Race to Colavita Girl's Photo Page and CycleHardPaul's Videos!
Colavita Girl's Photo Journals of 2008 Racing!! Beginning with the Tour of the Bahamas back in January, Colavita Girl and junior racer Michelle has been following the racers through the sharpest turns, the fastest sprints, the most painful miles, and the sweetest podiums in 2008. See how she documents the determined faces, the flexed muscles, the leaned bikes, the tight finishes, and the podium smiles in her photo chronicle of this great racing season.
It all started when the guys at Colavita in New Jersey asked for a business address to ship some product to. A couple of days later a PALLET of pasta arrived at Victory Bicycles (that is 1200lbs of Colavita spaghetti, rigatoni, marinara sauce, balsamic vinegar and olive oil). After hauling it home and stacking it in my front room, the next question was "WHAT do we do with it???". Of course, feeding hungry bike racers is the obvious answer and the Sanford Lakefront Criterium, co-sponsored by Colavita Florida was the first choice.
Jonathan Greene quickly volunteered his house for a team dinner Saturday night and then extended it to pre-cooking pasta to serve during the race. Jonathan and JP Russo boiled spaghetti all afternoon on friday and bagged it in a cooler. Despite the pouring rain Saturday we managed to get Henry Willis' cookers burning and heated up the spaghetti and marinara sauce. Nancy Matteson and Georgia Willis, standing in 2 inches of rainwater, served heaping plates of pasta/sauce, bread, brownies and peanut butter balls to hungry racers. About 65 plates were handed out netting over $150 for the team.
In keeping with the Colavita theme for the race, we handed out premium extra-virgin olive oil for primes and had the riders really jumping to win a can. The race announcer was really talking it up as the finest, "top shelf" product, wishing he could sprint for some.
After a full day of racing we headed to Jonathan's house for more pasta and fixins. Jonathan grilled chicken to perfection while his wife, Carrie whipped up a great salad with a vinegar and olive oil dressing (guess what brand!). After chowing down on the awesome food and finishing it off with a couple of pies, everyone was treated to a presentation of the Dade City and Sanford races as seen through the photo/video lenses of Michelle Blake and CyclehardPaul. Please, no more argyle socks, JP! Andrew Gonzales and his mom, Patricia, James Mertens and his dad, Jacques, and special guests from the Bahamas, Jay, Jeff and Kevin all had a fine time talking bicycle racing and listening to Paul tickle the ivories (after tuning) of Carrie's piano. It was a great Colavita Florida team party, but we had to end it all too soon as everyone needed to recover for the Sunday Crit in Lake Mary.
I still have LOTS of pasta left, so look for another team party and spaghetti lunch at an uncoming race.
THANKS Colavita for supporting our Regional Amateur Team and promoting bike racing in Florida.
