|
In our current winter conditions it's nice to be reminded of my stay in September at the Borgo north east of Arezzo, it was a lovely stay in tranquil surroundings and an excellent host...excellent base to cycle over to the bautiful towns of Arezzo, Cortona & Sanselpolcro..you can even to cycle over the mountains to the Adriatic sea only 70km away!.....
Finally managed to reduce 55m to 6m of the key moments of my L'Eroica 2011 video blog of last years event...check it out Confirmation that L'Eroica 2012 will take place on Sunday 7th October....already lots of enquiries and confirmed 4 bookings from as far away as USA.. Received Notice that Gran Fondo Vernaccia (San Gimignano) will now take place 6th May a week earlier then usual....This event is the most popular Gran Fondo in Tuscany with other 2000 participants...it's also the most beautiful set in the stunning countryside of Chianti..well worth a trip not just to cycle but to sample the food and the excellent wine!! Finalised accommodation in Gaiole in Chanti for L'Eroica in October, I've contracted 3 great locations, 2 amazing Castle's offering agriturismo apartments 7km from the start of the event and a fabulous 4 star hotel just 4km from the start of the event. check out the L'Eroica link L'Eroica Enjoyed a nice but fresh 100km training ride with Nicolas Roche of AG2R who was in Sheffield for a book signing of his Life story and the acclaimed diaries of life as a professional cyclist....here he is....he got in the shower before me!!!
The Maratona dles Dolomite package is now available..I have privitised a large chalet of 4 apartments 200 metres from the start of the event in La Villa...great location and views of the Dolomites..already 3 apartments have just been booked. The event takes place 1st July and i am offering accommdation and registration.. Please contact me for further details as 3 apartments have now been taken... This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Fantastic News just in!! Montecatini Terme is hosting during the Giro d'Italia the only stage finish in Tuscany, it's on the 16th May 2012 the stage finishes in the centre of Montectini Terme....that's a result right! in my home town...started already to locate hotels etc for that week. The Cycling World Road Championships will take place in Tuscany in October 2013...while i was in Tuscany cycling i decided to check some of the course of the road race.. The start takes place in Lucca...heads passed Montecatini Terme passed my parents house and then heads to Lamporecchio...and the famous climb of San Boronto....it's about 5km long and at 350m high is no pushover but comes quite early in the race....maybe a break will probably start from here im sure. The World Cycling Tme Trial Championship will start and finish in Montecatini Terme which is great for me as my parents livein Montecatini and with all my contacts should be able to sort out a good position to watch the event.
In Search of L'Eroica Bike Gian Bohan and myself Marco Mori are wanting to participate in a cycling event called L'Eroica on the 2nd October in Gaiole in Chianti located south of the beautiful rolling countryside of Siena,
I was attracted to this event after first reading about it in a cycling magazine 5 years ago, i kept the feature as a reminder to myself that one day i''l go and check it out....what struck me when reading the feature was it's uniqueness..nothing quite exists or compare with any 1 day cycle event in the world. ..not even the many E'tape du tour or Gran Fondo's i had participated over the years would compare when reading the story of this event.
Giancarlo Brocci a hotelier from Gaiole in Chianti was the instigator with 3 others to organise a bike event called L"Eroica to replicate the experiences of the golden age of Italian Cycling of the 40's and 50's
by cycling on the white gravel roads of the chianti region as Coppi and Bartali had previously done.
This event has grow enormously to the point now that it's over subscribed..the success is down to key points of participation...you need a pre-1987 bike, toe clips and metal water bottles, the wearing of old fashioned cycling gear is a pre-requisite plus carrying spare inner tubes criss crossed around your body, motor racing googles, flat cap and if you cycle with a moustache it's a bonus!!.......these are eagerly taken up by many of the participants.
2 years ago while on holiday in Tuscany i decided to go and visit the event to see for myself what the event was really like..i arrived on Saturday in Gaiole day before the event and noticed immediately a very relaxing feel to the event and place. There were many stall holders selling original Campagnola Chorus group sets, to 1969 L'Equipe magazines from the Tour de France to Molteni/Faema racing shirts to metal drinking bottles with cork stoppers!! this was a real retro shopping paradise with something for everyone with interest in the golden age of Italian Cycling....then i bumped into my hero Francesco Moser who was a guest of the organisor, here he was still looking lean, tall and his trademark nose here he was chatting away to old fans.
