Looking for L'Eroica

I set this blog up a while ago, but haven't gotten round to doing anything with it yet. But sitting in a Tuscan hilltop villa a few days after taking part in L'Eroica, I thought it was time I started using this space as a kind of incentive-cum-training aid to keep me riding over the upcoming winter months.
L'Eroica was very cool. Bloody hot, but in a cool, retro way if you know what I mean. I really enjoyed it but I know I would have had more fun if I'd been a lot lighter and a lot fitter.
I really struggled on the hills in the 30 degree heat and there wasn't anything I could do about it. We were only doing the 76 km version and that sort of distance would have been a breeze back in my native Chilterns, but out on the Bianchi Strada - the white, gravel roads of Chianti (above) - it was pretty brutal.
So, even though I enjoyed the event from beginning to end, I felt I should have done better with the training and subsequent performance, hence the beginning of this blog.
I'm going to jump back and forth a bit over the next few posts because there are some memories I want to get down, like the London to Paris in 24 hours bike ride I did last year, so bear with me.
Mostly though, I hope that by documenting the highs and lows of my cycling life, I will be be motivated to strive harder.

The pic right shows me and my great mate David at the finish. I'm the big one in the red in case you hadn't guessed. Next year's pic of me will look a lot different I promise you.