Hello all,
Anyone planning to do L'Eroica this year? I've signed up for a third year of dust, gravel and rough Chianti.
By some miracle, the Mrs has given me a pass out for a week.
My last two attempts to do the full Eroica course weren't entirely successful: my first (solo) attempt was cut short by a leaky
tub and a broken cable hanger. Second go was held up by another flat tyre - me and another guy got to the junction
up to Radda but they'd closed the road. We did a detour up to Gaiole that was the same distance, but we didn't officially finish the course (which did give me a convenient excuse to go back, erhum)...
Anyhoo, I'm going over on the 2nd of Feb, going to do a ride round Lucca on the 3rd as a warm up then head over for the Eroica itself.
For the Lucca ride, I'd like to either do San Pellegrino in Alpe or the route of the Gran Fondo Michele Bartoli.
The former is a fairly mental climb about 50km north of Lucca. It's been described as Alpe D'Huez with the Cote de la Redoute stuck on top for good measure. The route up and back is flat but picturesque, and Lucca itself is worth seeing (it's the twin town of the town in Oxfordshire where I come from - the Italians very much got the shitty end of that stick).
The latter is a course that attempted to imitate the Belgian classics in Italy, with a couple of cobbled sections and a few shorter climbs like you get in Liege Bastogne Liege. A combination of Belgian and Italian cycling: what's not to like?
If anyone's up for having a go at either of these, let me know.
Hope to see some of you at L'Eroica anyway,
Johnny
Anyone planning to do L'Eroica this year? I've signed up for a third year of dust, gravel and rough Chianti.
By some miracle, the Mrs has given me a pass out for a week.
My last two attempts to do the full Eroica course weren't entirely successful: my first (solo) attempt was cut short by a leaky
tub and a broken cable hanger. Second go was held up by another flat tyre - me and another guy got to the junction
up to Radda but they'd closed the road. We did a detour up to Gaiole that was the same distance, but we didn't officially finish the course (which did give me a convenient excuse to go back, erhum)...
Anyhoo, I'm going over on the 2nd of Feb, going to do a ride round Lucca on the 3rd as a warm up then head over for the Eroica itself.
For the Lucca ride, I'd like to either do San Pellegrino in Alpe or the route of the Gran Fondo Michele Bartoli.
The former is a fairly mental climb about 50km north of Lucca. It's been described as Alpe D'Huez with the Cote de la Redoute stuck on top for good measure. The route up and back is flat but picturesque, and Lucca itself is worth seeing (it's the twin town of the town in Oxfordshire where I come from - the Italians very much got the shitty end of that stick).
The latter is a course that attempted to imitate the Belgian classics in Italy, with a couple of cobbled sections and a few shorter climbs like you get in Liege Bastogne Liege. A combination of Belgian and Italian cycling: what's not to like?
If anyone's up for having a go at either of these, let me know.
Hope to see some of you at L'Eroica anyway,
Johnny
