INZAIN Cycling Adventures

Ride Report by Risto Aalto

It had been one of the most intense weeks so far during the autumn, yes, you had to fit in a whole week's work in 3 days to now be on the Arlanda Express on Thursday morning on the way to Tuscany and a week of cycling. Watching the scenery outside the window rush by as I slowly go through the preparations for the trip… …cleaned the bike, bought chain lock, new chain, charged batteries, downloaded routes, reconnected wattmeter and computer, same for the heart rate monitor… …hmmm, where packed I put the computer down?... ...thinking feverishly through the pack, the clothes, the tools, the bags, the bike bag, but can't for the life of me remember where I put the computer down... ...Hel-e! Did I forget the computer? What am I doing now?

Day -1, Friday, Pisa – Lucca thor ~60 km

The bike is assembled after the flight, breakfast finished and it's time for a "check-out ride". I inform the gang that is there that I would like to cycle to Lucca as I found that there is a bicycle shop there that has Wahoo in its range. Yes, I then had to buy a new bike computer and since Wahoo is the best I know, the choice was quite obvious. Gerry did his best to encourage me with happy exclamations… …about alternative brands.

We slide slowly around on nice... ...or rather very nice dirt roads up to the cycling city of Lucca. There are apparently several professional cycling clubs that train there during their "off-season". Lucca is a fantastically nice little town with lots of nice coffee spots inside the big ring wall. There is also a long and fine aqueduct from Roman times that offers a nice bike ride in its shadow. 

We luckily got hold of a new bike computer for me and the week was thus saved. 😊

Day 0, Saturday, Pisa tor 65km

Several of the participants arrived during the Friday evening, got their bikes together and now on Saturday morning it was time for the actual "check-out ride". Gerry had prepared with a reasonable trip down to the sea which offered a tight 7 mile round with only 110 meters of elevation gain. It was just right for me because it was something else I had also forgotten at home... ...training! - Basically hadn't touched my bike since last Easter, when we were at Mallis and cycling. I was infinitely grateful to be able to soft start in this way. 

However, there was a small group that set out to go to Lucca "The hard way" over the mountain during their cor. In silence, I was quite impressed by that gang's feat and thought this could only end one way for me. I would suffer from severe cramps and knock on every section, I would be relegated to the pubic corner of the bus to look for my lost form… 

...the bus yes, it was driven during the week by Terje, C-J's fantastic guy who cheerfully made sure that all luggage handling, water depot and energy distribution as well as photography and drone "piloting" were handled with gusto. With that attitude and energy he will go far… He also borrowed dad's bike one day and put us all on the spot without even slim bibs, or tubeless for that matter… …just that!

Day 1, Sunday, Pisa – Volterra 120 km 1900 altitude meters

Tagged as hell, now it was, a Bike Gravel Radonnée in classic Tuscan tracks, L'Eroica, Strade Bianchi, Via Francigena etc… ! A wonderful morning, cool, windless and quiet. The Italians sleep in and only the click of our gears shifting and rolling is heard. On dam embankments along the river Arno, the journey goes without us having to make any significant effort. There is a bit of small talk in different groups and generally congenial while we have the mountains in the background to the north and the plain on the other side, which the dike will protect against in case of flooding. It's easy, it's gravel mixed with grass. Surprised dog owners and occasional joggers are the only people we meet in the early hours of the morning. 

After about half the distance we start to climb. It's getting tough for the undersigned. The temperature has also passed 25 degrees, which is a bit unusual for us. During the remaining 6 miles we squeeze in around 1700 meters of altitude, which means 280 altitude meters per mile, the end of which offers a climb of approx. 450m. Many of us dig deep this first day on the route, finally when darkness begins to fall we arrive at the village of Volterra. Now we are finally up and running, tired, happy, and grateful to have arrived.

Day 2, Monday, Volterra – Siena 75km 1450 meters of altitude

This morning Riggert and I made the decision to lighten the load a little and take a slightly easier and straighter route to Siena. We chose approx. 6 miles of asphalt instead. However, we received messages via WhatsApp that it had been tough during the regular route. The journey initially had a long climb on gravel which afterwards landed in a "jungle/rainforest". The groupings got separated from each other, got a little lost and the lunch breaks ended up in different places...

