Originally Posted by
jonwvara
How welcoming/inclusive is the ride? I ask because most of the pictures I have seen make it look like a flat-out race, with people dressed in period gear and riding nice old bikes pelting madly along in a tight peloton shrouded a mighty cloud of dust.
The ride isn't like that at all. If there were any tight pelotons there they were way ahead of me. On the contrary, I spent much of the ride having long conversations with those around me about bikes, travel, gear, what have you. It was a very friendly affair. Pretty much everybody on the ride spent their time ogling everybody else's bikes and gear. There were plenty of fit racer types but also plenty of folks just out for a pleasant day on the bike.
As to what I'll be wearing, I'll be wearing an italian tricolor jersey that I bought at the Chianti Gino Bartali stand (along with a bottle of Chianti) the day before L'Eroica in Gaiole. I'm not sure whether I'll be riding my Ron Cooper (currently at the paint shop still) or my new to me Cinelli (currently being stripped down and overhauled). I will be running wide clinchers (32mm for the Cooper, 28mm for the Cinelli) and the lowest gears I can get away with. The Cooper is set up with a 52-42-30 triple and 13-28 freewheel, which is ideal for this ride. The Cinelli will probably have somewhat higher gearing but I haven't figured out exactly what yet. Last year the food stations were a bit sketchy (especially the second one) so I might carry a couple of bars as emergency supplies. Water was no problem and I only had one (large) water bottle. Hopefully they will be better organized this year and the food situation will have been rectified.