For Broadview Heights resident and ultracyclist Giovanni Prosperi, a mishap in attempting to set a world record for fastest bicycling time between Cleveland and Boston on May 18, which covers 650 miles, has not deterred him from rescheduling the attempt for September. In the meantime, he is competing in the Race Around Poland World Ultracycling Championships in mid-July as a solo rider. The race, which circumnavigates the country, covers 3,600 kilometers (2,237 miles).
No stranger to challenges, Prosperi, an Italian citizen applying for U.S. citizenship, won the prestigious Race Across America in June 2021 as part of a two-man relay team. The race covers 3,000 miles, passing through 12 states beginning in Oceanside, CA and ending in Annapolis, MD. A support van allows one team member to rest while the other rides at least 30-50 miles non-stop per leg. The team completed the race in 8 days, 14 hours of continuous riding, taking first place in its category.
“We won our age category,” said Prosperi, who turns 48 in August. “No one else made it to the finish line. It was the toughest year for the race, with only 25 percent of solo riders getting to the finish line. It was up to 120 degrees in the desert of California, and most riders needed to receive IV fluids; I was the only one that didn’t get them. As long as I have something to drink from the support team, I’m fine.”
Prosperi came to the U.S. in 2019, when he married his fiancé, Katerina Greer, an avid cyclist who works as a gastroenterologist at the Louis Stokes Cleveland Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center. She also works as an associate professor at Case Western Reserve University.
Greer, who is originally from Slovakia, came to the U.S. in 1995 to attend college on an academic scholarship. She and Prosperi met through cycling events.
When he’s not competing in ultracycling events, Prosperi works as a part-time bike mechanic at Century Cycles in Peninsula. He is also a cycling coach from spring through fall. He works on running in the winter and may consider competing in ultrarunning events at some point.
A bit of a latecomer to the sport, Prosperi began training for cycling events at 40 years of age when he decided to start riding an old mountain bike, beginning with riding on the Appian Way in Rome, Italy. One of his first major events was Race Across Italy, a 500-mile race, which he did not complete on his first attempt. He has since competed in more than a dozen ultracycling competitions in Europe and the U.S.
The ability to travel and see the world, and feeling a sense of freedom while riding, are key elements that keep pushing him forward in the endurance sport. Participation in ultracycling also helped him break a long-time smoking habit.
“Just the thrill of seeing places; in the beginning that was the biggest thing,” he said. “To visit this village or place and go to Rome on my bike one day and go to Naples another day; that was the best thing about cycling. I’ve been all around the U.S. and have seen so many states already; it’s very beautiful. Also, the sense of feeling free when I ride; it’s like when you are a kid and go around on your bike. It gives me that sensation of exploring and being free.”
Prosperi said as a rider, and also in coaching his students, he pushes himself and others to be ‘complete’ riders. “I like to be a complete cyclist; I don’t just do endurance – I also do speed and power,” he said. “As a coach, I believe that endurance helps power and power helps endurance. It’s a synergistic thing between the two elements.”
A collision with a pickup truck only three hours into his world record attempt ride between Cleveland and Boston has not deterred Prosperi from forging ahead.
“It was a bit scary, but I wasn’t hurt badly,” he said of the incident. “I just pick myself up and keep on going.”
This article first appeared in BroadView Journal, August 2023