For my part, it was necessary to have a day in between, to be able to loosen the stiff legs sometimes. During the last 3-4 km, Riggert and I got the only splash of rain of the week, cooling and nice.

Day 3, Tuesday, Siena – San Quirco d'Orcia, 67km 1150 meters of altitude

Since many had a hard time with day 2 as well, arriving late, maybe you didn't have time to walk around and see some sights in Siena. At least that's what we got to experience this morning when we all chose the "Nice" route for the day... ..oddly, no one wanted to burn some extra calories with the "Hard" or even the "Medium" route.

We passed by the classic square with the Town Hall and Tower of Siena, the place where the annual horse race "Palion" is held every summer in August.

It is now during day 3 that we enter the routes with the known names, the routes that we longed for. We find rolling landscapes, chalk-white dirt roads, minimal traffic, sun and heat... can it get any better? 

We keep a slightly different speed, a few punctures also help to spread out the field. I eventually end up cycling with the "Dala cluster" towards the hotel. We fight valiantly towards the goal and finally find an incomparable view of the mountains and valleys in between. There is a little mist in the air which adds to the atmosphere and the sunset on the veranda. 

The feat of the day was Mats Aadde who, due to some technical problems with his bike, got off a little later and therefore cycled all day alone towards the finish line. Well done Mats!

Day 4, Wednesday, San Quirco d'Orcia – Siena, 94km 1900 meters of altitude

Oh! We've almost passed the halfway point! It's starting to sink in that with us participants that somewhere there is an end to this wonderful focused existence, somewhere up ahead, everyday life is coming at us in leaps and bounds... ...but for now we are in paradise 😊. The route turns and we head north again towards Siena. We choose some new roads that take us over absolutely fantastic mountains and ravines on both sides of the road. On this particular day I feel energetic and strong, I have managed to fight back some incipient chafing in the aft end and also feel that the legs have come to life after a very long break. I therefore drag on a bit at the beginning and suddenly find that I am next alone. Mikael joins me and we assume that the others took a few breaks along the way. We decide to slowly roll on, hoping they will catch up with us. Anyway, we soon roll into Lunch in Aciano, a nice little village along the L'Eroica route. Sits and breathes for a while and tries to take in everything we've seen. Lunches Well, it seems Italians are very fond of white bread… …in all its forms. As long as it's white, it's good... Pizza, Bruschetta and Pane for the meal etc. Today it was a Bruschetta for lunch. However, I felt that my stomach would not really want more white bread anymore, but what do you do when the supply was not so great?

So, Coke, Coffee, Bruschetta and then off again. 

Thought I had Piotr with me when I left from lunch. After a few turns in the village, however, he had disappeared and I thought that maybe he had stopped to wait for the others or he chose tarmac towards Siena instead... We had some serious climbs ahead of us on the gravel now during the second half of the day.

About 200 meters of altitude per mile leaves its mark even if you feel energetic... It starts to go a little slower and at about 7 miles I am passed by Anders (Lisa). Anders is super strong uphill and leaves me in the dust behind. I start to feel a little tender and skip a bit of the gravel at the end, which is why, funny enough, it turns out that Lisa-Anders actually passes me 3 times in the last 2 ½ miles. 

The challenge of the stretch will be a small HAB at km 84-85, which for my part leads through a thorny thicket and "Jungle" where a Machete would have been the right tool. Tired but happy, I finally arrive at Siena again. 

Day 5, Thursday, Siena - Poggibonsi, 73 km 1300 altitude meters

We wake up to another wonderful day in Italy, Tuscany delivers both weather, landscape and gravel to rank. Actually, the distance from Siena to Poggibonsi is just under 3 miles, but Gerry had scouted magnificent roads that offered both challenge and enjoyment. I think maybe someone started to feel a little dull from the day program and opted for a little more tarmac. A few others had some challenges with their bikes. 

It's absolutely amazing how much beating this type of bike can take, I mean, I'm not the lightest person in the bunch but the only thing I experienced was that on 3 occasions along the way I needed to pump up my rear tire which had a little baby punk… …that's all! -You can bomb down dirt roads that turn into crushed stone at the end, or end up in unexpected, huge "washboards" on a downhill in 35-40 knots and still be in control of the situation.

