L'Eroica 2011: The Boys from Sheffield

Thanks to Marco Mori for his video of the 2011 L'Eroica in which he participated with friends from Sheffield, England. After a career in the travel industry he decided to start his own cycling tour operation, GustoCycling, in 2009.

The video starts with a narrow screen but soon goes widescreen so stay with it...


Marco had previously written in with his story of "In Search of a L'Eroica Bike".

Registration for the 2012 L'Eroica opens March 1st, read more here. GustoCycling L'Eroica offering for this year here.


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Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal about rides, granfondos, touring, having a good time cycling in Italy, Italian cycling history, etc. are always welcome. Contact me at veronaman@gmail.com. There are more than 2,200 stories in this blog. The search feature to the right works best for finding subjects in the blog. There is also a translate button at the bottom so you can translate each page.

2011 L'Eroica: Riding with the Heroes

My thanks to my friend over at Travels with a Tin Donkey for this excerpt from his 2011 L'Eroica adventure. The full story is here.

L'Eroica 2011: Riding with the Heroes

"Sunday, October 2: We got up at 4:30 and drove the car, bikes and stuff for the day in the back, back to Gaoile for the start of l’Eroica. It was pitch dark but already the village was active as those starting the long routes (205 and 132 km) were getting ready to leave. We were directed to a parking place next to a warehouse and quickly got the bikes set up and headed to the start line. Everyone leaving this early was supposed to have lights. Bernd had a good strong light mounted to his helmet and I had a LED light on the handlebars, as well as a highly-visible taillight under the seat. I was wearing armwarmers and long-fingered glove liners because it was quite cold but I knew in a short while we would be sweating. We pulled up to the control stand and had our cards stamped and at 6:10 we officially departed for the 132 km course of l’Eroica with some trepidation.

Leaving the town and following the trail of blinking taillights, I soon realized that I could barely see anything and began to wish I had brought my regular glasses. I can see well enough with non-prescription sunglasses during the day but nothing at all was visible. I was just grateful that the roads were so well-paved that potholes were not a concern. As it was I rode much more slowly than I had planned at this stage.


After some time passed (and I had no real idea how much), the course turned and we were suddenly on a steep gravel climb. I was to learn later that this took us up to the castle of the famous Brolio wine estate but it was enjoyable to climb in the darkness, our way lit by oil lanterns burning on both sides of the road all the way up. It was still cold but surrounded by other cyclists and the sound of whirring gears made the climb a unique experience.


The sun rose around 7:15 and it began to warm up. The gravel roads were not too bad, although there were some soft and sandy parts to watch out for, along with dust, but we made decent progress. The road constantly rose and fell and there was a startingly steep (but blessedly short) climb around the 20 km mark which must have been a 20 percent grade. My gearing was fine for this but the pedal/shoe combination was to give me some trouble for the rest of the day and I rode all the descents in the drops, getting as much braking power as the pathetic Weinmanns were up to.


Bernd was riding a bit ahead of me and I was riding for a while with a young Englishman on a very nice Mercian. The gravel was loose and as we came around a corner he lost traction and went down in a great cloud of dust. No damage to himself or the bike but it just showed how difficult the roads are. This was his fourth l’Eroica.


I caught up to Bernd soon after since he was standing by the side of the dusty ride, his tubular tire off and struggling to put on his spare tire. It was my first experience with tubulars and I found it quite instructive as he placed the glue tape on the rim, got most of the tire on, stripped off the top layer of tape to explose the glue and then rolled the last tire on. This sounds easier than it was as tubular tires do not want to go easily onto rims, but between the two of us we managed it. The dust was probably not ideal for the gluing surface either but it seemed to be okay.

We skirted around Siena (a bit disappointing as I hoped to see something of the famous town) and a few more climbs and descents brought us to Radi at Km 48 and 9:40. It was a bit startling to take 3 ½ hours to go 48 kms without having walked but the road conditions had not been ideal."
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Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal about rides, granfondos, touring, having a good time cycling in Italy, Italian cycling history, etc. are always welcome. Contact me at veronaman@gmail.com. There are more than 2,100 stories in this blog. The search feature to the right works best for finding subjects in the blog. There is also a translate button at the bottom so you can translate each page.

"Why we took up cycling in the first place!"

My thanks to Larry Theobald and his wife Heather who operate CycledItalia for their L'Eroica visit report:

"This event made us remember why we took up cycling in the first place! These folks express our philosophy of pedala forte, mangia bene in a special way. We drove up to Radda in Chianti on Sunday morning and unloaded our bicycles, donned our retro-CycleItalia jerseys (which you can order here) and headed up to see the cyclists pass through a control point and ristoro, as they say in Italian.

