5 glorious days of sun, 35 degree plus temps, wine, food and wonderful people.
I love Italy!
I arrived in Milan on Thursday, feeling surprisingly good after 25 hours of flying cattle class. I was a little bit shagged though, so I left the exploring for Friday.
I was on a mission to get shoes for the CFO. I found an outlet store and bought a reasonably 'out there' pair of shoes, but I needed something more. I also wanted to see Il Duomo, the cathedral in the centre of town. So I proceeded to get lost. I asked a couple of Carabiniere (Federal Police) for directions. These guys looked like male models, their uniforms are designed by one of the fashion houses, last I heard it was Armani, and they're armed to the teeth. They proceeded to have an argument about the best way to go, which didn't help me much. I eventually found the cathedral, which was awe-inspiring, and also the Golden Quad, where all the fashion houses have their retail shops.
How about mens shoes that start at $600, $8000 designer cellphones, $500 shirts! The rich ARE different to the rest of us.
And I found a pair of porn star chic shoes for herself, so that was the important part of the trip done.
I also bought a Ferrari shirt from the Ferrari Store, you can't go there and not.
Saturday it was off to Spidi in Vicenza, which was the real reason for the trip. To see the 2007 range of bike gear.
The trend is for lighter, more comfortable textile kit that still gives improved protection. I think some of it is a little too avant garde for us at this stage, One jacket looked more like a casual jacket than a bike jacket.
They did have some cool denims with easily removable armour that you just take out when you get to work or the pub or whatever.
Leather gear has more Tenax stretch panels in it to give freedom of movement, and more water resistant leather is being used in some models, even waterproof liners.
What was also interesting is the research figures on abrasion resistance, their textile achieves 1200 on the scale, leather has to reach 2000. But the new Tenax 440 textile manages 2500, the only trouble is that you can't make a whole suit of it. Too stiff.
We headed off to a local pub afterwards and our driver made some comment I missed about hookers, then I saw what he was talking about. At every 100 metres on this semi-rural road was some of the most stunning women I've ever seen. Finn's supermodels, except they charge by the hour.
Real cold shower material.
On Monday I went to Bergamo to see the Nolan and Xlite factories. This was an eye opener too, a great deal of the helmets are made by hand. Especially the Xlites with their hand laid carbon and kevlar matting. All the graphics are applied by hand too. I watched the robots that do the cleaning and sanding of the helmets and was amazed at the gentleness and violence of the movements. They pick up a helmet shell as if it were an egg, then swing it over to the sanding belt at a speed that would rip an arm off if it hit you.
I also got a preview of the 2007 graphic styles that look pretty cool as well.
I also found out that some flip front helmets on the market are certified as open face because their chin bars do not meet safety standards. They didn't name names, but they showed me how to tell on the serial number. Needless to say that Nolan and Grex are certified as full face helmets.
Then it was back to the hotel to see the end of the Italy - Australia game. When the penalty went in, there was a roar throughout the hotel. Then, 10 minutes later, the tooting started in the street. The town just went beserk for the next two hours. Cars and bikes circling the square with the Tricolore flying from every passenger. I saw a guy on a scooter ride into a pedestrians leg, who the whacked the rider with a flag pole. I thought it was going to be all on, but the scooter guy got off, had a look at the other guys leg to see the damage. Then they were hugging and laughing their heads off.
Only in Italy!
Then it was the looonngg haul back home. This time the jet lag got me. I got in on Thursday and I've only just started to feel half normal.
A good ride on Sunday will sort this out though.
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Originally Posted by scumdog
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