6 and counting

So this is the little beauty I will be riding at L'Eroica this Sunday. Many hours of hard work and graft have been applied by Bruno Pearson to bring this to fruition. My job is to get it round the course in a respectable time.

Its a Holdsworth. Good old London bike builder. They still have a shop in Putney and sell a nice retro bike that echoes back to the old days of steel bikes when 531 Reynolds was the best tubing you could get. With such a beauty to ride need to sort some decent kit for the ride. Hoping for some warm autumn sunshine so it has to be the Road Rags 'Hoxton' perfect for such weather and recently given 8/10 by Urban Cyclist Magazine in their review and its damn hard to get better than that. Those guys are tough!! Match in with a pair of our 'under test' merino mid length touring shorts and a pair of Quoc Pham leather 'daisy roots' and we will be pretty much set.

Hoping the weather is better than Cav, Wiggins and that Froome chappy endured last weekend... Now to find a Euro sat nav, get a few euros and prepare for a long route trip...but it will be 'Italian Job' soundtracks through the mountains though not in an Aston or E type.

Looking forward to hooking up with Lance McCormack and his fine lads, sharing a few glasses and indulging in the bike festival on the Saturday.... Question is, do we really need to head back on Monday or can a little more time be squeezed out of the adventure...

At the end of the day it's all down to Bruno who put the bikes together and made all this possible...

He's not looking his most dapper here...certainly not Tweed Run dapper that's for sure but he's just finished a days chroming and polishing......Top work Bruno!!

L'Eroica 2013 is coming closer...

As L'Eroica 2013 looms upon us we have picked up the frames and started on a rebuild. Its a Holdsworth and Claud Butler that are destined for the Tuscany hills this autumn. We had been hoping for a good month of training on these beauties but nothing runs smoothly in the world of vintage lightweights and craftsmanship has no time-scale. 

Our boys are flat out polishing up wheels, pedals, stems and quills, anything that needs to shine is getting the treatment.

Accommodation is booked. Cheap and cheerful in a nearby farmhouse. Eurotunnel booked and the long trip ahead awaits. Bringing back memories of this summers earlier dash through France to Corsica with the 'magnificent seven' of that little adventure.

So off to the hills we shall go. Hoping for autumn sunshine on our backs. Looking forward to those meats, cheeses and vino on the refuel stops. Note to self don't drink the vino too early! We will be starting about 5.30a.m.

Union Jack and chrome combo's on the Holdsworth and Claud Butler heading to Tuscany.

L'Eroica 2013, Gaiole, Chianti ,October 6th

Well it wont be long now until we are heading off for the Eurotunnel, car packed with our vintage lightweight British racing bikes and heading across France with our destination the beautiful countryside of Chianti in Italy. Joining up with the McCormack clan from 'Romance of Rust' we will ride the ever popular L'Eroica along with the rest of this years 5,000 participants.

L'Eroica is a Foundation, the purpose of which is to safeguard the heritage of the white gravel roads of Tuscany. The brainchild of Giancarlo Brocci, the strade bianche have been in continuous use since Etruscan times, but were starting to disappear under asphalt. He started with his love of cycling, added the twist of riders required to use vintage steel bicycles and L'Eroica was born 100 riders in 1997 has grown to 5,000 from all over the world. All decked in clothing styles from back in the day, our merino 'Hoxton' will fit in just perfectly. So what will the Road Rags crew be riding? We have stripped a Hetchins, Holdsworth and Macleans in preparation. The frames have paid a visit to the chromers. Two layers of copper, one of nickel and the final chrome in true Road Rags style, but for a one off, from the seat post back we will be adorning the frame in the Union Jack to add a little touch of 'The Italian Job' to our own style.

Then it will be a case of rebuilding in the old school original style, a few long spins to test everything is in perfect working order and then on the roof and off to the hills of Tuscany and all its beauty for an early start gathering in the piazza of Gaiole. First riders roll out at 5.00 a.m. when the air is nippy and daybreak a couple of hours away but the bonus is the climb to Castello di Brioli, the road illuminated with candlelight. A long day ahead but the legendary 'ristori' are no standard modern sportive rest stops, forget energy drinks and gels, volunteers in garb from the era hand out bread and olive oil, meats, cheeses, fruits and all washed down with a glass of Chianti. Knowing the Road Rags penchant for indulging in a tipple or two restraint could be hard as the sun starts to beat down but we look forward to the road trip, the ride and making friends anew with the warm and welcoming locals. A great weekend with the village becoming a vast exhibition of everything vintage awaits. More photos to follow as the builds come to fruition......