The day started beautifully with candles lighting the way up the first climb to Castello di Brolio. However, on the way down to Siena we could see the first dark clouds in the sky and pretty soon it was pelting down with rain. Obviously our decision to leave our rain cover at home turned out to be the wrong call. We were looking for shelter under a tree and watched many cyclists passing by.
The rain was not the only bad luck we had. Markus’ rear wheel got bent after the first couple of kilometres; as it turned out the spokes were very loose and the rim was bent so badly that the tyre touched the frame with every rotation. I didn’t think about rain protection but luckily I brought a spoke spanner and at least we could use the forced break to do some repair on Markus’ rear wheel. I managed to fix the wheel and we decided to continue the ride even though the weather had not cleared yet.
When the rain wouldn’t stop we had to figure out a “plan B”. When we passed by some houses in the middle of nowhere Markus stopped and knocked on a few doors. Eventually, a lady opened and Markus explained our misfortune to her. She felt very sorry for us and offered a simple but efficient solution: trash bags! This was a beautiful encounter and we’ll never forget our ride through Tuscany with improvised rain cover.
Anyway, the run of bad luck continued. On a short but steep climb a couple of kilometres before Radi my chain broke. It was the original chain, meaning it was almost 35 years old at that time and the pressure I put on it was simply too much (well, I have to admit I’m a bit on the heavy side). Luckily, Radi wasn’t too far away and we hoped we could find a mechanic who could fix the bike.
Radi was one of the official stops on the route offering refreshments but also technical assistance provided by mechanics of Gaudenzi, a bike shop in Montevarchi and official partner of Eroica. Within minutes I got a new chain and I was ready to roll again. In the meantime the weather had cleared up as well and we finally got rid of our trash bags which served us well during the rain.
Next chapter: Remember Sante Marie