L'Eroica 2011

@ mr spintoofast. We were at resort Olmo too!

@ mr spintoofast. We were at resort Olmo too!

http://peteblog1.blog.co.uk/2011/10/05/l-eroica-retro-bike-ride-11971287/

As per my blog above, I was only there on Thursday, before moving closer to the start. I hear La Fuga were based there as well.

I did the 135km route with my friend Eve (a world masters pursuit champ). We left at 06.50 and arrived back at 16.20, having 30 mins stop at each feed. I rode the whole distance (38x24 bottom gear), but Eve walked up some of the steeper climbs.

I'm in the CTC top (row 5&6)

and a photo of both of us at the finish is here

How was Olmo? Any good?

I loved it, it was very regal. it was like an apartment so you could cook - not that i did - we could use the the pool of the hotel that was part of the complex, it was nice but very cold and the peeps there were very posh - i didn't love this tough! :) It was a bit out of my budget tbh but it was the only place that i could find as I left it too late to book the hotel. Afterwards we went to another hotel called Villa Sant'Uberto which was ok but after the poshness of Olmo it looked a bit shite. I was good anyway and cheaper but the pool was cold too.

btw. an italian man who I met and did the eroica 5 times told me that the 75 k are as hard as the 135 as the total climbing is the same for both courses.

any of you guys found any pics that the legion of photogs must have shot at the top of the 1st climb of monte sante marie?

I stayed at Relais Santa Cristina in Radda, which looked very nice on the outside but was very, er, basic inside. I will need to do more research on hotels for next year... Olmo sounds nice but sounds rather expensive...

Peter, you didn't stay in Lucca the whole time, did you? Your hotel looks very nice, but it's a bit far away. BTW, you look pretty fresh in that finish photo!

All, if anyone spots sites other than fotoeventi with pics, then please share your finds here. As Peter said, there were loads of other photographers out and about. Thanks.

btw. an italian man who I met and did the eroica 5 times told me that the 75 k are as hard as the 135 as the total climbing is the same for both courses.

Sounds like a trap ;-)

Peter, you didn't stay in Lucca the whole time, did you? Your hotel looks very nice, but it's a bit far away. BTW, you look pretty fresh in that finish photo!

All, if anyone spots sites other than fotoeventi with pics, then please share your finds here. As Peter said, there were loads of other photographers out and about. Thanks.

No we were at agriturismo Il Poggi del Chianti, (http://www.tuscan.cc/ - great wines and oils too) at 10 km from Gaiole so we didn't have to use the car to get to the start and back from the finish

just looked through a whole bunch of pics on flickr, facebook and google but nothing yet... maybe better to search in Italian :-/

about looking fresh, well there's a secret you know...

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i havent got any picts of myself apart from the finish one :(
my fingers were aching more than anything else when I finished, it was awful

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complmenti & much respect to you tika, I remember you telling me at the last ristoro that you never rode hills, just the velodrome, and that you didn't really like them?!

i go to kent sometimes but never for rides longer than 60 miles and the hills don't compare to this italian loveliness! I didn't suffer too much until the point I met you and then everything went downhill. It took me ages to get to the finish. I had to walk a bit to the top of santa maria as I lost balance and fell and then couldn't make the bike go up again as it was too steep and I had no power left, apart from the heat that was making me sick. A bit afterwards I recovered my energy but it wasn't the same as the beginning, i was quite drained. I didn't eat la ribolitta because I feared that it would upset my stomach but in the end it was worse as I had no fuel to get going. I went at snail pace.

baaack. tony and i made the 135, me, 7-5 and tony i think 7-6.30 then, john came in shortly after having completed the 205 with just one puncture and no crashes... hero!

will upload a load of pics later, feel bruised and sleepy today but cracking weekend as always

Our paths must have crossed somewhere. We rode the 135km, started at 6.50 and finished just before 4.20

Does anyone know how hot it got on that day? 38°C?

Peter, the accommodation at the winery looks nice. How was the bathroom? And, yes, the lukewarm beer at the finish line never tasted so good!

I think it got to about 31 deg, but felt a lot hotter at times. was 73rd overall at third 205 stop, then late 80s post puncture and crash. My Garmin recorded 10.5hours cycling. Caught quite a few up during the mont st. clare wilderness, including tim, in rapha italian getup, who was just crouched over his bike hot as a beetroot. I was really glad to have electrolyte tabs for water and a very low 32 cog on back. Those old boys are the stars though, there seems to be a gnarled 60 year old still going just ahead. Can't wait till next year already.

The dashboard thermometer in the car my wife was in registered 40c at one point!

Does anyone know how hot it got on that day? 38°C?

Peter, the accommodation at the winery looks nice. How was the bathroom? And, yes, the lukewarm beer at the finish line never tasted so good!

The forecast in the morning said high of 31°C, but it certainly felt like 40°C. The odd thing is that I did not get tanned at all despite being under the sun all day and feeling like a dried apricot by the end of the day. That said, I'm thankful that it was dry; hot-and-humid would have finished me off mid-day.

I didn't get tanned either and I ghad forgotten to put suncream. I thought that I would be very brown by the end of it and I was the same as when I left. At one point it was so hot that i was feeling sick. I was running 42/28 as my lighter gear, could have done with a 30 cog at the back

http://www.freshngood.com/?p=61231

http://www.flickr.com/photos/angeloferrillo/sets/72157627822748378/

tika, that flickr set is amazing! pathetic in the traditional, operatic sense! thanks.

Uploaded digital shots from Sat/Sun. Just developed the first 2 rolls of film - but not scanned yet.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/acf_windy/sets/72157627872619942/

^ very nice!

my adventure in communications with fotoeventi.com has begun; I was told I'd get the finish pic full size for free but they sent me a low res one with a text printed across it :-/ in the same e-mail I ordered two pics for which I'd pay and asked for an invoice... much confusion is imminent, probably

oh, shredder, bathroom at poggi was OK, not much pressure on the hot water though. and the finish beer was handed to me ice cold by my girl :-)

Anybody see my Rossin?