L'Eroica - percorso cicloturismo - riding it "normally" 28th Luglio 2013

L'Eroica - percorso cicloturismo - riding it "normally" 28th Luglio 2013

L'Eroica is the name given to a vintage bike race, held annually in Tuscany, on the first weekend in October. However, it is a "percorso cicloturismo" - a permanent cycle path, that is very well signposted, hence you can ride it any time you like. This is my review of riding it, under your own steam.

"L'Eroica" means "The Heroic" and is a tough tough cycle route. It runs 205 km (127 miles) through Tuscany, starting and ending in Gaiole in Chianti (one of the 3 lega di Chianti - Gaiole in Chianti, Radda in Chianti, Castellina in Chianti - the towns that established the edict of being the real and only Chianti producers in 1716), and going thtough Siena, Buonconvento, Montalcino (home of Brunello), Asciano, Radda. It takes in more than 12000 feet of climbing, and, the funnest part of the main race - you are supposed to ride it on a retro bike - that is built prior to 1987. And of course, you ride for more than half of the distance on the strade bianche - the white roads of Tuscany - unpaved, gravelled, naturally white roads - which are tough to ride on.

L'Eroica has spawned a pro-race the Strade Bianche - which is fast becoming an important race on the tour calendar. This one is a little different, as it finished in the town square in Siena, to make that grandstand finish.

The route, or percorso cicloturismo, takes in roads, and the route is extremely well sign posted, so you can ride it all year round. I would highly recommend it to anyone. However, the full course is tough, so I would recommend doing it in two or three days, dependent upon how well trained you are. The signs are very easy to spot, and placed at every significant turn, plus there are plenty of distance markers along the route too. Even doing it over two days, you are still talking about doing 60-70 miles per day, on tough terrain, which is still pretty epic. There are shorter percorsos of 38 km, 75 km, 125 km as well as the biggy of 205 km, which are worth considering for those who would like the opportunity but don't relish riding on these roads!

http://app.strava.com/activities/70278501

On my ride, I burnt 6600 Calories, climbed over 12000 feet, and including mechanicals and biological wobbles it took over 13 hours to complete!

What bike to use?
Well - I used my race bike. A Scott Addict SL from 2009, equipped with Dura Ace and Cosmic Carbone SLs. I rode an agressive racing position.


The bike I rode was fine - I wondered if it would be too stiff, or too jarring on the gravel roads, or if I should raise my stem to soften the position, but in the end I had no problem at all. The roads are jarring, and it managed to bounce off my mirror, and unwind the poorly tied (by me!) handlebar tape that I had put on. Ideally I think this route would be best faced on a cyclocross bike - something with tyres approaching 28 should allow you to glide over the top of the bad stuff and keep grip, but also the cyclocross would also allow you to get some good speed on the downhills.
A mountain bike, would be fine for those wanting to go a little slower. I wouldn't necessarily recommend a touring bike, but if you have packs, then it would be fine, but be careful with some of the tricker descents in terms of handling.

What tyres to use?
I really wish I'd taken the time to put some hard wearing tyres on. I was running Continental GP 4000s which are fantastic tyres but not hardy enough for these types of roads. The contis are fantastic race tyres, smooth, fast and super grippy, which is great for a nervous descender like me but I think I should have gone for something like the Vittoria Roubaix (green stripes, http://www.vittoria.com/en/product/cotton-tires/#product-4496) which I have some and they are still riding strong after 2 years of use, but I did not have them with me. My contis got cut to pieces and I am sure this is what caused the multiple punctures I had.

 

What wheels to use?
I used my Mavic cosmic carbone SLs with 50 mm aero dish. This was an absolutely stupid move when the punctures were coming. Great wheels, solid and staying true despite the abuse I give them, super strong, but really for this trip, I should have swapped for some touring wheels - no aero, and more spokes, but I didn't have any with me to make the change.

What spares to take?
I had a full kit with me - 2 inner tubes, 2 air cannisters, 1 mini pump, crank brothers multi tool.
The air cannisters didn't work very well, but I think this was because I didn't have the right length valves on my spare inner tubes, and had to use an adapter. So, once I had burned a gas cannister each time, I got going on my Specialized pump - I think it's an air tool carbon mini (http://www.specialized.com/us/en/ftb/pumps/equippumpsspecials/airtoolcarbonroadminipump) which is great, solid, small, but was taking 200-250 pumps to get up to an acceptable pressure - AFTER I had used the gas. So, it was acceptable but hard work!

