H.or the stamp of the Eroica. My first “stamp” on the booklet. I was Heroic for a day, or rather: I participated in the most famous (and fun) vintage cycling event of the world in Gaiole in Chianti, among the Tuscan hillsIt is so well known that every year, in October, thousands come from all continents to try their hand at this race – a race with themselves, actually dressed in the style of yesteryear, that of the early days, of Girardengo, Coppi and Bartali, grinding up to 200 kilometers on two wheels, through white and dusty roads, between fatigue and sweat.
The dress code of the Eroica
This time, in what it was edition 25 was also there iO Woman among the nine thousand participants, including over a thousand cyclists between 40 and 50 years old. We rode together with German, French, Swiss and Dutch “colleagues”. And to yesteryear champions like Morena Tartagni, Imelda Chiappa and Norma Gimondi. The tastiest aspect, before departure, were the rites of the regulation. First rule of “engagement”: the dress code. It must be from the period, under penalty of exclusion. You have to get shorts and wool sweaters with vintage logo on front and back. The black lycra ones, to say, that we use “today”, are banned.
The market of Gaiole in Chianti
As well as any shirt created after the seventies. “Go to the market,” s advise meI am home to experienced colleagues such as the photographer Guido Rubino, founder of cyclinside.it. “Put a scarf around your neck Grace Kelly and you’ll be fine“. So I mix with the crowd at the stalls of Gaiole, this village in the province of Siena, which for three days turns into a Wonderland where you can find everything: from leather gloves to brake linings. I immediately put together a total vintage look, recovering even a 70s K-Way, of those that rolled up like a pouch.
Bib number 8130
Second step: the bicycle. Only those manufactured before 1987 can be used. Ne recovery of a racing one with the steel frame and the gearshift levers on the down tube. “Do you know how to use them?” the mechanic asks me, Massimo. I wink and say yes. I am blonde, but I understand. He smiles: «In general, during steeper climbs you have to switch to a higher gear by moving the chain to the smallest chainring…». Of course, all clear. Help. Third rite: the withdrawal of the bib. I am assigned the number 8130. Together with the map and a bottle of Chianti Ricasoli.
Girardengo’s great-granddaughter
As I walk, proud with my first Eroica “kit”, I come across the great-granddaughter of Costante Girardengo, the Campionissimo also told by Francesco De Gregori in The bandit and the champion. S.i called Michela Moretti, she is 43 and works as a lawyer in Savona. For years he has been organizing the Tour of Italy for vintage bikes. “I like to pass on the memory of my great-grandfather, the nine tricolor jerseys were his pride” he says.
Stop at the butcher of Charles III
Before the Great Race, on Sunday, they warn me that I cannot miss the stage, however, in Panzano in Chianti to get to know Cecchini, the most famous butcher in the world, the one who invented the Florentine, at least according to New York Times che reported its existence urbi et orbi. Dario Cecchini offers buffets that are not “institutional”, but by now traditional, to the people of two wheels who pass by in the square for one of the stages. You are greeted by the sound of trumpet, sausages and red wine. Cecchini has always served Queen Elizabeth as well. He has a French mustache, an open smile and a red neckerchief. “I don’t serve VIPs, but humans.” Then, however, he shows a photo album with Prince Charles, now Charles III, visiting his workshop.
The walk
The race includes a total of five courses of 46, 81, 106, 132 and 212 kilometers. For the debut we choose the 46 kilometers, it has a vertical drop of 755 meters. They call it “The Walk”, but it’s an understatement of course: it extends from the Chianti Classico vineyards to the lower and lower hills of Pianella with the panorama of Siena in the background. At the start, at 8, there are thousands of us with vintage helmets, water bottles and glasses. Some even with the inner tube over the shoulder. Like in an arthouse film. Those of the 212 km started at 3 am. We thin out immediately.
The journalist of iO Donna, Michaela K. Bellisario ph Guido Rubino
You unscrew a pedal in full Eroica
I pedal at the beginning with two colleagues, Gino Cervi di Alvento and Giovanni Battistuzzi de The paper. After less than half an hour, in which we chat with a teacher from Bolzano with zuava trousers, I unscrew a pedal. Welcome to the club, they point out to me. Yes, because I will see everything happening during the race: saddles that yield, brakes that release, wheels that break. Ambulances that make their way up and down. And complete strangers who stop to help, according to a code of solidarity typical of this event. And in fact, one appears by “miracle” 500 vintage from which a mechanic gets off who repairs everything in two minutes.
A triumph. May the force be with you
At the first stop, at the castle of Brolio, there is a DJ-set and it is 9.30 in the morning: there are people who dance rock’n roll and drink prosecco, mechanics who repair bikes. Here is the party, I’m happy. I don’t know yet, however, that from Brolio to Pianella, the second stage, there are more than 20 kilometers of ascent. Fatigue immediately bites me in the throat. So I push the bike by hand. I am in good company with English and Dutch “colleagues”. D.After a few kilometers I also meet Gino and Giovanni: Gino has lost the chain and he’s surrounded by self-styled mechanics trying to fix it. An ideal universe. Between smiles, hugs. Ancient gestures and deeds, never old, without borders.
The journalist from Alvento, Gino Cervi. ph. Paolo Penni Martelli
Faith in the bicycle
The arrival in Pianella is a Faith, Faith in the Bicycle. Under the midday sun, like Lawrence of Arabia in the desert, I have a vision and I think I understand the meaning of existence: the Eroica symbolizes life, which in the end is nothing more than a journey in stages. All uphill. With daring (beautiful) descents. In this village there is also the only refreshment between hectoliters of Chianti, cheese, bruschetta with typical Tuscan oil. We eat, chat, have a snack together. She falls in love with it as well. As one of the volunteers, Ortensia, tells. It happened to her. And then she leaves again. With a full belly. Legs that tremble. And her mind slightly clouded.
Eroica ph. Paolo Penni Martelli
The goal of the Eroica is near
The last stage of my first Eroica is the most difficult on the nerves. When the assistance minibuses pass, every now and then someone gives in, gets on the bike and gets taken to Gaiole. I resist. I think of Coppi and Bartali. No it is not true. I don’t even know who won the Giro d’Italia. My lungs burst, I have cramps in my calves. I struggle with myself: give up or continue? Along the state road to Gaiole, hundreds of strangers exhort us: “Come on! Little is missing “. They do not know the torment of us non-professional cyclists along the last hairpin bends.
But when I cross the line after six hours, at two in the afternoon, I feel like a veteran, a survivor. Incredible, I did it. Like Rocky on the steps in the movie. David Bowie sang in ’77 Heroes. You can be a hero for just one day. Here yes. I will do L’Eroica again next year. I swear. Let’s see, however … Who knows.
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