One of the top and best-loved Italian bicyclists of the mid-twentieth century was Gino Bartali. Bartali become a professional cyclist in 1935 and immediately began winning important multi-stage races. A devout Catholic, he was known as Bartali the Pious and was politically conservative (in contrast with his main rival, Fausto Coppi), yet he avoided the strong Fascist party at the time. Further, during World War II, Bartali saved the lives of hundreds of Italian Jews by riding across Italy to deliver false papers hidden in his bicycle. The documents were bound for Assisi, which was the center of an organization that hid Jews in convents and helped them escape the Fascist government.
As a cyclist, Bartali was an outstanding climber; a necessity for winning multi-stage races (like the Tour de France and the Giro d’Italia). Following the long break forced upon racers by World War II, Bartali returned to competitions in 1946. By this time, however, Coppi had emerged as the faster and stronger rider. Both men had their fans, and Bartali did win several Grand Tours (3-week races in France, Italy, and Spain) after the war. He is perhaps most famous for the 1948 Tour de France. Halfway through the race Bartali was well behind the French race leader, Louison Bobet, when an important political leader in Italy was shot, emotionally dividing the country. That night the Prime Minister of Italy called Bartali and urged him to “win the race for Italy”. The day following the shooting Bartali took off riding in the mountains, passed Bobet and emerged as the race leader. As the “myth of Bartali” goes, he united the country.
To find the correct coordinates, find the information for the letters below:
N 44 AB.CDE
W 124 FG.HIJ
AB = the day (in July) on which Bartali was born
C = the last digit of the year in which he married
DE = age when he died minus 2
F = the number of times Bartali won the Vuelta (de Espana)
G = number of times he won the Italian Road Race Championship plus 1
H = number of times Bartali won the Mountains classification in the Giro d’Italia
I = number of times Bartali won the Tour de France
J = number of times Bartali won the Giro d’Italia
Please do not try to bushwhack to the cache. You will need to find the side trail, which is uphill of the cache. You may see wildlife -- on the day we placed this cache, my son and I saw a Ruffed grouse at the cache site, a Cooper’s hawk, and bear scat. Enjoy!
You can check your answers for this puzzle on GeoChecker.com.
Bibliography:
Pedalare! Pedalare!, by John Foot
The Story of the Tour de France Volume 1: 1903 – 1964, by Bill and Carol McCann