I wished I'd taken my bentobox with me - I really ran out of food and could have done with extra salts to get me through.

Tilled earth

Fields and fields of sunflowers

What's the road quality like?
"What you talking about Willis?" or as they say in Italian "Che cavolo stai dicendo Willis?" - amazingly this show was also popular in Italy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-D261Dz18A
Anyway - the roads are tough. Several times both on this time, and when I was doing the race a couple of years ago, when I was riding on a nice smooth piece of tarmac and then suddenly we cut off in the wrong direction chasing another piece of white road - I was thinking what the flip are they doing? But, you have to remember that this is a race to celebrate those white roads, and to preserve their heritage. There are hundreds of grand fondos in Italy - so if you want to do a race or a ride on tarmac then do not choose this. It can be tiring, but that's the aim of it.

What's the scenery like?
The scenery is second to none. This is one of the most beautiful areas of the world, with vineyards, olive groves, castles, hills, valleys, churchs, and also a very rural place so you cannot get far without seeing a moustachioed farmer riding some retro tractor, working on the family's ancient land.



Description of the route.
I'm going to break the route up into little chunks and describe what you can expect to find, in terms of scenery and what the legs should find too.
http://www.eroicafan.it/en/l-eroica-ita-3/l-eroica-storica-ita/percorsi-eng.html
http://www.eroicafan.it/images/percorsi/tabella_di_marcia205.pdf

Part 1: Gaiole to Brolio
The start is fantastic. You leave the quaint chianti town of Gaiole, and take in a gentle donwhill on tarmac for about 3 miles. At this point, the adrenalin is rushing, but hold off on the legs - there is plenty more to come! Turning left, you start the climb up to Brolio, still on tarmac, and then suddenly you turn a right, and dive through a gateway onto white roads and tackle the hard climb up to Castello Brolio. Brolio is still the home of the same family for a thousand years, and the former Baron was pivotal in establishing Italy as a nation. Wonderful wines on sale too. The climb though is a real buster, you need a bit of speed to get up it, but don't forget that you have another 200 km to go and to save a little in the legs. You get your first descent on white roads here - take it slow and start to look for the flatter parts of the track, especially around the corners. There are times on some roads that have less cars and mainly tractor traffic, where there are ridges all down the road. On these parts, take the weight off the seat and hold the drops and try and float over the top and you'll be ok. Coming past Brolio you get a wonderful view looking back at Brolio castle - this is one of the most beautiful parts of the course and well worth a photo.

Part 2: Brolio to Due Ponti.
Leaving the Brolio section you rejoin the main road and take the climb from Pianella to San Giovanni a Cereto. Following this there is a sharp left back on white roads. This leads a while and eventually you get an extremely sharp descent followed by a brutal 20%+ short climb. Then you descend into the edge of Siena at Due Ponti. There is a bar here if you're struggling.

Part 3: Due Ponti to Bibbiano
This part gets wiggly, and generally has rolling hills, with equal measures of white road and tarmac.

Part 4: Bibbiano to Montalcino
This is a short section, via Castiglion di Bosco. Do not underestimate this part. The roads are tight, very very steep and relentless in the climbing. This is the first very hard section, and I had a big wobble physically and had to stop in at the spa in Castiglion di Bosco and beg for some water. Kindly they gave me plenty of bottled water and didn't charge - bless them. Also, Montalcino is the highest point. Again, the elevation is not so high, only about 600 m or so, but it goes up and down so much that the total climbing is massive.
In Montalcino - there are plenty of bars, and I recommend taking a break here. I was very dehydrated at this point so I ended up drinking: 1 coke, 1 juice, 1.5 litre fizzy water, 1 coffee, 2 iced teas, not to mention the delicious bruscetta I had. Also, I took some panforte for the road - as I figured it would survive a journey in a sweaty pocket without getting damaged.

Part 5: Montalcino to Asciano
This a beautiful part of the ride, and you can really take in the crete (craterous) region of southern Tuscany. The hills are hard and rolling but not killers. However, I recommend that the steeper ones (of course, there are always sections of 20%+ all the way through) as when you get to Asciano it gets nasty.

