l'Eroica 2012: And We're Off (Almost)

It's been a great trip so far, and it's now 3:00 am and time to start eating as much as I can, as fast as I can. In two hours, I'll be in the square in Gaiole ready to depart on what should hopefully be a fourteen  or fifteen hour ride through Tuscany's strade bianche with a few thousand friends.

The legs should be ready. Joao from InGamba Tours has been my host for the past few days (thanks!) and has a great staff. I was able to score a massage yesterday afternoon and stay off my feet for a bit.

The clothes are also ready! Yesterday I picked up two custom wool jerseys, including the Cicli Masini jersey from Mauro at Tre Emme. I'll be wearing the Airolg jersey I designed a bit ago to match my bike.

The bike is ready, finally. I guess 75 years can take their toll on the technological side of things. I spent the last five days not so much dialing it in but rather fixing 75 year old problems. Example:  last night at the worst possible moment, I learned that the knocking in my front wheel was due to an axle that had been stripped... on both sides! Luckily, I have some amazing friends who can improvise with anything. Michele and I spent two hours unbuilding and rebuilding the hub until dusk. I know, it doesn't take that long to change an axle in a hub, unless said hub was built in an era that took a different view on serviceability. From there, I frantically shoveled in dinner and raced to bed.

And I'm off!

These old legs, that old bike!

Decent views...

Bottom row, right!