01
Mon · Jun 8
Asciano & the Crete Senesi
An easy spin out of Asciano to find the legs — first white roads of the trip, threading the bare clay hills past the old Eroica controls.
16.0 mi/1,181 ft/1:24
Opener
The routes
02
Tue · Jun 9
Cortona & the Val di Chiana
The big one. Up toward Cortona and the long drags above the valley — the hardest day of the week by a distance, and the day the heart rate climbed the highest.
34.2 mi/2,520 ft/3:01
Queen stage
03
Wed · Jun 10
Brunello country — Buonconvento to Torrenieri
Gravel through the Montalcino vineyards, Caparzo and Altesi on the horizon. Cut short when an IT band finally said enough — the one ride that didn't get to finish.
26.1 mi/2,218 ft/2:40
Finished early
04
Thu · Jun 11
Monte Sante Marie
The legendary sector — the same white ramps the pros race at Strade Bianche, where the road kicks to 19% and the names on the climbs read like a startlist.
21.0 mi/1,857 ft/1:58
The famous sector
05
Fri · Jun 12
L'Eroica heartland — Gaiole in Chianti
North into Chianti through Gaiole, into the heart of the Eroica route. The most climbing of the whole week, stacked into the longest day in the saddle.
34.0 mi/3,169 ft/3:14
Biggest climbing
06
Sat · Jun 13
The Crete Senesi white roads — Montisi to Trequanda
A final loop on the Eroica strade bianche through Montisi, Trequanda and San Giovanni d'Asso. Legs thoroughly cooked by now — but they held to the end.
28.4 mi/3,025 ft/2:51
Finale
How the legs held up
Six days, and almost no cycling-specific training behind me — a winter and spring of dog walks, the odd indoor spin, and one long hike up San Jacinto. On paper I had no business riding 160 miles and 14,000 feet of Tuscan gravel in a week.
The aerobic base carried me further than the legs had any right to expect. An IT band flared on Tuesday's climbs and forced an early finish on Wednesday, and a generous truce with the medicine cabinet kept the rest of the week on the road. By Saturday the heart simply wouldn't rev anymore — the unmistakable feeling of a body that had been emptied out and asked to climb anyway.
I'd do every kilometre again. The white roads were worth all of it.