Part 6: Asciano to Castelnuovo Berardenga
Coming out of Asciano (there is a graveyard on the left, with a handy water fountain inside) you hit the real hills. For me, these have been the killers. Remember that you have 90 miles in the legs now and they throw this at you! For about 15 miles it's all white roads. You climb up crazy steep white roads, that go up and up and up - they're not so long, no more than 700 m, but man they are steep - some over 25%. As soon as you crest there will be a crazy descent - typically too extreme to really get much benefit out of it. And then it's up again. Then it's crazy down again. And repeat for 15 miles. It is very very very hard here. Both times I have done it I have had to walk. The first time I was ashamed - but there were plenty of other people around me walking too so I didn't feel too bad. And since watching the Tirreno-Adriatico pro race this year when the pros had to walk, I feel ok about it now! Again, this time I had to admit defeat and walk. Damn you roads!
To get into Castelnuovo you cross the motorway and climb the hills, there are many cafes in Castelnuovo - might be worthwhile getting supplies in.

Part 7: Castelnuovo Berardenga to Pianella
Some nice descents, and some light tarmaced climbs. This is a nice and fairly gentle section. When you get to Pianella you cross over a section that you have done before. This is the last chance to get supplies. If you need something, take the main road to the left for a few hundred yards and get some in.
If you can't face any more white roads, you can actually take the main road straight back to Gaiole - when I did the race, the officials were forcing everyone to go that way. I ignored them and went ahead into the dark anyway - leading myself to 3 hours of slow riding, not being able to see a single thing, and being scared of the rustles in the woods!

Part 8: Pianella to Radda in Chianti
You think it's almost over, but more climbing through Vagliagli and Pievasciata. The roads are moderate climbs and stunningly beautiful. If you have any juice left, you can start to empty the tank. There is a fountain on the left as you come into Vagliagli if you are low on water.

Part 9: Radda to Gaiole
Coming out fo Radda, you descend and then climb up and up on tarmac. There is a shorter, tarmaced route to Gaiole after about a mile - that is a beautiful road, but not acceptable for L'Eroica. Keep going another mile or two until you see a white road on your right. This is the final part - hooray. Mainly descending with a few short lumps, pass the beautiful little village of Vertine, then you hit the descent. The descent is scary. Sharp steep, very sharp turns, and grates across the roads in line with your wheels. You can whip up some huge speed here so be careful. At the bottom of the hill you turn right, then after 100 yards turn left and back into the square of Gaiole and you've done it! You ARE heroic!

My wrapped panforte from the bar in Montalcino

Classic Crete scenery

Typical Tuscan farm - trees, wierd tractor

Route finding
Sign posts are excellent and there are distance markers every 10 km or so. I was only lost once in Buonconvento but there again i was sidetracked by looking for a bar, and also a bike shop, so maybe I wasn't paying enough attention. If you do get lost here - find the walled city, and circle the wall and you will see the signs again.

The aftermath
Following the ride, I took a slow drive home, whereupon I got lost. At this point I knew I was very fatigued and could not concentrate on the road very well - be aware of this.
I was tired but not too bad. I really struggled at several points on the course, and thought many times about taking the shortcut home. When the sun was going down, I got my second wind, so it seems that riding in 37C heat had adversely affected me as I felt disappointingly fresh at the end.
The following day I set about cleaning the bike - that took a lot of work - lots of built up dust and debris all over, and the chain was a mess, despite it being fully cleaned the day before I took on the ride.

 







Overall - L'Eroica is a stunning ride and a complete adventure. I recommend anyone with a love of riding to give this a go, either as part of the official race, or as a more leisurely ride. Tuscany is a wonderfully green landscape, and considering how hot it gets in the summer (August is typically 39C every day, without rain) that means that there is a LOT of rain between January to April. Perfect time to ride would be May or June, or September or October. Late July was far far too hot for me, and I'm a local.

Of course, you need to try some of the splendid wines in the region - personally I'm not a fan of chianti, but there are several other fantastic wines. Also I can highly recommend taking a scooter to explore the area. A friend runs Tuscany Scooter Rental, based in Gaiole and allows you to explore the region, and the vineyards (http://www.tuscanyscooterrental.com/index.php/it/).
Parking is easy if you get to Gaiole early. Approaching the town from the south, take the first right towards the square and then sharp right. Don't use the car park, but carry on about 200 yards, and there is unmetered parking alongside the sports grounds. You can park here all day, for free, and since this is Tuscany there really is little/no crime, so all will be safe.
At the end, you should have a spritz in the square of Gaiole (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spritz_(alcoholic_beverage)) - there are several small restaurants and a bar and it really is a splendid place to relax. That is, if you get there whilst it is still light!

Happy riding!

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