Giro! Giro! Giro!

Here is the long-awaited Labor Day post; that isn’t so much about Marconi Bakery, but more about the Giro della Montanga.

Ok, let’s get the food part out of the way.

We knew from the start that our Marconi Bakery visit would happen in September because of The Gateway Cup timing. Luckily Marconi Bakery happens to sell pizza in addition to bread and pastries.

Bob had the I’m-gonna-have-all-the meat-that-Mel-doesn’t-let-me-eat pizza. And I had, wait for it, the veggie.  Most notable part of lunch was dining with some out-of-town racers, including a 15 year old young lady. They come to Saint Louis every year for fun as much, or more, than the racing. Our conversation lasted longer than the pizza did.

A couple more food things.

Every year we look forward to the arancini balls from the Saint Ambrose Parish Church. And new this year, Urban Chestnut Brewing Company beer. In the past, it was Bud, Bud Light and Shocktop.

So a fun UCBC story. At the previous day’s race, I volunteered as a course monitor – meaning I got to stop people from crossing the road. Amazing what power a flag and a vest provides. “None shall pass!”

As folks wearing UCBC shirts walked by, I casually mentioned how warm it was. And voila! Ten minutes later I was holding a Zwickel. I chuckled as the volunteer coordinator offered a water while I was holding said beer.

I volunteered at the Giro della Montanga too. And guess what happened. The UCBC guy walked past and said, “Hey, I remember you,” and kept going. Ten minutes later, I had Zwickel.

One more UCBC story. The next day I didn’t volunteer, but I still had some beer drinking to do. The UCBC guy recognized me again and wanted to give me more beer. “But I’m not working today.” “You helped out before, have another beer.” So I took it and put the five bucks in the tip jar.

Back to The Hill and the Giro della Montanga.

The Giro della Montanga began in 1986 as a single bike race. The Giro became the cornerstone of the Gateway Cup in 1998. The Hill continues this great sporting event and looks forward to many more years of Giro, Giro, Giro!  

Many Hill restaurants support the Gateway Cup:

Urban Chestnut Brewing Company (Super Sponsor!)

J. Smugs Gastro Pit

Mama's on The Hill

Volpi Foods

Favazza's

The Hill neighborhood also joins in on the fun:

Believe me, this is quite a hill they are climbing

There you have it, my final post of A Hill of a Year. And my final foray into blogging. It didn't take long to figure out it's more fun to eat out than to write about it.