Easily one of the thoughest, most arduous rides I've ever done, L'Eroica is truly a heroic endeavor. As hard as it is, the Tuscan landscape and the camaraderie makes all the huffing and puffing well worth it.

It's my first official Eroica ride, and I've decided to leave my mark on it, signing up for the 200km long course (see Route map). Little did I know that it would be nearly impossible for me to finish it within the allotted time, I started in the dark, and finished in the dark.

The morning temperatures below freezing did not make the 4:00 am wake-up call a welcome announcement. I had not had a good night's sleep. My water bottle, which I had stored inside the tent, was frozen solid, getting dressed by flashlight took me longer than I thought as I was shivering and couldn't quite aim right. The coffee bar at the camping site was already open: I needed a piping hot cup of coffee and something to eat - pronto! Andrea in the tent next to me didn't have a good night either, to the point that we were both contemplating not riding at all. I had to gather all my determination to overcome this moment of weakness, and I started getting ready. I learned that Francesco was still driving in from Northern Italy with Fabio, they would arrive just in time to hop on their bikes and start the ride. Andrea and I decided we would leave together and stay together as much as I could keep up with him. While we were in line at the start waiting for the gun shot, we were so frozen that I had no strength left in me to wait up for Francesco and Fabio who, at this point, were getting dressed and assembling their bikes. We told them we'd leave and they could catch up with us, certainly before or at the first "ristoro" (Italian for check-point with extremely yummy food) in Radi. The first 10km are all downhill, which doesn't help in getting warm since one is hardly pedaling and getting chilled to the bone. I had never looked forward to a warm-up climb so passionately in my entire life. And then it came, and it was hard, and it was on the day's first "strada bianca" - the classic unpaved, white gravel roads that snake through the Tuscan countryside. They are in general well- kept with occasional horizontal grooves left by tractors, still they are gravely and steep, and your wheels skid and spin if you get off the saddle and lean forward too much. But then again, if you stay in the saddle, sometime your front wheel lifts off the ground… it's a no-win situation. The sun came up as we were on top of the hill in S. Giovanni Cerreto, it was a picture-perfect moment: in the distance you could clearly distinguish the profile of the town of Siena. We reached the first ristoro in Radi still in the pack. We stood in line to get our first stamp and as we moved on to the food tables, Francesco and Fabio arrived as well. We will be sticking together for most of the ride. Fabio was frozen to the bone and a bit overwhelmed by the rushed start and needed (quite some) time to gather himself. When we left the control, Fabio was cheerful and went off into an unrelenting chatter that never stopped until the end. Telling him to simply just shut up for a few minutes was at no avail, he wouldn't listen - and kept repeating himself. A few times I was on the brink of giving up the ride just to get away from all that senseless talking. Francesco was good enough to relieve me from him at times, taking all the babbling onto himself. Fabio is a mountain goat when it comes to climbing, and did not seem to have any difficulties on long ascents, either paved or unpaved. He would however freak out on the unpaved downhills. As for myself, after a first few descents on strade bianche I developed my own technique which proved to be fruitful: just let go of the brakes and go down as a loose cannon, the faster you are the more likely you will glide over the road surface and soften the bumps. As of today, I haven't quite refined the technique to account for potential falls, since that never happened. On the whole, I had to get off and WALK on 3 occasions, the first 2 I tried really hard to climb, but skid and when I stopped to catch my breath I couldn't start again. On the 3rd I just gave in: the dreaded Monte Sante Marie… I will never forget it. And when that happens after 140km of constant ups and downs, you're not in the mood for the extra challenge. By the time we reached the last control in Castelnuovo Berardenga, we had hooked up with two cyclists - Paolo Veggetti and I-forget-his-friend's-name - one of whom had broken both brake cables. Francesco, an excellent bike mechanic, was able to partially fix the rear brake on Paolo's bike so that he wouldn't have to walk the downhills (imagine that!!!!). We decided to stick together till the end. By then we had to turn on our lights: it was getting dark, but the end was near, I smelled the finish line and I found renewed energy in myself. Fabio on the other end was bonking and had finally stopped all his babble, he just put his head down and, staying closely behind Francesco and I paired up in front, kept pedaling in silence to the finish line. We were rewarded for our effort with a commemorative plaque, one bottle of oil and one of red Chianti wine, and one package of Panforte di Siena, all in a canvas tote sporting the logo of the Monte dei Paschi di Siena, main sponsor of the event. Cold, smelly, dusty, hungry and elated, we all cheered each other and then went our own separate ways. Francesco was driving back to Brescia right away. Fabio would be staying for the night and drive back with me the following morning. He took a shower and went straight to bed. I took a shower, grabbed a bite to eat and waited for Andrea at a café where I met up with grateful Paolo. I discovered that we have friends in common, both in Italy and in Boston. What are the chances…

One ride to remember, excellent food at all the ristori, wonderful, cheerful volunteers, dressed in vintage attire, always ready to help and crack a joke. My 1976 Colnago Super performed very well, indeed much better than its rider. None of us had a flat, no one had a fall. All of us did some swearing in the name of the Sante Marie, some more than others. We all filled our eyes with unbelievable panoramas and views of the "crete Senesi" the characteristic colors of ploughed lands on the Tuscan hills. One ristoro in particular is worth mentioning: Fattoria Pieve a Salti. This place is worth a trip all by itself. We all ate authentic Tuscan bread with oil and salt, or oil and sugar (you've got to try it to believe it), or with Nutella, even bread dipped in Chianti wine, or with liver pâté (a no-no for a vegetarian like me), then there were home-made pies, bowls and bowls of ribollita, salami & prosciutto, cookies, nuts, water and drinks, bottles of Chianti, coffee...

Some stats: about 5000 riders signed up, only about 200 signed up for the 200km, most usually sign up for the 75km. Now I know why… It took me 14 hours, 11.5 hours of saddle time (and walking my bike up), the rest I spent eating at the ristori, undressing when the sun came up and dressing up again as it got dark, plus 1 hour lounging in a bar with a hot cup of tea and some time waiting for Paolo's bike to get fixed.

This is shaping up to me an unmissable yearly event in my cycling calendar…