I eventually ended up after 5.5 miles in a nice little village in the Chianti district called Castellina in Chianti and joined the Dala group for a delicious lunch. On the departure from Castellina, one of the gang happened to get punctured and after a while I decided to move on as it seemed that the cooperation between the three was well rehearsed during the hose change. 

The downhill run with the hazy view from Castellina and also the gravel road that followed I will lock in my memory bank for cold winter days on the spinning pass.

Day 6, Friday, Poggibonsi – Cecina, 89km 1200 altitude meters

The day starts with a smooth and nice stretch on an old embankment that ends in a long asphalt climb to today's coffee. It's a bit cloudy right in the morning and when we climb up we enter the cloud itself. It is humid and the dew drops stick like little pearls on the arms. After a while, the sun has burned away the low clouds and the temperature rises quickly. A quick coffee at the top is followed by glorious scenery until we turn left to get onto the exquisite gravel. Some of the most beautiful views of the trip meet us and we cruise between the vineyards. In the distance we see some difficult gravel climbs threateningly approaching, but it turns out that the road turned off at the last moment. Think Fredrik took an extra turn up one of those uphills... Kudos, Fredrik! 

However, there were some real leg breakers for me as well. One of today's climbs ended with a finish on the 18% pitch. 

Anyway, today's experience was a bit of a jungle to traverse with washed out sections of trail and a rocky downhill run that required full concentration. Terje came and met from the other side. The terrain was sometimes so difficult that he thought he was riding the wrong way. It was a nice break at the car to fill up with water. Lunch loomed and we continued there on tarmac. 

Once we got closer to the sea, it was an incomparably nice drive in a pine forest park the last kilometers before the Hotel and the cooling bath in the Mediterranean Sea, 

Day 7, Saturday, Cecina – Pisa, 79km c:a 500? height meters

The last day! We only had a "small hill" to pass today... many tired legs and some errors in the map material meant that all the slopes were not fully visible in advance. In one of these steep "surprise hills" we were met by a flock of sheep being herded down the road by a man in a Fiat Uno. The sheep seemed stressed and wondering if they should head out into the field instead of meeting us on the road. We kindly made room and let both the sheep and the farmer in the car pass.

I took a few pictures with my phone, and was about to put it away again when I heard Piotr swear a little further on. I looked up at him and wondered what happened. He was waving at full speed and took a few running steps… …it was around the same time I felt the first pain. It hurt in the butt, in the back of the head under the helmet, on the ankles... 

…when I realized what it was. I was surrounded by angry bees that the sheep had probably chased up from some nest in the ground. I also started waving, What can I do? Stop and try to wave them away or run and let them get knitted,,, I started running and waving as best I could. Tore off my helmet to remove the bees that stung my head. Waved down the ankles where several bees did their utmost to pierce the socks.  

I counted nine bites afterwards when I stopped a couple of hundred meters from the sheep and the swarm of bees. I had some antihistamine in my emergency bag that I always take with me on my bike rides. Quickly popped 2 tablets and hoped I wouldn't have any more reactions than the small swellings and pain I was now feeling. 

I cycled on to get to a bigger road. Thought if I get a bigger reaction it's probably better to be on busier roads. I caught up with Riggert and Ricardo after a while. Ricardo felt a bit crass and wanted to shorten the distance somewhat and Riggert was also tired of the skimming, so we decided that we will take Asphalt the last bit towards Pisa. It suited me perfectly as I was still in a lot of pain from the sting. Each sting felt like an open wound where someone had emptied a salt shaker or even rubbed in some juice from a chili fruit.

There was no lunch en route this day, more than a small quick coffee. Then there was a bit of asphalt tempo for 3 people towards the leaning tower.

An unforgettable week came to an end. Our lovely participants dropped off towards various flights and other transports over the next 24 hours. Many wonderful memories and adventures to remember. I know I missed a lot of them, but I hope that some of the above might help us remember

A special praise goes to Terje who made it all possible!! Not easy to manage a bunch of old men, with various needs and wishes 😊

The tour as a movie.

Arrividerci Toscana !//inzain.bike/INZAIN.gravel/INZAIN Toscana

/Risto/Gerry/CJ