L’Eroica

October 3–4, Chianti Classico

On October 3 and 4, L’Eroica sets out from Gaiole in Chianti — cyclists in wool jerseys and racing caps from the pre-synthetic era, on bicycles made before 1987, riding the white gravel roads that connect the Chianti Classico estates across the Tuscan hills. It is a voluntary exercise in doing things the harder, older way, and it has found a following that understands exactly what it is. To watch from the roadside with an espresso as the dust rises behind the peloton — hills amber and vine-red in October — is to understand something about Italy that requires no commentary.