L'Eroica is a wonderful experience. As other postings suggest, you can arrive into the area via Pisa, or even Florence, which is about 1.5 hrs away. Although one can rent a car in the Florence airport, a car is not allowed in historical (central) Florence without a special permit, so if you want to visit Florence it is best to do it before or after L'Eroica --central Florence is to be walked! If you don't want to rent a car, there are medium-range taxi services that can take you into the country near Gaiole. If the hotel or B & B is close to Gaiole, one can bike over to the start in the morning (I did). In Europe, I usually rent a small wagon- an assembled bike and a bikecase will fit in addition to luggage and two people...my favorite is called a Renault Kangoo (Fiat makes a similar vehicle). Most wagons come only with standard transmission. There are many B & B's and small hotels all the way to accomodations in castles around the area of Gaiole. I recommend getting there several days in advance to ride the area and to reconnoiter the routes . The Expo, which starts two days before the ride, is not to be missed ! There are even some vendors who rent vintage bikes at the expo (many are Bianchis from the early 70's, but also others) and have several sizes...I One can find incredible vintage parts and complete bikes to buy..but take cash...none of the vendors accept cards. However, there is a bank machine in Gaiole near the expo. There are several Eroica routes, usually two short ones, and two long ones...The two short routes share roads, but do not share many roads with the long routes. This is a very hard ride. I've done an Etape Du Tour (Ventoux 2009) and the Marmotte in 2007 and L'Eroica is every bit as hard ! The start of the long (84 or 112 miles) options is rolling, around 5 AM, so you need to be comfortable riding with lights. The first climb, about 3-5 Km after the start, is to Castel Brolio, of Chianti wine fame, the steep winding dirt road up to the castle is lit with candles all the way up, a magical experience. The rest stops are unlike anything in a US ride ...chianti wine, stews, etc. Other than the rest stations, unless you go with an organized tour, the ride is not supported, THERE ARE NO SAG WAGONS...YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN ! have a phone with you so you can contact your own sag/rescue vehicle if needed. I wish I was going this year, but instead I'm going to the Gran Fondo Dolomiti in my (Oh ,Oh) Carbon Orbea with a triple FSA crankset and a 13-29 Campy 10spd RD...Instead of my Eroica bike, a Colnago Molteni replica 1974, all nuovo Record. By the way, it is best to take wide tires (I used Challenge 700c x 28mm tubies). Sorry about the novel, but I get excited when I think about L'Eroica.
Alejandro (Alex) Rosas, MD Houston, Texas 77030 arosas@tmhs.org<mailto:arosas@tmhs.org>
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