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BIKING TUSCANY Pedal party Getting the fuel ready for worn-out racers Looking back at the old times – and old bikes! 78 WWW.RYANAIRMAG.COM FLY TO PERUGIA FROM BARCELONA (GIRONA) | LONDON (STANSTED) | FLY TO PISA (FLORENCE) FROM 48 DESTINATIONS, INCLUDING True grit Opposite page: a lone rider pushes along a hillside track, which offers sweeping views far into the distance the race, I had a list of excuses at the ready. Despite some good efforts and better intentions, I didn’t end up training very hard. A cold sidelined me for two weeks in the month before the race, and the bike I’d be riding turned out to be, well, kind of a dud. I found a qualifying rental 40 minutes to the west of Gaiole in Chianti, two days before the start of the race. While vintage bike aficionados had been piecing together sparkling, like-new machines from restored parts in anticipation of the event, two of the back gears on my maroon Moser weren’t working properly. The shop owner told me that the bike – a looker, I’ll admit – was a L’Eroica veteran. I half-convinced myself that because she was a survivor, despite those flaws, she’d take me to the finish. I held off on naming her. Truth be told, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. The longest I had ever ridden was 40 miles (64km). I had never been in a bike race. Nor was I handy – I didn’t know my chainsets from my chainrings. If anything happened to my bike – aside from a punctured tyre, which itself would take a long time to patch or replace – my only option would be to flag down a fellow rider. It occurred to me that this might be the kind of foolish thing travel writers do to prove their ability to adapt, at the cost of great suffering and embarrassment. Here’s what I can remember. 5.20AM / 0KM: After downing a shot of espresso at a café on Gaiole in Chianti’s main square, I roll up to the starting line, where an official examines the Moser, gives me the thumbs up, and I’m off. I’m in a peloton of roughly 40 riders, coasting slowly in the dark towards Siena. I’ve never ridden in a pack this size, so I hold my line carefully. It’s a jovial atmosphere, and no one seems concerned that we’ll be doing this for the next 12 hours. About 12km in, we hit our first stretch of gravel. The hills get steeper and it’s hard to see the waffled ridges in the increasingly treacherous road. My fingers, gripping the brakes, are numb, and I try to warm my hands by tucking them under my shirt. I’m also scared of getting a flat this early in the race, so I ride gingerly, focusing my helmet lamp on the ground in front of me. Before the start of a tree-lined climb, most of the group stops to wait for friends. It feels good to get my blood flowing, so I cavalierly push myself to the top of the hill. Dawn is approaching. This may not be so bad after all. 7.55AM / 48KM: Every climb during the last few kilometres revealed a spectacular panorama of rolling hills covered in vineyards and olive trees, dotted with centuries-old farmhouses and castles. Aside from some stretches of gravel, it has been an easy, pleasant ride – and now it’s time for breakfast.
ALGHERO | BILLUND | CAGLIARI | GLASGOW (PRESTWICK) | MARRAKESH | PORTO | RHODES | ZADAR | VISIT WWW.RYANAIR.COM FOR MORE INFORMATION I HAD ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHAT I WAS DOING. THE LONGEST I HAD EVER RIDDEN WAS 40 MILES
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YOUR FREE COPY VINTAGE CYCLING IN I
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CONTENTS ISSUE 43 TAKE OFF SHORTLIS
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WELCOME TO VENICE, CITY OF LOVE SPE
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Page 33 and 34: MESTIZO MADRID, SPAIN SPICY MEXICAN
Page 36: THE CALENDAR GIRLS OF 2010 MISS SEP
Page 40: COMMENT Comedian and Travel Channel
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