The race is barely twenty kilometres old, but I'm already at the limit. It had all started so nicely. An hour and a half ago, I casually rode into the Piazza Aranci in Massa together with 250 other riders. Tuscany Trail Race started. Now my pulse is pounding through my bloodstream at 180 beats and I'm dragging my loaded bike along a narrow track with steps and landings. Riding has been out of the question for a hundred metres. It's wet and cool. Something between real rain and heavy fog washes over the mountains of the Apuan Alps. After half an hour of lifting, heaving and carrying, we arrive at the Foce delle Porchette summit. Now it's all about riding technique and good equipment. And not just for the bike. The Tuscany Trail is a self-support race, which means that every rider is self-sufficient. Most participants therefore have light tent equipment and all kinds of compressed household goods with them. Usually stowed in a handlebar roller, frame bag and saddle bag. But the saddle bag in particular makes riding on rough and steep terrain difficult. I see some people tumble into the bushes on the way down, while others descend in good time. 800 metres further down, my assessment is: one puncture, no fall and plenty of hunger. Our adventurous thighs have already made it to the first summit and thus the first 1000 metres in altitude. Together with my touring buddy Walter Lauter, we set off on the next ramp. 800 metres of ascent. There is still no sign of the shallow hills of Tuscany and the supposedly always Mediterranean climate.
climate is still missing.
From race files and fat bikes
"Isse eschte Monte," Marco smiles at me, shifts up a gear and casually gets out of the saddle. The next second, a gap opens up between us. The wiry man in his mid-thirties is the archetype of the Italian cyclist come to life: short black hair, fine gold chain around his neck, white racing socks, helmet on the handlebars and Colnago cap on his head. His tanned body is clad in clothes from the Lotto professional road team and is trained down to the last fibre. I catch a quick glimpse of his bike: "full Tupperware" - practically everything, including the brake disc spider, is made of carbon. The bike shouldn't weigh nine kilos, I think. The small handlebar roller and the dainty rear bag suggest a weight-optimised hotel strategy. Marco is set on speed. A few bends further on, I overtake a guy pedalling a fat bike with full tent equipment. This shows how differently the participants approach the challenge. Everyone thinks they have the ideal bike for the race adventure.
Florence tourist trap
Day two: The straight Strada Bianca, as the famous, light-coloured gravel roads of Tuscany are called, seems endless. For what feels like an eternity, the speedometer needle has been playing limbo just below the 30 km/h mark. The tough morning with the last thousand metre pass in the Apuan Alps in drizzling rain and the muddy descent are forgotten. The miles finally start to tumble and the sun comes out. We head straight for Florence. Suddenly, the traffic on the Strada increases like madness. The GPS guides us right into the city centre, directly into the Piazza del Duomo. Crowds of tourists flood the square. Our Flow suffers a piston seizure. For almost half an hour, we cycle at walking pace through the meandering groups of tourists before the old town centre spits us out again. Good timing is important in cycling, and self-supported races are no exception. The fast riders are through here in the night. They had a clear path and raced with the sweepers for a few minutes at dawn.
Sweeping and denting
Walter and I have just crossed the River Arno when we unexpectedly turn right directly into the slope. Our legs are burning and we have to shift into the lowest gear. The route leads up to the spacious Piazzale Michelangelo. It's just too bad that this spacious square with a magnificent view over Florence has mutated into the centre of bus tourism: hordes of selfie-stick snappers maraud around the bronze statues and souvenir stalls. Once again, they slow down our journey. One of the golden rules of mass tourism is that it quickly becomes quiet behind the tourists. Barely fifty metres further on, the number of excursionists is close to zero again. The road undulates on the Tuscan hills. The journey towards Chiesanuova is relaxed. As we round the next bend, we look straight into the smashed front end of a Fiat parked across the road. On our side of the road, a white VW is leaking. Wild Italian chatter fills the air. The police are approaching in the background. We crank past the wreckage. "I'll be glad when we're back off-road, it's not so dangerous," grins Walter. We see the two cars again in the evening. In the Facebook post by fellow traveller Jasper: "Be careful out there #tuscanytrail. White car was overtaking me. Luckily I stopped in time."
