PREPARING

I brought over my Trek 4500 series mountain bike. It cost me $44 to ship it over on the plane. It would have been great to have bought a new touring bike, but the airfare and poor exchange rate are already costing me a fortune. I'm trying to cut as many costs and corners as possible. My bike is 4 years old. I use it every day for transportation in New York. It's functional and dependable. What can I say? I love my bike. I gave it a complete tune-up before I left. The wheels were trued. I put on new gear cables and a new rear tire. I bought myself a new pump, and a few new tools for the trip. I had to completely break the bike down to get it into a shipping box. Fortunately Jonas and Michele rode me to the airport and I was able to rent carts and do the shuffle along the way to get everything here. My bike needed only a few adjustments on this end before it was up and running. How completely liberating to have my bike with me here in Italy! I'm spending the first 2 weeks with Luisa's family in Bassano del Grappa. Bassano is in the northern Veneto region of Italy, roughly 60 miles west of Venice and 60 miles north of Padua. It is located along the Brenta river right where the Dolomites rise out of the plains. It's a great place to have a bike and begin my training.