By Sophie
YELLOW ROSTI – Sophie’s Tour
End of June - Diary of an intern.
Crespi d'Adda, an absurd, fantastic, timeless place. My first contact with racing and the Rosti world is a crazy, reckless race called “Trambai”, with bicycles without brakes, without gears, on a circuit created in an industrial village that has remained intact – and therefore a UNESCO heritage site – which is located in a natural landscape that is also unique and intact, a kind of nature reserve at the confluence of the two rivers of the famous “hunger triangle”, which today is called “Isola bergamasca”, and is located exactly halfway between Milan and Bergamo.
The day is sunny, there is a festive atmosphere, music, beer, children, athletes getting ready. I throw myself into this humanity without hesitation, with the mantra phrase in my head (“The truth is in the falls”) and so I decide to do a storytelling on the theme of “the fall”, and to every interesting face I see, I ask: «Tell me about a fall that has marked you».
Francesca is the photographer of the Rosti factory: «As a child we played with my cousins, I found myself flying and hitting my face on the ground, with two incisors knocked out: my first major fall».
Ottavio is a triathlete with a suitable physique and a philosopher's beard: "Completely immersed in my thoughts, happy because the day before I had just resigned and with a ticket in my pocket for a month's sabbatical vacation before the new job, I find some vile oil on my path, on a ramp, I flew away like nothing and immediately after I embraced the asphalt. Destroyed collarbone, ribs, knee, everything in three parts, and for six months I remained nailed to a bed, but first I spent 24 hours in the emergency room corridor naked, alone, in pain, fractured, completely grazed, and in tears".
Luna is a beautiful blonde girl, her nationality escapes me, she could be German, Nordic or Eastern, in English she tells me: «In the race in Berlin, 35km to the finish line, a stretch of highway with rain and strong wind, I was in front, a sudden gust knocks me to the ground, I hit the asphalt hard, the others manage to avoid me, I find myself alone in the middle of the road, in pieces. But I got back up and reached the finish line, last, but I arrived».
Karminetor has a perfect face for the movies, he could play the good guy in a bad guy movie, but also the bad guy in a good guy movie: «In Loano three years ago I broke my face, now I have a piece of titanium inside. The race was a granfondo, downhill, here is a nice dry hairpin bend, I take it slow, slower than you can get, but it was raining, and there was salt, and olive oil, like riding on a bar of soap, the bike went off from under me, I found myself in hospital in Pietra Ligure after being in the middle of the road for three hours. Then 12 days in hospital, with a blue face. Even my mouth was open - now my mouth is sewn shut! - but I'm proud of my marks».
Alice is a very beautiful woman, a face with sharp features, but incredibly harmonious, like a charcoal sketch: «I was with my partner, we started cycling together to avoid breathalyzer tests, then the holidays and the races, granfondo and fixed gear. We were on holiday, in Campania. After 150 km of effort we reached our destination, I was distracted for a moment looking at the sign indicating our B&B, and my wheel ended up precisely in the grate of a manhole, unexpectedly I found myself flying to the ground, I hit my head, the helmet broke: but it was my partner's expression that scared me. My face was a mask of blood»
Mattia is the RedBull DJ, his station is a black pick-up, actually a mobile disco: «I was acting like an idiot, coming back from school. Classic, my handlebars closed. It flew off, my collarbone broke in four parts. I put the K wire, at the time it was an innovation, today everyone uses it. A story from 10 years ago, now it's fine, but every now and then doing certain movements I get electric shocks, a reminder of the fall».
Benedetto is the graphic designer who, together with Giovanni, creates the collections: «I was riding fast in the undergrowth between the Paderno and Crespi bridges when, on a beautiful stretch of gently sloping path, I found myself breaking through a giant spider web. I grabbed the brake and, of course, I found myself catapulted ten meters further, with the spider web on me, while the spider descended from my head to my shoulder and went away.»
Nicola is a professional who runs these races for fun and training while waiting to appeal his doping disqualification (and from the few things he tells me about it I understand that the topic is very debated and controversial, beyond his case): «I fell in Malaysia at 70 km/h, hitting a foot of the barriers, one of the worst falls I have ever had in my life. That fall compromised my victory. The next day I tried to start again: sores, suffering, fever, I had to withdraw».
Dane has a beautiful handlebar mustache: «The fall I remember is a double fall, on the bike and in style: an elderly lady in the car knocks me down badly, and in the adrenaline of the moment I yelled something bad at her, disrespecting her, my grandmother, and women...»
Valeria is a fantastic woman, until a few days ago she was the mayor of the town (and also thanks to her this race - born as a crazy idea - has become reality): «I don't remember falling on my bike, my fall is a fall of confidence, it's the disappointment after so many years of commitment, it's the betrayal of friends who took the ground from under my feet. I was really hurt. But now I can finally relax, talk stupid things, drink, smoke...».
Giovanni, the disturbing Giovanni, together with his brother Maurizio (who instead has a reassuring appearance) is the owner of the knitwear factory: «I make lapses in style every day. One day the Finance Police come to me for an inspection, I get angry, I say: “I am an entrepreneur stolen from crime, I should by nature go around getting drunk and taking drugs and committing crimes, and instead I employ 35 people, and I am here from early in the morning until late at night in the laboratory and I don't have time to get home that I'm already asleep, and I don't have time to fall asleep that the alarm clock is already ringing”. They could have arrested me and taken me to the neurology ward, I was really angry. Do you know how they reacted? They hugged me!».
At the end of the day I had a full load of images, words and sensations. I tried the fixed gear bikes, and I think I understood the meaning. I went around the village, I went down to the river until the confluence with the other river, I listened to the voice of the water. I will tell you more about it later.
I started talking about photography with Francesca, and I was shocked by a photo she showed me, a photo taken in the delivery room, where you can see the head of this newborn literally jumping out of the mother's open legs as if emerging from the water. Fantastic, impressive, very powerful. A photo you could see in Life signed by a great master.
But no, she tells me, I'm a nurse, photography is my passion, and I still have a lot to learn.
Ok, maybe I'm starting to understand the spirit of the Rosti tribe.
Is this okay, boss? Am I working hard enough? Am I writing true and clear things?
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