Cool wine on hot stone. It resembles an image from a western film: a wild horde is riding across the prairie. They drag a cloud of dust behind them. The camera zooms in on the men. They are tired. Dust and sweat form a heroic crust on their faces. But their eyes are shining with joy and concentration. Since San Gimignano, whose medieval town centre is a Unesco World Heritage Site, we have three companions. Dust rises. Pebbles jump to the right and left and take the riders under fire. The studs of our bikes claw into the bends. We hurtle downhill at 70 kilometres an hour on the Strada Bianca, heading straight for a T-junction. When we reach the bottom, the brake discs are glowing. We have gradually become accustomed to the Tuscany Trail's mixture of culture and nature. The logic is catchy, the rhythm is consistent and the sequence is always the same: the route mostly leads uphill on small country roads and strade bianche until it reaches a cultural attraction. There, the track follows the tourist caravan through the historic old town or castle. It then heads downhill again on gravel tracks and single trails until the next ascent follows in the same way. Occasionally, the melody is varied a little by a longer ride on the flat.
This dramatisation is no coincidence, rather Tuscany Trail initiator Andrea Borchi has a mission: "I want to show people how beautiful the Tuscan landscape is and what a fantastic cultural history we have."
Our companions turn right at a crossroads. We catch our breath for a moment and discover a wooden shed on the left. It turns out to be a street vendor from the nearby Pietrafitta winery. Ten minutes and three samples later, I slide a bottle of Chianti into the bottle holder on the down tube and secure the fragile passenger with a cable tie. We buy the rest of the ingredients for dinner in Colle di Val d'Elsa. Then we cycle towards the sunset. A meadow serves as our camp for the night. Just as we are about to settle in, Markus, a bike dealer from Nuremberg, joins us. The three of us sit on the sun-heated stones and savour the Chianti Colli Senesi, olives, cheese, salami and baguette. "Dinner will probably cost us ten places in the rankings," says Markus. We grin. Who would swap a ranking for a great moment like this?
Experience or result: In a self-catering race, the gross time applies, i.e. riding time plus break time. The most important thing is to save on sleep. An explosive game: How much time can I save, and when does the lack of sleep start to slow down the pace on the bike? It is important not to waste time during the day either: minimise breaks and make the most of them. In a restaurant, order all your courses immediately, then take off your jacket and jersey and go to the toilet. In the supermarket, it's best to start eating while waiting at the checkout. Of course, racers completely avoid photo stops or cosy coffee breaks in old town cafés. This is where the scene splits into two camps. Some want to reach their destination as quickly as possible. They do without anything that could impair maximum propulsion. The others want to enjoy a mix of adventure, nature, culture and sport. Both philosophies are sometimes far apart. And not just in terms of time: while Walter and I still have a long way to go, the two winners have long since showered and are on their way home. They cycled the 560 kilometres virtually non-stop and crossed the finish line after 37 hours and nine minutes. They had no extensive camping equipment. Walter and I oscillate between extremes: We like to go full throttle on the bike, but we can't imagine a self-catering race without an evening campfire. So after three days, eight hours and nine minutes, we finish in 50th place. The last rider on the list only reaches the finish line after eight days, four hours and 27 minutes. His bike was loaded with plenty of comfort equipment. That's right.
INFO TUSCANY TRAIL
The route: The Tuscany Trail starts in Massa, crosses the Apuan Alps and leads via the cities of Prato, Florence, San Gimignano, Monteriggioni, Siena, Val d'Orcia, Radicofani and the Scalo Argentario peninsula to Capalbio. The route covers a total of 560 kilometres and 11,000 metres in altitude. The proportion of tarmac is 50 per cent, 30 per cent is likely to be on the characteristic Strade Bianche (gravel roads), with the rest on single tracks and forest paths.
Date: 2 June 2017
The optimal bike: Gunnar Fehlau rode a rigid 29x3-inch bike with 22 gears and mechanical disc brakes. Due to the high proportion of tarmac and gravel roads, a 29er hardtail is sufficient. A triathlon attachment ensures speed on the flat.
Equipment: In addition to tools, spare parts and tubes, you need to have equipment with you to spend the night: Sleeping bag, insulating mat, bivouac sack or tent. Your luggage should also include rainwear, spare clothing and washing kit. Saddle bags, frame bags and handlebar rollers have proven their worth. Cleverly put together, you should be able to manage with eight kilograms of luggage. If you want to cycle at night, you should have a good lighting system with you, preferably powered by a hub dynamo.
Journey: In addition to travelling by car, there are also numerous flight connections to Pisa. The airport is barely two kilometres from the train station, which in turn offers direct connections to the start and destination.
Info about the Tuscany Trail www.tuscanytrail.it
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