I hope you can catch it, Sally. Thanks again for the reminder!

I was in Paris, too, Amber when Armstrong won. However, I was at work, and couldn’t go!

LOL, Jessica. GREAT descriptions of those links. I hope you can here next year, too! And, thanks for the suggestion on the hill!

It WAS brutal, Jan. I told P I was SO GLAD that didn’t happen in front of us!

For those who are hunting for the 2008 route, the official site is part of La Gazzetta’s website (putting in links makes my comments not show up, so forgive me for the oddness of these URLs – you’ll be able to fix them, I think!): www DOT gazzetta DOT it SLASH Speciali SLASH Giroditalia SLASH 2008 SLASH it SLASH and the Wikipedia page actually has a good list of this year’s stages so you can get an idea of where the race is going: en DOT wikipedia DOT org SLASH wiki SLASH 2008_Giro_d’Italia – the exact route from start to finish, however, isn’t there. You can get a rough idea on the La Gazzetta page by clicking the word “Planimetria” – you get a popup window with the overall route, and then if it looks vaguely close to your city you can start doing some more digging online.

As for next year’s route, I believe the routes are announced in the fall each year, so the 2009 route will be announced in October or November or so. It changes each year, though some parts make the itinerary more often than not (the Stelvio pass, for instance, is a very common and brutal climb), and the race always ends in Milan.

Finally, although on the flat stages there is a huge amount of buildup for the riders who then just zip by in a few seconds, part of the fun is “camping out” all day, picnicking and socializing with other cycling nuts. And if you’re on one of the uphill climbs, the riders go by much more slowly, poor dears.

Thanks for sharing your experience, Cherrye, and great photos!

For those who are hunting for the 2008 route, the official site is part of La Gazzetta’s website here: http://www.gazzetta.it/Speciali/Giroditalia/2008/it/ and the Wikipedia page actually has a good list of this year’s stages so you can get an idea of where the race is going: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Giro_d‘Italia – the exact route from start to finish, however, isn’t there. You can get a rough idea on the La Gazzetta page by clicking the word “Planimetria” – you get a popup window with the overall route, and then if it looks vaguely close to your city you can start doing some more digging online.

As for next year’s route, I believe the routes are announced in the fall each year, so the 2009 route will be announced in October or November or so. It changes each year, though some parts make the itinerary more often than not (the Stelvio pass, for instance, is a very common and brutal climb), and the race always ends in Milan.

Finally, although on the flat stages there is a huge amount of buildup for the riders who then just zip by in a few seconds, part of the fun is “camping out” all day, picnicking and socializing with other cycling nuts. And if you’re on one of the uphill climbs, the riders go by much more slowly, poor dears.

Thanks for sharing your experience, Cherrye, and great photos!

The official Giro site is here – http://www.gazzetta.it/Speciali/Giroditalia/2008/it/

And you’ll find a good list of the stages/route here – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Giro_d‘Italia

In 1999, the hubby & I chased the Tour de France around – and it was a blast. Yes, at some places you wait for hours only to have the peloton zip by in a few minutes… But part of the fun for spectators is hanging out on the roadside, picnicking and partying, until the real show begins. It’s great fun, and I hope they come through CZ again for you!

(Oh, and as for next year’s route – the 2009 route hasn’t been announced yet; I think they do it in the fall/winter each year, and yes, they do change it every year. There are some consistencies, like certain mountain stages that show up often, and they always end in Milano, I think, but it’s not the same route each year.)

Wow, Maria! That sounds a tad more exciting than it was here. There was a man who kept yelling “they’re coming!” even when they weren’t. Maybe he was drinking!

Oh, Lulu, it WAS fun. I am so glad we went!

J, they went all through CZ. They came in near CZ Lido, actually, then headed towards me, then up into downtown CZ, and around the loooong way near the university and new hospital to end up back on the lungomare!

Nadine, it was a big shock to me, too. I guess you dont think about it like that.

I am sure they are, Stephanie, but I am not sure of the routes, either. I tried to look it up yesterday and didn’t find a lot!

It’s a shame the weather wasn’t nicer but it’s cool that you decided to brave the weather to go and see it! It looks like it would have been a lot of fun to watch (even if it was just for 30 seconds).

lol, Running. I didn’t realize how “easy” that would be until it was already written. And, yes we did drive, but for two reasons.
1) The weather
2) There aren’t sidewalks the whole way, and these southern Italian drivers can get pretty territorial on their roads.

But, mostly it was because of the weather, cause I’m a risk-taker, ya know!

It’s too easy.

I would love to see a live race like that.

You seriously didn’t drive a half kilometer did you?