chune

We arrived in Chianti last night, just missing the storm. It had knocked out power to our area for a few hours and washed out part of the road. Got the bike assembled and then was greeted with this email:
Who all is going this year? So bibs and race packs aren't being handed out till AFTER the race? Sounds like a poacher's paradise

non-fixie 

I got Giancarlo's e-mail as well, and didn't quite understand the plan.


So this morning we decided to just drive into town and find out. But when we arrived everything was pretty much as it always is: a well-organized chaos. Albeit with a fair amount of umbrellas.

And everyone just picked up their race packs as usual. I assume you got yours as well?

tmnguuyen 

Only parking is an issue. If you can do street parking on SP408 and hike in you can get your package and swag bag. We made it in and are ready for the festivity. Here is my bike making its journey through the south of France to Italy.

Vitma

Hey Thanh! Nice to see that you made it to Italy. Enjoy the Eroica ride!

gthomson

I was hoping someone would post about this year's event. I saw a pic. under #gcninspiration and was hoping to see more. Hope the weather turned around for you all. Please post more pics of bikes!!!

non-fixie 

I am currently making my way back home. Will post some pics when I get there.

tmnguuyen 

I’m more about people and experience, so not much pix of bikes but I have to say the experience was excellent and all the riders were great. I’ll post a few photos when I get to my PC. Meanwhile the official site already posted tons of professional photos. I’ll supplement a few more thoughts when I get home.

https://eroica.cc/it/gaiole/gallery-2022-8

Talk about a top notch accommodations. For the single guys out there, Check out the accommodations for the future below.

chune

What cranks and rear mech are those? Is that a 34t freewheel as well?

tmnguuyen 

It is Sugino with a 165mm arm length, 50/34T, The mechs are Suntour BL with first generation Shimano cassette, 32T largest cog. Never had to walk with this set up on the 106 Km route. My ride was 100% trouble free mechanical wise. There were quite a few people with mechanical issues even early on in the ride. Saw a few people had to take the SAG wagon back. The support and organization were top notch. The nutrition philosophy is 'different' (i'm sure you noticed that). For me, it is designed for a slow grind, pushing your bike along the hills to enjoy the landscape instead of top bicycling performance.

The Dorky GrabOn grips are great for the Strata Blanca. I single handedly brought 'diversity' to the ride in more ways than one . It think my El cheapo Sakei GT was the only one in a sea of Bianchii (sp?). Interestingly, met up with a gentleman from Seattle who owns a bike shop and he instantly knew what it was.

Koga Miyata and Shimano drive train seem to be preferred by German riders. Met a few with really nice Miyatas.

Tandem on the 106 route:



Sweet moment - Father and friend pushing young lady up the hill


Food spread and water station - presentation is very nice (Italian's presentations are always stylish), nutrition and taste is a matter of opinion. Wonder why the bars and cafes along the route was doing brisk business. I had nasty cramps mid way into the ride and no water to be found (partially my fault, forgot my electrolyte at home). Stopped at a bar a few miles later and a bottle of coke and powerade was 14 euros.

Robvolz 

Walla Walla in the House!! (Home of Grab-On)

I remember the looks I got from fellow racers back in 1984 when I put Grab-Ons on my Holdsworth.

Flock-em.

merziac

I knew you were up to something, glad you had some fun with it and they helped.

Better be careful though, you may need more when they're not enough, then what?

tmnguuyen 

Thanks Matthias,!it is a chance of a life time for me. 25th anniversary of L’Eroica, weather cooperated last minute and met a few nice folks along the way,

merziac

How many of the Miyata's broke down?

repechage

Too many riders for me.
good to see the depth of interest though

chune

Since my Sekai 4000 had no decals on it I will forgive you for not noticing your Japanese brother

chune

you got something against miyatas?? Planning on riding my 310 with full dura ace 7400 on it for eroica CA

There were a lot of Germans. I was leading the pack the first 25 miles or so of the 81km ride and this poaching German dude riding by me had STI levers and a bib with a number sharpied onto it haha

Also saw a dude in a retro mtb with a real bib and number. Had front suspension and everything. And here I thought I was bending the rules by not having retro cycling shoes

merziac

Absolutely not, Thanh mentioned all the mechanicals early on and then the Germans on Miyata's. I would bet there were far fewer of them that broke down.

While I have no actual Miyata's in my collection I do have several vintage Specialized and several others that they may have made.

I have huge respect for them, chances are they built half the Japanese bikes and most of them are still going strong.

tmnguuyen 

The two Germans i met the day before their heroic ride (209km) were working on their Miyatas with shimano 105 long cage. They had flat pedals with SPD on. I was struggling with my toe clips in previous practice rides and after talking to the gentlemen i swapped back in my flat pedals with SPD.

Here's a photo of the 'scenery' ... My new friend Paolo (rider on the left) was trying to teach how to be Italian.....

tmnguuyen 

I thought about PM you before i headed out of the US. It just escaped me that you're here too. Would have been cool if we had the two brothers together. Just to be certain they're from the same family, yours is a Sekai and not a Sakai.

chune

yes we both have Sekai bikes, I posted a thread about the frame when I bought it a few months back. You have the grand tour 2500 and I have the more lightweight racey 4000 that was a miki built frame.

non-fixie 

Alright. Mrs non-fixie and I just got back from Italy, and I promised pics.

The first thing we did on Saturday morning was to drive to Gaiole and check the status of the parking area on the Via Vertine. It was still closed:



In town we ran into a familiar face, a fellow Dutchman haggling over this very lovely Bevilacqua-branded Alan. I suspect it went home with him:



Another nice bike: a GIOS track bike, which supposedly belonged to Patrick Sercu. His name is on the top tube, so it might be legit:



My personal favorite was this Rauler. Too small for me, alas. I tried to get mrs non-fixie interested, but to no avail.



Another brand that always gets my attention is Ortelli. I rather liked this ladies' city bike:



Some of the participants' bikes were just as nice as the ones for sale, if not nicer. Take this Cimatti, for instance:



A totally different approach, but a nice one nonetheless, IMO. A well-executed case of PINK:



Walking into town for lunch I spotted this old war horse:

non-fixie 

On Sunday morning our start was delayed for half an hour, as we were waiting for a helicopter to arrive and take our picture (and presumably some video footage for a local TV station's breakfast show, it was the 25th L'Eroica after all):



And there we are:



The ride itself was just as challenging as I found it on previous occasions. On roads like this even 46k is a serious distance for a Sunday ride:



The lunch stop was great, as always:



And after lunch the best panorama of the day. The only drawback is that after taking the picture you have to negotiate that rather treacherous descent and climb the hill on the other side ...



Back in Gaiole at the finish we were greeted by the Fanfara Bersaglieri playing the Italian national anthem, with Giancarlo Brocci as their lead singer. Really nice!



And at the end, of course, there was Campari Spritz at the Jolly Caffe, and time to admire our medals.

repechage

If I had paid for and participated in the last California Eroica, I would be livid.

chune

Care to elaborate? No rule enforcement or what?

repechage

The swag boxes, the spreads at the stops, Italy is a class above the meager offerings in California.