Tuscany Trail 2019

[FLV]

That sounds ideal, thanks

I've been to Tuscany with the family for a little holiday and rode a little, beautiful place. Looking forward to taking it all in too.

I know everyone's pace is different of course but 5 days sounds the right time for me too.

[FLV]

A little excited about this trip now.

Do the organisers send out a gps for the trail at some point?

Not recieved anything yet.

[gairym]

Did you not get the provisional .gpx track email on the 23rd???

If not then drop me your email address and I'll send it over. No drastic changes to last years route and so all is looking good (as I think that last years was the best route to date).

And I'm excited about it but at the same time worried as due to illness, injury, work and family crapola I'm in the worst shape I've been in for the last ten years. So all hope of a nice fast year are out the window and at the minute I'm just hoping that I can stave off more illness and injury long enough to put in a few long days in the saddle in the next month.

It doesn't really matter at the end of the day as long as I can match my enthusiasm to my ability but what usually happens is that I set off riding as if I'm in good shape and end up breaking myself by day three What I need to do is to only go as fast, far and long as is sustainable for the fitness level and saddle time that I've achieved and I'll still have a nice biking holiday - let's see how things pan out.....

You got accommodation sorted for the night before?

There were some cheap campsite cabins a few kms from the start that a few folk slept in last year which might not be a bad idea if you were up for sharing the costs??? Let me know.

[FLV]

Hi Gairy, Thanks for the reply and thankyou for stating the date. I found the email in my Spam annoyingly, but found now nonetheless.

Don’t worry about the fitness. I’m not in great shape either, but its cycling in Tuscany… so it will be great.

My flight gets into Pisa as 17:15 on the 31st and I hadn’t given any thought into where to sleep that night. Totally up for sharing the cost of somewhere to stay, I do snore though so be warned if you want to share

[robbie]

Guys I can recomend b@b Casa Macoroni for your nights stay in Pisa. Great hosts and let us leave our bags there when we done it. Its also a short walk from the airport.

[FLV]

Anyone take a stove on this?

Given how nice italian food is, im not sure i can be bothered with the hunting for fuel once off the plane debacle...

[gairym]

Lots do but I won't be

Obviously there's nothing wrong with approaching this event/route with a purist bikepacking attitude and ethos BUT I personally enjoy slowly meandering through the rolling green hills, vinyards and historic towns sampling everything that is on offer.

And for me a large part of that is the pace (as much of my mind as of my riding) and so I'm not even trying to be as fast as I can be (which is NOT fast) as I then feel I'm missing out on simply being there and enjoying the moment etc...

There are so many nice places to eat that it would seem a shame up be cooking something a bit basic on a stove in a bush in that region but that's just me.

Wow, that got a tad more philosophical than I'd imagined when I started typing 'no I won't have a stove'

[RIP]

Obviously there's nothing wrong with approaching this event/route with a purist bikepacking attitude and ethos AND I personally enjoy slowly meandering through the rolling green hills, vinyards and historic towns sampling everything that is on offer...... simply being there and enjoying the moment etc...

fixed that .

[FLV]

ha!!

You pretty much summed up my attitude to this trip. Also confirmed I'm likely to not bother with a stove, I'd probably only use it for coffee anyway but I hear the italians can do a coffee

Whilst I don't have all the time in the world due to flying home, I don't really want to miss out on Tuscany. I've only been once before on a family holiday and loved it.

Cant wait now

[gairym]

Obviously there's nothing wrong with approaching this event/route with a purist bikepacking attitude and ethos AND I personally enjoy slowly meandering through the rolling green hills, vinyards and historic towns sampling everything that is on offer...... simply being there and enjoying the moment etc...

fixed that .

Sorry, I meant to write 'bikepacking racing attitude'.

Obviously I didn't mean that bikepacking is mutually exclusive with enjoying an area - quite the opposite!

[gairym]

I just finalised my bike/setup for Tuscany.

- Solaris with bouncy forks.
- New on-one rip-off Jones loop bars
- Brooks 'C15' (cutout version)
- 2x11 chainset with an 11-40t on the back
- Maxxis 'Crossmarks' (2.1") for a hopefully decent comfort/fast-rolling compromise.

Going to load it up and take it on a +100km ride tomorrow to ensure I'm happy with it all but I think everything will remain the same.

Now I just need to shed 10, 20kg of unnecessary girth and I'll be in fine fettle!!!

Looking forward to it

Gairy.

P.s. still not sorted anywhere to stay the night before but I'll get on it.....

[FLV]

Sounds a nice bike.

Mine will be my Nordest Sardinha, rigid, 2.3 rear 2.6 front. 1x11 with 32t and 11-46 cassette.

Its pretty new to me so will be quite interesting.

Im in a water on bike / water in a backpack dilemma currently. Ill decide when i pack id think.

[gairym]

Finally managed to figure the image upload gubbins.....

The bar bag will be a sniff longer/narrower and the seat pack will have more in it but for tomorrow's test ride it'll do nicely.

Going to go through the tunnel to Italy so that I can do a genuine TT test (lunch and all!)

[gairym]

Mine will be my Nordest Sardinha, rigid, 2.3 rear 2.6 front. 1x11 with 32t and 11-46 cassette.

Not only similar on paper to the bike I rode it on last year but it even looks the same (assuming you've got the yellow one the same as Google brought up when I did a quick image Search).

I rode my Rooster with 2.4" rear and 2.6" front and it was a lovely comfy sofa of a ride.

Slightly more draggy than the bike I'm taking this year but more than made up for in lower fatigue levels due to increased comfort.

And for the record I'm taking a 750ml bottle on the frame and a 500ml bottle in one of my feed bags.

Plenty of refill options but I'll need to be on it keeping them full otherwise I could find myself scuppered during the longer stretches between watering holes.

[FLV]

How was the shakedown?

Bike looks great

Im hovering over panic buying a set of sus forks after feeling a little beaten up riding rocky stuff at the weekend but planned to fit bottle cages and a couple of bottles to my rigid forks.

Swings and round abouts, hopefully ill procrastinate for long enough that it'll be too late and ill keep the money in my pocket

[gairym]

It was a lovely little outing thanks!

Managed to hoodwink Mrs Gairy and blag an overnighter into the bargain, which was nice.

The bike is pretty much exactly as I want it to be.

I'm still unsure how/if others solve the problem I have with über swept bars in general which is.....that in order for the 'alt' positions not to be too far to practically reach I use a short stem and so the default control position (on the grips) ends up being a tad too close but if I position the grips in the right place then the hoods/other positions are too much of a stretch - hmmm.....

And I didn't miss a bouncy fork last year and am only using one this year as it's already on and I don't have rigid fork option for that bike.

[FLV]

I'm away with work next week (as per usual) so have packed my kit. Its laying next to the bike ready to all go in a box / bag.

I'm still waiting on the postie to fetch my new bar bag - otherwise a rucksack may be the only option (should be here). Mostly everything else is ready. Oh, batteries, need some of them. oh, and spare tubes...
I'm sure there was something else too

I've resisted new tyres until its too late so I'll ride whats on there.

Am I in decent enough shape to get to the finish and back my flight in time? Who knows but I intend to enjoy myself finding out!

Hopefully meet some fellow Bearbones riders there, definitely meet some riders there anyway