UltraCyclist - Giovanni Prosperi

When it comes to bicycling, few people ride further in an average year than ultra cyclist Giovanni Prosperi. Giovanni originally started off riding mountain bikes at the age of 33. In his first year of riding he amassed more than 7000 miles. That’s a ridiculous number of miles on a mountain bike by any measure but it was just the beginning for Giovanni.

After turning 40 Giovanni (already a vegan) stopped smoking and switched to road bikes. He was 100% committed to his cycling and challenged himself to ride further and faster. His first ultracycling event was an Eversting event in October 2017. What is Eversting you ask? That’s when you pick a hill or mountain and go up and down it as fast as you can until you log 8848m which is the height of Mount Everest. His first real race was the Race Across Italy in 2018.

Giovanni rides at least 15 miles per day and as much as 300 miles per day when not competing. On an average year he logs close to 18,000 miles on Strava. His personal best during a competition was 380 miles in one day. I don’t like to drive that distance let alone pedal it. When I asked Giovanni what his favorite ride is I didn’t get the answer I was expecting. He just said “my recovery rides”. The idea of just cruising at a slow pace is very relaxing for him. I can appreciate that!

Depending on the type of ride Giovanni uses one of 3 bikes. He has a super light carbon fiber one for his hill climbs, a titanium one for long flat routes, and a time trial bike for short flat fast rides. Giovanni keeps a pair of ultra light Kroop’s goggles in his gear bag for those days when it’s dusty or when he’s cycling on a cold winter day. He's also working with us on the design of our new cycling glasses. 

Giovanni is currently training for the Race Across America with his Twisted Cycling Team. Good Luck Giovanni! Don’t forget your Kroop’s.

Andrew Tremblay