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@Rik_Van_Looy
^Nice report Peter - I agree the candlelit climb to the Barons castle was mesmerising, and the atmosphere/apprehension in Gaoile at the start was memorable.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/72712370/2012-10-07%2004.17.44.jpg
I was riding with my brother who'd just returned from Siberia and was recovering from food poisoning. He's hard as nails and wouldn't admit it until the Pieva a salti, so we were riding "piano" like a pair of randonneurs. This was actually very enjoyable as it gave me loads of time to enjoy the scenery and socialise at feedstops and an opportunity to enjoy a glass or 2 of Chianti at each feedstation. (I'm pretty sure you got the full value of the entry fee back in food & wine alone) - by the last stop I was onto the Vin Santo and Biscotti, which was rather nice.
I also enjoyed the fountain stops too, with crowds of old school domestiques filling their bidons, like the vintage Tour photos....
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/72712370/2012-10-07%2014.03.25.jpg
To my shame I had to get off and push the first section of the Sante Marie, but the 44x24 was good for the rest of it!
Unbelievably, despite carrying 5 spare tubs between us, Benji and I only had one puncture and that was self sealing with Stans! Benj was riding Schwalbes that survived their second Eroica unscathed, and I had vintage 70's Wolber 290's - Hurrah for age-softened tubs and stans sealant!
Coming into the last check at Vagliagli Benji pronounced his stomach cramps to have subsided so I passed him a kendal mint cake and filled our bottles.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/72712370/2012-10-07%2015.51.35.jpg
2 mins later we arrived on the scene of Tika's crash shortly after Alistair.
She'd put in a fantastic ride - total commitment: 9h30 with 40km to go, and was looking at <11h30 to complete - never seen as messy and bloody a crash and made all the worse for happening to such a lovely lady - so glad she was wearing a helmet.
Once we knew she was in safe hands (doctor on the scene, organisers notified, ambulance on the way), we decided to hammer the final 20km and have a crack at getting her the hamper she deserved, sadly it was not to be and we reached the back of a substantial crowd on the finishing straight waiting for their photos and finally got stamped at 12h15.
Text from Tika this morning - she's feeling a lot better, bad gravel rash to face and arms, stitches required too. Her helmet (kask) did a good job and is trashed.