These stops offer ribollita, the tasty vegetable soup, bruschette and a glass or two of Chianti to provide energy for the ride. NO engineered food in mylar wrappers here! Since we were not officially participating we did not partake in any of the delicious offerings here but we were inspired to get on our bikes and see more closely the event and the participants so off we went down from Radda.

There were all shapes and sizes, both riders and bikes, with classic machines of the past in various conditions, along with their riders. Francesco Moser had a group there, all dressed in "team" kit, they blew past us rather quickly. Rumor has it Franco Bitossi and Italo Zilioli were there among others. Larry stopped to aid one unfortunate fellow with a flat tire - mechanical issues were prevalent, our guess is some of these old bikes don't get much of a shakedown before the big day and problems crop up. On the climbs we heard plenty of chains skipping and auto-shifting as the old-time shift levers failed to hold the gear position along with squealing brakes and the smell of burnt rubber brake blocks on the descents. Dressed in our retro jerseys and riding steel bicycles painted in the Italian tricolore, we fit right in, despite our automatic pedals, aero brake cables and bar-mounted shifters (all prohibited by the regulations) and were cheered by the crowds as much as any, especially as we (having ridden only a few kms and having low gears) managed to complete a tough climb on a rocky dirt surface where most walked.

We took a detour on another dirt road back to Radda, leaving the official route, only to rejoin the parade once back on pavement. We returned to Radda and enjoyed a panino and bottle of Chianti in a tiny square surrounded by re-enactors of WWII along with the old-bike fans.

We left convinced we want to scare up some bikes which meet the regulations and participate in a future event, especially as they're popping up all over Italia."

Visit the CycleItalia blog for more photos and stories about their visit to L'Eroica.

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Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal about rides, granfondos, touring, having a good time cycling in Italy, Italian cycling history, etc. are always welcome. Contact me at veronaman@gmail.com. There are more than 2,100 stories in this blog. The search feature to the right works best for finding subjects in the blog. There is also a translate button at the bottom so you can translate each page.

2011 L'Eroica Through the Lens of Angelo Ferrillo

My thanks to Angelo Ferrillo, Angelo Ferrillo Photography, for permission to use a sampling of his photos from L'Eroica of this past weekend. Click on photos to enlarge.

More of Angelo's work can be found at:
Blog: http://angeloferrillo.wordpress.com
Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/angeloferrillo

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Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal about rides, granfondos, touring, having a good time cycling in Italy, Italian cycling history, etc. are always welcome. Contact me at veronaman@gmail.com. There are more than 2,100 stories in this blog. The search feature to the right works best for finding subjects in the blog. There is also a translate button at the bottom so you can translate each page.

Cycling in Italy, October 2

Two ends of the cycling spectrum took place yesterday: the L'Eroica, a vintage bike event, in the Chianti region and the Prosecco Cycling Classic, a granfondo, in Valdobbiadene.

If you were at either one share your story with us.

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Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal about rides, granfondos, touring, having a good time cycling in Italy, Italian cycling history, etc. are always welcome. Contact me at veronaman@gmail.com. There are more than 2,100 stories in this blog. The search feature to the right works best for finding subjects in the blog. There is also a translate button at the bottom so you can translate each page.

2011 L'Eroica Last Minute Entry and Program

At 9:00 o'clock on Saturday, 1 October, at the old Ricasoli winery in Gaiole the last 100 L'Eroica entries will be available at 100 € each. The funds collected will be allocated to a new primary school in Dissin, Burkina Faso.

Here is the complete program from Thursday to Friday, in Italian, for 2011 L'Eroica:

GIOVEDI (THURSDAY) 29 Settembre
Siena – parcheggio Circolo Arci Coroncina Via Cassia Sud
ore 9:00 - partenza escursione guidata in bicicletta sulle strade dell’Eroica
Madonna a Brolio ore 14:30 – trekking in Chianti, escursione con guida
Gaiole in Chianti ore 21:00 - auditorium ex Cantine Ricasoli "Racconti a Pedali" narrazione teatrale a cura di Matteo Marsan, con Massimo Poggio, Gualtiero Burzi e Davide Iacopini.

VENERDI (FRIDAY) 30 Settembre
Castelnuovo Berardenga – Piazza Marconi
ore 9:00 - partenza escursione guidata in bicicletta sulle strade dell’Eroica
Gaiole in Chianti ore 9:00 - apertura mostra scambio biciclette e accessori d’epoca
registrazione accrediti invitati
ore 15:00 - ex Cantine Ricasoli apertura mostra fotografica "Scatti di Campioni"
apertura iscrizioni Registro Bici Eroiche
verifiche iscrizioni e consegne pettorali
ore 18:00 - auditorium ex Cantine Ricasoli presentazione libri
ore 21:00 - auditorium ex Cantine Ricasoli "L’altro Coppi" narrazione teatrale di Emanuele Arrigazzi.

