Loving L'Eroica

I first heard about L'Eroica from Chris.

After one of his regular one-handed Internet searches he said he'd found a mythical bike race in Chianti, Italy over the old, gravel roads of the region using only 'retro' road bikes. I was sold. The costs of only 35 Euros to enter was too good to pass up, so we registered and worried about how to get there and where to stay later.

In the end four of us - Luigi, Jayne, Ali and Chris - schlepped the 1100 miles to Gaoile in Chainti (Tuscany) in the company Astra with four bikes on top, while David and Becky took the train to Florence. Fortunately it was Becky's birthday so we ended up in a swanky Tuscan villa, complete with pool and stunning views for ten days: perfect prep for the ride.

L'Eroica (The Hero) was dreamt up as a conservation project. It seems the rough, gravelly white roads of Chianti - the Biancha Strada - were gradually being tarmaced over. This was a bad thing. The people of Chianti like their traditions and to prove that the roads were perfectly adequate as they were, decided to hold an annual ride featuring pre-1987 road bikes. More specifically, bikes that have their gear shifters on the downtube. In its first year, L'Eroica attracted around 200 riders. This year 3,500 enthusiasts crammed the tiny streets of Gaoile - testament to the power of a great idea and an awful lot of Italian passion.

There are four routes: 38km, 76km, 135km and 205km. The latter two are now permanent routes and are way-signed so you can do them anytime you like. Most first-timers like us opt for the 76km version, which sounds like a ride in the park for most club riders, until you factor in the heat and the hills of Tuscany and of course the perils of the Biancha.

We had pulled our 'retro' bikes from a variety of sheds, garages and other cobwebbed places and prepared to tackle the bruising Biancha with minimal maintenance and practice time. If I'd spent more time on my rusty old Peugeot I might have noticed the colossal buckle in the front wheel. As it was, it only came to light halfway down the dirt road from the our Tuscan villa. Nothing else for it, I would have to buy a new wheel on the day from one of the 'retro' bike stalls in Gaoile. The gnarled old Italian bike wizard I showed my bike wheel to the next morning said "No!" to my request for a new wheel. "Si, Si!" I countered. "No, No!" he shot back before attacking my existing wheel with a lump hammer. "Ecco" he said, arms outstretched, which I took to mean, "there you go matey - fixed!". He was right, the buckle was gone and it didn't cost a thing. Good job I was running a steel wheel.

And so to the ride. On our day of reckoning it reached 34 degrees, which is way too hot for a big lump of lard like me. My bike's paltry 10 gears didn't help either as I lurched up and down the rutted, hilly Biancha. But despite the pain, the stellar views over Tuscany and the camaraderie of fellow riders helped keep me going. The white roads were a massive challenge. Sometimes they were like smoothish fire roads here in the UK, other times they resembled a downhill MTB course. To stop my tyres rolling off their rims I quickly realised that I needed to pick a straight line through the worst of it and stick to it no matter what. Easier said than done when its steep and there's a bend coming up.

We reached the picturesque village of Raddar and promptly fell into the nearest bar. It was tough to leave but we were only two thirds of the way round so off into the Tuscan sunlight we went. In the end, I punctured at the bottom of a massive climb and had to admit I was glad of the breather. There was a 7km short cut back to Gaiole and I'm not ashamed to say I bailed at that point with mate David as company.

Chris and Ali pressed on but soon realised that they had taken the wrong route and also ended up in Gaoile just as we arrived. There was nothing else for it but to sink as many beers as we could before the 'support' team picked us up.

One thing's for sure, you really do need to be a Hero to finish either the 135km or 205km routes of L'Eroica. Even the 76km is tough enough and bike prep and practice is a must.

Would we go back? You betcha! For the rest of the holiday, all we could talk about was making plans for next year. The whole event is a blast and superbly organised: all you need is a mouldy old 1980s racer and you're in!

For more pics, see the slideshow by clicking HERE.