BIANCHI BLISS

I was due a piece of good fortune, and lady luck turned her attention in my direction last week. Sadly, this wasn't when I was logging on to buy my euromillions roll-over lottery ticket(s), but rather when I happened to be checking out Facebook. Lady luck just happened to be using Facebook at the same time too. The message popped up, "first person to post a photo of themselves with their Bianchi will win a Bianchi helmet and bottle".

Well what else was I to do? Before you could say Fausto Coppi, Il Campionissimo, a snapshot of me and my Infinito was up there on Pro Cycling's wall (for it was they who had actually posted, not really lady luck. I just wrote that to be poetic). Actually, you could have recited the start list of this year's Tour de France, Very. Slowly. in the time it took me to figure out how to post my photo to their wall, but eventually I figured it out, technical whiz-kid that I am. No, really, I am.

Many minutes had passed, but a quick check, and mine was the first photo to be posted. I guess on a weekday afternoon other Bianchi owners were busy, at work or something. Or out riding their bikes perhaps? During the rest of the afternoon lots of other photos slowly made their way onto Pro Cycling's wall, but none of them got in front of mine. My photo had held it's line, put it's head down and stuck it's elbows out to pip everyone else to the post. It might as well have come from the Isle of Man and been wearing an HTC jersey so convincing was it's victory...

And so to today, when the post brought an oddly helmet-shaped parcel marked for my attention. Much ripping of paper and brown tape and I was rewarded with a Lazer O2 helmet in Bianchi heraldry, plus other assorted themed goodies including a Bianchi bidon, buff and, most excitingly, a packet labelled Bianchi Team summer gloves. My, what a lucky, lucky boy.

Sadly, on closer inspection, the packet of gloves turned out to be empty save for the labels, but to complain about this would be churlish of me. Wouldn't it..?

Perhaps lady luck has simply moved on...