SABATO (SATURDAY) 1 Ottobre
Gaiole in Chianti ore 9:00 – apertura ultime 100 iscrizioni a 100,00 € pro Burkina Faso
apertura mostra scambio biciclette e accessori d’epoca
registrazione accrediti invitati
verifiche iscrizioni e consegne pettorali
apertura iscrizioni Registro Bici Eroiche
ore 10:00 - partenza escursione guidata in bicicletta "…la prima volta" aperta a tutti ma soprattutto per quelli che non conoscono l’Eroica
ore 12:00 - auditorium ex Cantine Ricasoli – presentazione "Protocollo per la salvaguardia delle strade Bianche" con la presenza del Presidente della Provincia di Siena Simone Bezzini.
ore 14:30 – partenza passeggiata ecologica con guida "Gaiole nascosta"
ore 15:30 - partenza della Mini-Eroica, manifestazione non agonistica riservata ai giovanissimi, Nutella party all’arrivo.
- prenotazione "Cena degli Eroici"
ore 20:00 - Cena degli Eroici

DOMENICA (SUNDAY) 2 Ottobre - L’Eroica
Gaiole in Chianti ore 4:45 - ex Cantine Ricasoli verifica iscrizioni e consegna numeri
ore 5:00 - 7:00 partenza percorsi km 205 e 135
ore 8:30 - 9:30 partenza percorsi km 75 e 38
ore 10:00 - apertura mostra scambio biciclette e accessori d’epoca

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Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal about rides, granfondos, touring, having a good time cycling in Italy, Italian cycling history, etc. are always welcome. Contact me at veronaman@gmail.com. There are more than 2,100 stories in this blog. The search feature to the right works best for finding subjects in the blog. There is also a translate button at the bottom so you can translate each page.

2011 L'Eroica Registrations Pass 1000 Quickly

As reported earlier field limits have been implemented for the 2011 L'Eroica. Read the details here and register early. The organizers have just reported:

"Tuesday morning at the L'Eroica headquarters registration number 1000 was recorded just one week after opening registration for the 2011 edition, which is scheduled for Sunday 2 October in Gaiole in Chianti (SI), and the rate of subscriptions continues to grow very quickly. Among the over one thousand riders registered more than 40 percent come from abroad. This figure is very indicative of the resonance that the L'Eroica enjoys worldwide. Despite the many requests, however, we cannot exceed 3500 athletes in total. So we invite everybody to be quick to ensure their participation".

Scrolling down the list of the first riders to register, we discover that the first was a cycling enthusiast from Seattle in the United States. Our American friend took advantage of the fact that we opened the website www.eroica-ciclismo.it at 10pm instead of at midnight on 1 February then the time difference meant that he was lucky enough to be the first to register.

His speed deserves some recognition so let's get to know Brandon Crook, the protagonist of this little record, a bit better:

Do you remember the first time you heard about L’Eroica? “I can't remember where I first heard of L'Eroica, but I was officially sold on the ride by the Brooks video on youtube”.

So, will this be your first time in Gaiole in Chianti?: “Yes, this will be my first time riding L'Eroica”.

You were the fastest rider to register online for l’Eroica 2011. “I was so nervous about getting in with the rider limitations that I guess I ended up being the first to register!"

How often do you ride? “I'm 30 years old and have been riding a bike my whole life. Most of my cycling these days are just weekend rides or riding home from work (around 30 miles/50km)”.

What is your plan for L’Eroica? “I'll be arriving in Italy a couple of days before L'Eroica with a group of friends (Monica Parsons, Niki Thompson, Urban Faubion, all from Seattle!). Our plan is to ride L'Eroica and follow that up by spending the next 4 or 5 days riding through Tuscany. That is actually why we only signed up for the 75km Eroica ride, we want to be able to get back on the bike the next day! Our itinerary prior to L'Eroica includes a couple of weeks climbing in the Alps and a few days in Munich for Oktoberfest. Then we ride!!”

