It seems innocent enough when you look up from the shores of Italy's Lake Como.

But perched high up on the ridge is Brunate, a postage-stamp sized town linked by both road and funicular to the city of Como.

Most sane people take the tram up the hill to Brunate. A few of us crazies ride the road.

To put it mildly, it is freaking brutal. 

Our annual pilgrimage to Italy's Madonna del Ghisallo can mean only one thing...the 2011 Giro d'italia is just a few days away.

Every serious cyclist should make the trek up the Ghisallo at least once in his or her life. It's a place of both reverence and irreverence. Hence the spontaneous sunglasses on the bust of cycling legend Fausto Coppi.

Contador, Cavendish, Nibali, Menchov, Sastre, Ballan, Pozzato, Farrar and McEwen will animate this race from start to finish.

We'll be there at the start of the team time trial in Torino next Saturday, and bring you our unique, exclusive CycleTo coverage during the month of May. 

We've all seen the growth of Gran Fondo rides here in America. These events are great, but if you want the full-on fondo experience, you can only get that in Italy.

Riding an Italian Gran Fondo is a dream that is about to become true with the launch of Italy Gran Fondo. We've done all the hard work, scouting the routes, securing the hotels and finding the best local cafés and restaurants. All you have to do is show up and ride.

We've organized two trips to Italy this year...we'll be in the Cinque Terre in September, and the Prosecco wine region in October. It doesn't get much better than this...you can live "La Dolce Vita" in Italy, and we'll take care of the details. All the information is up on ItalyGranFondo.com. 

There are good freebies...there are great freebies...and then there's this freebie.

Thanks to the folks at the Garmin-Cervélo/Slipstream team store, we're giving everyone who signs-up a shot at an official UCI World Champion jersey, just like the one Thor Hushovd wears when he races on the road this year.

For all the details, and to sign-up for this latest CycleTo freebie, go here. But if you're not feeling lucky, and you want to buy your own World Champ jersey from the Slipstream store, go here.

But it looks like Team RadioShack might be pulling one over on all of us. See it for yourself, on the left, or on the team's web site, here.

See the calendar listing for "Lance Armstrong Retires" from August 20 to September 11? Those are also the exact dates of the 2011 Vuelta a España. WTF? Is Lance planning a three-week party during the Vuelta? Rubbing it in the nose of former rival Alberto Contador by having the party in Berto's home country? Or is he thinking about racing the Vuelta, as one final goodbye ride?

Hmmm...Lance, Johan...any comments?

In an early-morning announcement today on the steps of the Texas state capitol in Austin, the seven-time Tour de France winner declared himself a candidate for Governor of the state of Texas, just six weeks after his second retirement from the sport of professional cycling.

"I have a deep abiding love for the people and the potential of this state and this country," Armstrong said, "And when I see Governor Rick Perry threating to pull Texas out of the United States, I simply can not sit back and let that happen."

Armstrong went on to say that he will initiate a petition to recall Perry, who was elected to a third term in November of 2010. Perry's governorship is set to expire in early 2015, but Armstrong vowed to make sure Perry does not serve-out his full term.

But today, I see that CyclingNews has posted even more photos from the NAHBS, so I guess nothing is too dated to be appreciated.

So here, at long last, are two bikes from very different eras that are worth another look. They could not be more different, and they really illustrate how far the craft of making bikes by hand has come in nearly 40 years.

This über-cool kit is the official jersey of the 2011 Chipotle-Sugarlabs development team. It's the Under-23 feeder squad for the Garmin-Transitions pro team. The folks at the Slipstream store gave us one of these official team jerseys, and we'll be giving it away to one lucky CycleTo-er. For all the details, and to sign-up for this new freebie giveaway, go here.

But there's another way to get one of these Chipotle jerseys. If you buy one online, here, they'll send you the jersey and a coupon for a free burrito. That's a helluva deal. 

You win, either way.

We all like to follow pro races, and at times we like to pretend that we're big-time Euro pros.

But for every pro, there are thousands of local racers who toil in obscurity. They race their bikes because they love the the sport and the competiiton. There's very little glory, and usually a whole lot of suffering in silence.

Today we bring you something different...the story of one local amateur who finally saw success, and the top spot on the podium, after years of trying.

...and he did it the hard way.