Monkitoucher

https://eroica.cc/it/gaiole/gallery-...eid=19ee8790e2

JeremyCherfas

Thanks. I found myself in Buonconvento without realising the Eroica was coming through. Had a good morning watching the parade.

repechage

wait, the Madame has a non compliant bike

non-fixie 

Thanks for the link. Great pictures! The photographers outdid themselves.

And I am sorry to have missed it this year (we chose to do Eroica Montalcino instead, which was very nice, too). Hope to be in Gaiole again next year. L'Eroica is still the mother of all C&V events.

Monkitoucher

This dropped yesterday too.

Thalia949

I was stoked to get a quick cameo in this years video.

The ride this year was challenging due to the heat and how dry the Strade was - many sections that are usually packed in by rain and dampness were loose and slick. It made the descents and steep climbs more challenging.

Robvolz 

The pics and movie make it seem almost 50% women.

Is this the case over there as opposed to our "old man's club" here stateside?

-Or-

Propaganda to convince our wives/girlfriends to join in the fun?

Monkitoucher

I hear you! I was about 40 miles in on the 80 mile ride on Saturday when I went down. Ended up breaking my front brake leaver and jacking up my shoulder pretty good. Fortunately was able to carry on, although my pace was not as swift. All weekend I'd seen a lot of folks that went down.

Thalia949

My observation from this year was CA was about 98%/2% Male female. L'Eroica Gaiole was on the Saturday rides (the two longer rides) about 80% / 20% Male / Female and on the Sunday rides about 55% / 45% M/F. Also, there are a lot more riders on Sunday than Saturday.

The Sunday rides tend to capture the fun and celebration aspect - the dance party at the Brolio / Ricasoli stop, breakfast at Dievole stop, where the Saturday rides, while entertaining with the candlelit climb of Brolio and Piazza del Campo at dawn are part of the celebration, it is a more athletic endevour in my opinion.

My spouse is all in for Gaiole each year, even though she doesn't ride - connect with friends, dance in the square at Gaiole, and have fun. I could not pay her to go back to Cambria with me.

Just my .02 cents.

Thalia949

Totally agree - I have never walked at all any portion of Mont St Marie in previous years but this year I walked a significant amount. I went down once in that nasty section before the Asciano restoro - everyone agreed that that section was in horrible shape.

It musy have been tough riding half the ride with a less than perfect front brake - congrats on finishing it!

gthomson

That video does look amazing and really makes me want to be there. Chances of convincing my wife to go overseas for a bike ride would be slim but maybe solo. Do people strategize on what type of bike to bring, thicker tires, etc...? It seems a lot of people riding racing bikes with skinny tires, but the course looks mixed with gravel, road, etc...I get you want to show off your best bike but the thought of going down or breaking anything would not appeal to me.
Do some people rent a bike when over there to avoid the hassle of transporting your own bikes? I guess ideally you live in Europe and you could just drive there with all your bikes.

Monkitoucher

Before I went down I was nailing all of the climbs.

I went down in that section before Asciano. It was the bit where there was a sand and gravel trap at the foot of one of the last climbs. I saw that and was down shifting to prepare for the climb... when a little rut took me out at speed. Thank god I was wearing a helmet. Was seeing double and my helmet had a nice 2" imprint of the rock that would have surely cracked my head open. After that I ended up walking it up a lot of the hills because I really couldn't ride out of the saddle.

Erzulis Boat 

Ouch.

Monkitoucher

Convincing a female SO should be pretty easy because of the location. It's freaking Tuscany and better yet... Chianti. The event is greater than just the bikes. It's a big rolling party with the home base in Gaiole.

I mostly prepped my wife's Pinerello W/ Victory. I built a set of wheels for her with sun CR18s wrapped with 28mm Vittoria Corsas. I also used an old cyclocross trick with the Victory cranks and their 116mm BCD. I was able to run a 54 - Miche 35 tooth, 12-24 cassette, and short cage mech. This caused a lot of guys to stop and check it out.

My bike was pretty standard Super Record.

The event does get everything dirty so I'm having to break down both bikes and clean them. But I'd do that anyway during the Winter. Transporting the bikes wasn't too big of a deal as long as you rent a car. We were able to get 2 bikes and 2 carry on bags into a Fiat Panda. Also United checked the bikes as standard luggage. As long as it's under 50# they don't charge for bikes.

Last year we rented bikes and ended up with some well beaten nags with corncobs and double leavers.

Thalia949

I've done both, rented and transported my bike from the US.

The rental was not great, and to ride tough terrain on a bike I was not familiar with made it that much more challenging. In subsequent years, I have brought my bike from the US and up until this trip, never had any issues. This year we had a lot of drama traveling with the bike. I checked it in the baggage storage at Linate airport and went the next day to retrive it only to find the storage was closed because the clerk was sick that day. Airport security finally got someone there and got the bike, only to have it miss our flight to LAX.

The bike I ride is an Merckx Corsa Extra, the only mods are over the bar routing for the cables, a 25 rear cog, and I stuff 28's on it and ride them at 75 PSI. All Dura Ace 7402. The bike is still in the case and will need to be completely gone through due to the dirt and crash.

Erzulis Boat 

Do they come any other way?

Funny on the "corncobs" as that is what we always called them, never heard "straightblock" until the internet was invented.

1989Pre 

Salite, fratelli! Alzati e ascendi!

Dan Chase

Hi Guys, I did the 130k route on the Saturday, then 81 on the Sunday - and yes, the Strada Bianchi had been baked solid by weeks of sun making it really hard to ride on - especially the decsents, some of which were seriously sketchy. I did not see too many falls but tons and tons of punctures - given the state of bianchi I would guess pinch flats on clinchers - I was on 28mm tubulars and had no issues - just slid around all over the place...
There were more females in attendance than at other events - I figure L`Eroica is doing its best to promote womens participation and there were lots more riders on Sunday than Saturday - though still a ton of riders on Saturday - over 5,000.

The L`Eroica Tuscany ride is like nothing else - everything is very well organsised and super stylish - the food stops are out of this world.

Bike prep - pretty simple - pre `86 super cool race bikes with as much grip as possible plus good brakes and balls of steel... I now have a late `20`s frame to build up as well...

I Did a video of it on youtube which might give you a taste - plus a close up of some the Strada Bianchi... Cheers, Dan

Thalia949

Great video - thx for sharing it!

non-fixie 

Great capture of the event, Dan Chase ! Thanks for posting it here.