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Share your story. Write a story about your cycling trip, or an aspect of your trip, in Italy. Or, it can be about a granfondo experience, a special encounter, your favorite ride, etc. The period for story submissions for prizes will be January 1-February 15, 2011. Prizes will be awarded on a random basis, stories will not be judged on which is the "best" one. Nevertheless, it should be a good story for the enjoyment of all readers. Photos accompanying the story are most welcome. If you have any questions email me at veronaman@gmail.com. See photos of prizes here. Prize donated by:
CycleItalia, specializing in cycling tours in Italy
BicycleGifts.com, the premiere site for gifts and merchandise for cyclists
Enzo’s ButtonHole Chamois Cream,chamois cream for the ultimate protection
FreeBirdVelo, Italian themed T-shirts
Strada Hand Built Wheels, custom wheel building
Velo-Retro, all things retro for cycling
La Gazzetta della Bici, massage oils for cyclists
Albabici, high-end Italian cycling products distributor

2011 L'Eroica: Field Limit Will Be Implemented

For the first time a field limit will be implemented at L'Eroica this year. The possibility of this was aired in November when the organizer stated, "This event has now reached the perfect size, therefore the number of participants ideally should not exceed that of 2010. This seems to us to be the best way to guarantee the top quality service that we want to ensure into the future. We intend to use our website to offer both Italians and foreigners the opportunity to register their participation but we will certainly provide the same opportunity to those who are not computer literate."

In 2010 there were 3,480 riders with slightly more than 20% coming from outside of Italy and representing five continents.

For 2011 the field limit has been defined as permitting 2,200 Italians and 500 from other nations between the ages of 15 and 60 years old. Participants born before December 31, 1951 (over 60 years old), whether Italian or foreigners, are exempt from these field limit numbers but must formally register through the various means the organizer provides.

Also, riders over 65 will be permitted to ride only the 38, 75 and 135 km courses; that is, they will not be permitted to ride the longest course of 205 km.

Registration opens February 1, 2011. Online registration will be available at www.eroica.it

Related L'Eroica stories and videos previously published here:
2010 L'Eroica video
2010 Le Coq video series
2009 L'Eroica video by Brooks of England
Martin Appel'ss L'Eroica adventure in three parts: Part I, Part II, and Part III
Riding L'Eroica on a 3 speed Pashley (includes a link to a video)
Riding L'Eroica on a fixed gear
2009 L'Eroica photos by Blufreccia

Follow on Twitter: ITALIANCYCJOURN

Share your story. Write a story about your cycling trip, or an aspect of your trip, in Italy. Or, it can be about a granfondo experience, a special encounter, your favorite ride, etc. The period for story submissions for prizes will be January 1-February 15, 2011. Prizes will be awarded on a random basis, stories will not be judged on which is the "best" one. Nevertheless, it should be a good story for the enjoyment of all readers. Photos accompanying the story are most welcome. If you have any questions email me at veronaman@gmail.com. See photos of prizes here. Prize donated by:
CycleItalia, specializing in cycling tours in Italy
BicycleGifts.com, the premiere site for gifts and merchandise for cyclists
Enzo’s ButtonHole Chamois Cream,chamois cream for the ultimate protection
FreeBirdVelo, Italian themed T-shirts
Strada Hand Built Wheels, custom wheel building
Velo-Retro, all things retro for cycling
La Gazzetta della Bici, massage oils for cyclists
Albabici, high-end Italian cycling products distributor

L'Eroica: Field Limit for 2011?

From the organizers of L'Eroica:

There is talk of a limited number of participants for the Eroica 2011, scheduled for 2 October and it will be possible to enter from 1 February. Only six weeks after this year’s extraordinary success, the organizers have already started planning the next edition of the vintage cycling tour which is hugely appealing, both in Italy and abroad, thanks to the timeless beauty of the route.

The Eroica is characterized by the beauty of the countryside, the values shared by the participants and the wonderful bikes which make it the ultimate event for true cycling enthusiasts of all ages: "This event has now reached the perfect size” – say the organizers – “therefore the number of participants ideally should not exceed that of 2010. This seems to us to be the best way to guarantee the top quality service that we want to ensure into the future. We intend to use our website to offer both Italians and foreigners the opportunity to register their participation but we will certainly provide the same opportunity to those who are not computer
literate.

More information on how to register will soon be available.

Note: This year there were 3,480 riders with slightly more than 20% coming from outside of Italy and representing five continents. See a video of the 2010 L'Eroica here.

ICJ Reader contribution contest will run 1 January to 15 February, 2011. Details here.

Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal about rides, granfondos, having a good time cycling in Italy, Italian cycling history, etc. are very welcome. Contact me at veronaman@gmail.com. There are more than 1,600 stories in this blog. The search feature to the right works best for finding subjects in the blog. There is also an Italian weather widget along the right side and a translate button at the bottom so you can translate each page. What I'm riding.