to maintain a healthy muscle balance between legs and torso. A few years ago I had a surgery to fix a dislocated shoulder and our “Dr. Costa”, Dr. Hausman told me that several weighlifters end up with arthritis on their shoulders because of the excessive stress caused by that type of exercise.
Anyhow, the road bicycle fever has been spreading among the PMP crew and recently Antonio, Naim and Mike have committed to start riding with us: someone to loose a few extra pounds, others to stop smoking. Either way, once they start enjoying the results of their training they will joint the increasing group of motorcycle racers in love with the way we …. ride.




Picture source: ctbkgroup.com, camorani.com, velocitynation.com

A special thank to: Tichetti, BVF Team, Bay Ridge Bicycle,