Thanks for that great story, Jan. Those are the juicy tid-bits that make this list so enticing. Thank god you did the trip in 1983. One year later and Dale wouldn't have let you post the story, .... ;-)
Kim
PS: Smelling like the smell you described in his not NOS anymore Castelli Club-jumper.
Kim,
> The company name was Vittore Gianni. During the 1983 World Road and Track
> Cycling Championships in Switzerland (we watched a very young Greg LeMond
> win the Pro Road Race), Peter and I hopped a train from Zurich to Lugano,
> then slipped into our wool cycling kits and rode the remaining 70 or so
> km. into Milano on our matching PJ bikes. It was equally difficult and
> thrilling, riding through Milan's real rush-hour traffic, and finding our
> way to Via Proccacini 23. Hidden behind a massive wooden gate was the
> modern showroom and factory of Vittore Gianni.
>
> Once inside - mamma mia! - it was like being in a candy store and we had
> unlimited funds to buy as many treats as we wanted. The U.S. dollar was
> quite strong in '83 and I think $100 bought several wool jerseys and
> shorts.
> We didn't stop there: we also loaded up on the two piece track suits, long
wool tights, and a whole slew of long-sleeve jerseys. It was magical. I
still remember the look on the beautiful salesgirl's face when we just
> kept piling more and more garments on the counter. She carefully wrapped
> everything into two equal bundles with thick moth-proof kraft paper and
> tied them with twine. We lashed the bundles to our Karradice seat bags and
rode to the Milan train station and caught the next train to Lugano. The
entire way back we tried on all the clothing and breathed in its luscious
heavenly scent.
-- Kim Klakow
Diplom Grafik Designer Akimbo71@gmx.net +49172-1786481 Berlin - Germany
10 GB Mailbox, 100 FreeSMS/Monat http://www.gmx.net/