Eroica 2018 - My L’Eroica Bike & Summary
Eroica 2018 - My L’Eroica Bike & Summary
Mid afternoon enjoyed the Tuscan hills.
It is ten months since I cycled for 15hrs 45mins over a distance of 209km at L’Eroica in Gaiole, Italy 2018.
This is my reflections of two consecutive years of preparation and training to complete the L’Eroica in Gaiole long ride.
My day job is a data analyst. Cycling and modern gadgets produces a lot of data, from daily Kms to days rested per year.
After completing 139km L’Eroica in 2017, the challenge of the long ride still existed. I had signed up for the 209km in 2017 and missed the 11:00am cutoff by 6 mins when 10km south of Murlo. With hindsight, I would not have survived the gravel road climbs to Montalcino on a 50’s Healing with 4 speed Sturmey Archer. It’s lowest gearing left me walking on the lesser climb to Radi, so the 15% long gravel climbs would not be achievable. As I was staying in Siena, I did end up cycling a total of 200km on the day.
I approached the preparation for 2018 L’Eroica from two angles. The first was to ride a more modern bicycle, as this allowed the gearing to be configured to “survive” the climbs and I added better brakes for the gravel descents. Proudly, I achieved cycling every climb and felt in control on the gravel road descents. Post ride data analysis showed more tough 18% dirt climbs then I’d expected.
Secondly, I did more training, both kms, hills and speed. I upped the annual mileage by about 25% to 10,000km+. Building endurance by cycling day after day was another objective - from March to September, I cycled through summer heat, torrential winter rain, and snow (on ski weekends and holiday). I proudly achieved 200 consecutive cycling days.
The chosen bike was purchased in 2017, being a 1983 Vitus 979. It felt faster then the 1950s steel ‘Healing’. In keeping with the L’Eroica spirit, I tried to make the bike as authentic as possible, so the mismatch of parts needed attention.
Frame: Vitus 979 aluminum bonded tubing in light bronze color. Size 56cm. The first owner had migrated from Ireland and purchased it new- I suspect a Sean Kelly fan In 1986 my pride was a new red 979. It was purchased in Hong Kong and raced to some wins in ‘C’ Grade Randwick/Botany Club racing and also many triathlons. Sadly it was stolen, and I maintained a soft spot for the 979 frame.
They are still light and comfortable as I remember and the flexing was never a problem for my 66kg engine.
Tyres: My new 32mm wide Panaracer Pasala gum wall tyres rubbed the Vitus brake bridge, so I remounted last year’s same model 700c x 28mm for their second L’Eroica. The rim tap was carefully selected and mounted, as I found in my 2014 LEJOG ride that poorly fitting rim tape causes a lot of flats.
Gearing was adjusted to F50/40t x R14/28t. At the L’Eroica market, I found a rare 39t inner chainring, which would have been perfect, but I was hesitant to make last minute changes. It is easier getting vintage Campagnolo drive train then Shimano Arabesque, as most chainring available are 52/42t.
Seat- original white 80s Selle Italia Turbo. I did try to restore it with white shoe polish, but it soon wore off. With modern cycling shorts, this 35+yr old seat was comfortable, as it was for five-time Tour de France winner Bernard Hinault.
Bottom Bracket - this was a final pre-departure problem. After changing the crank set, I had a rushed trip to LBS and found a cheap cartridge BB, which was too long. This impacted reliable gear changing onto the large chainring. I eventually devised a technique to shifting gears.
Wheels/Rims- these were 80s Araya narrow, box section, 700c aluminum with Shimano 600 Hubs. They helds up amazingly well, although I did find the rear axle was broken when I packed the bike to fly home. The quick release skewers held it together.
GPS Computer.
In 2017 L’Eroica, I used an old hiking Garmin Dakota 20, with full mapping. This unit was my primary navigation on LEJOG in 2014.
Due to it higher battery draw, I decided against using this GPS again.
To keep the clean and minimalist lines of this pre-GPS tech bicycle, I planned to combine a wrist mounted GPS watch and the supplied paper map.
Again I used my TomTom Runner GPS to record my ride and trialled an Apple Watch (Series 2). Both of these required charging after 5hrs. At one point I took a 10min stop specifically to charge watches. Hence I had to carry both cables and a battery pack (280gms) and made sure I was charging something at every stop. This wasn’t a great solution for recording my ride statistics. My recommendation would be a dedicated bicycle GPS computer, well tested before leaving home.
Pedals/Toe Clips/shoes:again the vintage Suntour pedals with Christian toe clips and leather straps completed their second L’Eroica. My 25yr old cleated shoes were not my first choice as they had become so uncomfortable last time. This time I used thin Pearl Izumi wool socks, and released the shoe strap tightness on the climbs. It was good to take them off, and they did not produce the previous ride’s discomfort.
How we older cyclists put up with these shoes & cleats for racing pre 1990, I don’t know. The big improvements in shoe and pedal technology has helped all day comfort on the modern racing bicycle.
The bicycle riders of the toe strap generation must have kept a comfortable pair of shoes till they fell apart. Mine were allows uncomfortable!
The skill of tightening/loosening toe straps requires anticipation. Many riders in L’Eroica lose skin when stopping, forget the toe strap and topple over.
The L’Eroica Experience:
My second L’Eroica was completed just before my 60th birthday, and it was more then a bike ride:
After fifty years of cycling, the long ride is one of the toughest events I’ve done. That’s compared to club racing in my 20s, 35 years of triathlons and 50 years runnings. The climbs and descents on the dirt road, whilst riding primarily a road bike are the differences from other events.
Restoring/preparing the bicycle gave me an insight and understanding of the history, the technology of the time and heroes of the day. I learnt about many past Australian cycling heroes and their bicycles such as Ossie Nicholson and Phil Anderson.
I researched the VITUS 979 history and famous riders including the great Irishman Sean Kelly.
At my the first L’Eroica in 2017, I was a bit overwhelmed, though the seed of “The Beauty of Fatigue” was planted in Gaiole that day.
At my second attempt in 2018, I was able to relax and soak up the atmosphere. Wandering the vintage parts and frames stalls and chatting to other riders is the perfect warmup.
L’Eroica is an event to be soaked up, with the pain and discomfort different to a planned racing event.
The food stops are wonderful, with many of the cheery volunteers dressed in period costumes. I didn’t eat a lot on my second attempt, as I realised my body works ok for 15hrs on a small amount of food - just Nutella bread, tea and bananas.
Buy a t-shirt and wear it proudly. My wife was amazed in the week after how many Italians would walk up and shake my hand. It’s a special event for Tuscany and they are amazed that riders would travel so far to compete.
Relax after the event. In 2017, I had a boy’s own adventure cycling around Bologna to visit the car and motorcycle factories/museums. In 2018, my wife booked an amazing hotel in a most beautiful pilgrimage spa town - Bagno Vignoni.
