Rapha Randonnée Appennini Report, Day Two

A short memory is something that benefits a cyclist. I am not suggesting that we want to forget about the great rides, time spent with friends, or the beautiful places that we experience on the bike. Only recognizing that by the time you finish a five-plus hour ride that you can hardly remember the early parts of the ride, and that might not be a bad thing. If losing a few good memories of a day is the price for forgetting the pain that comes with a 125k ride with 2500m of climbing, it might be worth it. Do not misunderstand, I am a firm proponent that through suffering and struggle comes progression and amazing tales, but when you are on day two of six and have 150k with four major climbs tomorrow, a selective memory is fine by me.

The stories that are being made each day are something that I don't want to forget and I suppose at day's end that is the real beauty of coming to a beautiful place like this to ride with a great group. I have been doing my best to shoot on the road to make sure I don't forget. There's been a certain Aussie that has been too fast of yet to capture on film, but these photos of Simon, Pablo, Charlie and Carrick all capture the ebb and flow of glory and suffering of today's ride.

Lastly, Weather.com was correct, we caught driving rain with striking bolts of lightening and booming thunder—all a bit unnervingly close—just in time for the final 19k climb and slippery 12k drop into Stia.