The event on Sunday was fantastic to watch...every colour, every team, (Ti Raleigh to Salvarani) every bike from ( Atala to Legnano) was on show from kids as young as 16 to 70's cycling through the chianti region.
the route has 4 distances which you can decide on the day the distance you wish to participate. 40km, 80km, 120km or 200km.. at every 40km there are food stations....but these are not the usual nutritional stops of gels, sports drinks and bananmas!! these stalls are filled with parma ham, salami, sandwiches of te local areas, local Tuscan Soup Robolitto all wshed down with Chianti!!.. at the finish everyne receives a bottle of Chianti and panforte which is a local Siennies fruite cake!....after the weekend i was hooked on the whole event!
After talking about the event to friends over the 2 years, we have finally decided that we will participate....now the big challenge was to find a bike of the period to participate..
Gian and myslef headed for Tuscany to seek out a bikes for L'Eroica,....we talked to hoteliers, bike shops and even restauranteurs in our quest to seek out a L'Eroica bike and it became quite evident this was no easy search
time and again bike shops were saying that the Italians over the years had thrown or given away their old bikes that now the one's that still exist are being kept as they realise like old vintage cars there is value in keeping them and a few find their way on occasions on ebay with prices now not quite cheap as one would have thought...
We met a hotelier owner called Enrico and his Father ........located on Monte Amiato (an extinct volcano at 1700m) we had advised him of our interest in old bikes and he duly offered us the family's 2 Colnago's, one was a 1982 full Campag Giuseppe Saronni replica bike (interestingly given as a gift by Ernesto Colnago himself as he was a regular gust of the hotelier) the bikes were in all it's original colour and equipment. see in picture...i had this to try out and Gian cycled 1977 Colnago Sport Racer....well!! we never had so much fun riding around Monte Amiato and the surrounding countryside. It felt like leaning to cycle again!!!...the gear shifters made a tremdous thud every time i changed down it reminded me so much of the exact sound when i used to ride similar bikes in the late 70's.
We were hooked!! and ready to buy but the owner had left for the day and we had to move on chance lost!!
We travelled back through beautiful unspoilt rolling countryside of South Tuscany and came across a lovely countryside restaurant in which we were the only customers but the owner Gilardo made us most welcome we had a range of antipasto with some fine local wine and after a short sleep under a tree we were off on another quest courtesy of our discussion with Gilardo who recommended to see his friend in Sinalungo to meet Maurizio who was busy and this is no lie actually working on restoring a 1910 tour bike for a client...his shops had the latest bikes from Bottechia and Cannodale and here he was busy working with meticulous accuracy as he was checking on a fully completed bike of the same period as guidance..check out the photo's at this very point I received a phone call from my friend at L'Eroica who confirmed that he will be able to rent the L'Eroica bikes on Friday morning result...our quest was finished and seeing maurizio Artisan work at first was a fitting end of our quest to find a L'Eroica bike!!
 La Maratona dles Dolomite 4th July This was my second consequitive visit to the event and this time i decided to take a group for 5 nights instead of 3 as last year...It was much more relaxing as spent one day exploring the dolomite peaks to chill out then the next day we spent the day on the bikes...checking equipment and climbing 2 of the 6 climbs of the 105km route. The apartments in La Ville had wonderful views of the Dolomite range always impressive when you first wake up in the morning. We were up ar 4am for breakfast...heading for the start at 5.45 and already 1000's were heading to the start strewn for over 2 km in the valley of 8500 riders... the weather was warm and sunny, the event was well organised and was a real challenge for all of our group of 12 riders..we each had our own individual battles to get over the 6 climbs of the day and for some 7 who did the longer course...managed to shave off 40 minutes and burn 3600 calories to finish with a time of 6 hrs and 35 minutes.. Gran Fondo Michele Bartoli (Montecarlo nr Lucca) 30 May This was a fantastic event...starting and finishing in the medieval town of Montecarlo....just 12km from Montecatini Terme, I brough along Gian, Maurizio and "cycling weekly" journalist Penny Comins to experience the weekend and the event here in the heart of Tuscany. I was very much looking forward to this event, I heard from many cyclists and friends that it was a well organised event and it didn't disapoint. The start as with the other events i have participated in are really full on!! no prisoners! every one goes like a bat out of hell with the added challenge that the start was down hill! As we descended out of the beautiful medieval hill top town of Montecarlo (more then a 1000 participated) there was a charge to the 1st Km and to the first right turn..as we headed out into the countryside the pace settled down and lots of small groups formed on the main road, at this point i began to relax and really began enjoying the event. It really felt like a race! taking turns at the front in a big group was a real experience for me..what i also likeed are the roads closed to traffic the support cars, police and road side marshals all keeping the roads open and always pointing out well in advance when ever there were tight turn to be aware of. The route was a mix of terrain which i prefer, a mix of 11 short 1 - 5 km climbs, plenty of flat roads with good but narrow descents around the Lucca area where we spent most of the time riding. As i suffered on the climbs, I came into my own on the descents which I really enjoyed s round tight countryside lanes through villages to great roadside support. The food stops were excellent in particular the last one..which offered local Tuscan soup it was so good i had it twice! The high point was being able to see the church spire from some distance i knew then the finish was in sight and I was looking forward to the pasta party. The pasta party was as usual generous..with choice of pasta, wine, main course pork and steak with salad, desert and coffee...Im now looking forward to Penny's review of the event and planning next year.
