There are some wonderfully random moments in the world of freelance sh*te writing, but this has to be really close to the top of the pile.
Through a very fortunate combination of events, I'm nowhere near Wales today. No, I'm sat in a hotel room in Mantova in Italy, having spent the day riding with legendary Italian sprinting superhero and all round heartthrob Mario Cipollini on his new road bike. I'd love to tell you I gave him a hard time too, but lets just say he hasn't lost much speed since he was winning Tour de France stages by a country kilometre.
Still the bike's an absolute belter - think 900g Cervelo Soloist with a surprisingly smooth and cultured ride for a chrono bike. We've been watching the frames being hand made in a factory near Bologna today before getting properly stuffed on steak in a restaurant run by the Italian equivalent of Mrs Doyle. Turns out "Gowarn gowarn" is very hard to say no to in relation to another glass of chianti and a home made tiramisu.
Back to the grind of bike testing in the increasing grit and filth of our fine island tomorrow though when I'll try and remember to backflip the calendar a bit to re run our own version of the Cube and missile crisis that happened last week....
Ciao for now.
Guy