Words and photos by Epic Rider Antonio Cozzolino
Read Part 1
Back in Italy, and what you see there is a beautiful shot of Mt Vesuvius, that mighty mountain that killed all those people that one time, turned them in stone statues, preserving them for hundreds perhaps thousands of years, which you can happily visit in Pompei. Obviously we are now in Naples, and by we, I really just mean me. Although I have met my family at this point; rendez-vous in Rome and then a short drive to Naples occurred a few days before this photo. Most of my Italian family is from here, hence the reason for our visit.
A shot of the volcano on the day I decided to conquer it, in fact en-route. Literally.
With no one else to ride with, I had to get creative with photos. I think I peaked with the next one below...
Yep.
Riding to the summit is more or less like the Alpe d’Huez. The latter though, having much more prestige and history. This was still a fun climb. You can’t actually ride to the top though, you have to walk the last 900 metres, which not really that good for my shoes, not that good at all. The other thing is that you actually aren’t allowed to take bikes up there but I managed to flirt my way though promising that I wouldn’t ride - I couldn’t have anyway, the gravel path was both too steep and too loose.
Summit + clouds
This is probably one of the only photos that will ever be taken with a bike by the crater of Vesuvius. NeilPryde represent!
In fact quite a few people stopped to talk to me about cycling and how they are avid fans. I could help but think: “Why aren’t you up here riding then!?”.
Me cooling down after the climb, and doing that awkward dance for “Hitch”.
Trying to match the calories consumed so that I could go again the next day. What better way to do it than with a massive pizza.
After that we drove north to Geneva to visit some friends. A pleasant place, I felt fairly inspired knowing that I may bump into Cancellara at any given moment (though I knew I wouldn’t because it was around Stage 5 of the Tour at this point). Due to a slight camera malfunction, this is all I have for you. Nice flag I thought.
| Antonio's bike: Diablo Ultegra | |
| High resolution pictures | |
| Follow Antonio |