Gran Fondo Montecatini Terme Sunday 2nd May the Gran Fondo Montecatini Terme was a disaster for me right from the start!......after a well cooked meal by Gian at Casa di Nonna, I headed early to bed, but I couldn't sleep no matter how much I tried, a few visits to the toilet and then completely throwing up my dinner at 7am, gave me no interest in breakfast at this stage...I turned up for the start on empty, great buzz of excitement....mamma & babbo were their to support me and then we were off 9am sharp with race director, team cars and motorcyclists outriders heading out from the start and buzzing all the local traffic to stop, accompanying by the neutral car out of the town...within 1km....the race officially started..although no one told me and Gian we thought it started the moment we slotted our toe clips...I could not believe how fast these club riders were going..(these club riders with their fancy bikes and team colours had the muscle to prove it!!)....we were travelling at 28mph in the rain!!....within a few km I shouted to Gian..this is bollocks!!!.......within 9kms i shouted to Gian......i'm F...D!...and then my energy sapped, I was off the back..after team cars, officials and the ambulance cover i was on my own..literally..and for the next 63km I headed towards San Baronto and Ponte Di Sarravalle climbs......constant rain, very cold descents and fingers blue I made it to the finish!!....heartened that I had completed the event, earned a hot bath....and mingled with other riders to chat about the day this was followed by a great pasta party celebration, and presentations of the winners of the various categories (I will let Gian tell you all about it his surprise presentation!!)... in conclusion I said to Gian, I need to look at how I can get another 5mph out of my legs as we prepare for the Gran Fondo Michele Bartoli on the 30th May!!......mamma turned round and said "why don't you make sure you keep your dinner in your stomaco bimbo"!!..she has a point! Gusto Cycling Competition Winner! Ruth Middleton of East London Velo Cycling Club Yes it was Lance Armstrong who looked absoluetly gutted in the picture, well done Ruth you can now book a fabulous week in Tuscany staying at Casa di Nonnna's nestled in the beautiful hills above Pescia. Why Tuscany....Whilst i have said "Why Tuscany" on my website, i thought it would be nice to hear from someone who is very passionate about Tuscany who you will have heard of.....I recently read an article on CNN website regarding an interview with Author Frances Mayes who wrote the book.. "Under the Tuscan Sun," Francis Mayes spends 6 months in Tuscany every year. She recently talked about her life in Tuscany with CNN.com from North Carolina, where she lives part of the year. The following is an edited version of that interview. CNN: You get a very warm feeling reading your book. It's all about friends, trips, wine and food. Is there any other place on earth where you have experienced this magic atmosphere beyond Tuscany? Frances Mayes: In a word, no. I find that other countries have this or this, but Italy is the only one that has it all for me. The culture, the cuisine, the people, the landscape, the history. Just everything to me comes together there. I do find some similarities among the people with the people I grew up with in Georgia in the South. There is that shared hospitality and sense of everything happening at the table. Finally spent a lovely break in Tuscany with my parents in Montecatini Terme, I was there to watch 2 stages of the Tirreno -Adriatico which happened to finish in Montecatini Terme and Monsummano Terme (just next door)...how nice it was to be able to meet your favourite cyclists; Cavendish, Schleck, Cadel Evans and more....all mingling around the start an hour before the start...easy to approoach and have a chat, look over the bikes and team cars.....check out the Gustocycling/facebook site....you can see the pictures/video i took!!
|
|
© Gusto Cycling. All Rights Reserved.