Eroica Primavera 2016 and Visso/Sibillini trip

[numbskull]

Just got back from Italy where I did this ride (after spending some time first in the Sibillini mountain area). Very cool trip.

I'm not looking to rehash the whole vintage bike, Eroica philosophy bit.....just lay some info out there for anyone who might have similar ideas to ride in these areas.

Both areas offered truly awesome cycling. Visso is based in the Mont Sibillini National Park, at the junction of two river valleys. This gives you the option of a mildly uphill climbs from town then turning and heading up over steep moderate sized winding mountain passes, riding through mountain meadows, then descending and hitting another steep climb and so on. Most rides were @25 miles and 3.5-4 thousand feet of elevation gain. Here is a typical route https://ridewithgps.com/users/574090/routes

Amazing views (although I did not have a camera for the best of them) and almost no traffic on the climbs. Small roads, real (i.e., not tourist based) towns, great food, friendly people. Roads ran the spectrum from excellent to cracked marble goat trail but for the most part were good. Great hiking and spectacular MTB options to boot.

The Eroica event was also great. Putting the vintage bike bit aside (it is really not the focus on the long routes at these events) I was very impressed by this event. The long (150km) route, https://ridewithgps.com/trips/824274...020.1454073100 , was superb and covered a popular area of tuscany very well, a great tour of hill top towns without much time on major roads. I thought it compared favorably to the senior L'Eroica circuit. The course was better (nicer views, better balanced climb difficulty, better marking, less traveled roads, way less overlap with shorter routes so less slower riders). The event was also smaller (maybe @75 riders on the long route) which made for uncrowded rest/food stops. The quality and strength of the majority of riders doing the long route also continues to astound (and humble) me. Everyone was nice, I had a great time even while skipping all the vintage festivities. If you are considering a riding trip in Tuscany then this long route from the Primavera event is worth studying. It goes through so many small towns that you could do it unsupported.

[crashnburn]

Very nice place and route!

These are dream routes where there are very few traffic.

That town in that valley must get pretty dark early too.

[choke]

That's gorgeous. Thanks.

I really need to get to Italy one of these days....

[taylor_walker]

Great write up, information and photos. Thank you. You just helped me make my decision between Primavera and L'Eroica!

Best,

tw
sf, ca