giving this one more try.

---

Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Sorry for bringing up an old post. But, in my recon to find where to ride (Road / not XC) in Tuscany (for a fam trip in the summer) I have been scouring this site as well as watching youtube 'Cycling Tuscany' videos while on the treadmill. Saw this video yesterday (below). It seems they did some very grassroots Tuscany road/Gravel bike event. Not sure what event, but they do show their map and when they did it - so you'll probably yield a result if you dig a little. It did seem like there was quite a lot of gravel. In case you're still planning a trip sometime.

Vid Link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9K_HwAPpK3Q


Separately, if you research 'Tuscany' in the sites search, some user named 'gasman' seems to write good contacts in the area that would be in the know.

Or, look up Strade Bianchi
https://www.cyclist.co.uk/news/4333/strade-bianche-all-you-need-to-know


Good luck...maybe your 'one more try' will work out after all... ;-)

---

Running is the best source of fiber that I know of...

a few ones here I migliori percorsi di Bici Gravel in Toscana (Italia) | Wikiloc

we found and rode a number of gravel routes in and around radda, greve, in chianti, sort of the heart of l'eroica country. great place to ride a bike. i just found that l'eroica and strade bianchi take in the white gravel, but when those races are not taking place people are not riding on the gravel (at least where we rode). they're riding on the roads. but that was back in 2019 or so and maybe italians have (re)discovered gravel. at that time everybody was on a road bike but us, so nobody was as prepared to ride the gravel as we were. so they didn't.

---

Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

I bike toured in Tuscany this past October - the Eroica routes are now signposted (at least the "classic" one in Chianti and the Montalcino routes were, from what I saw), and there were a fair ## of people with gravel bikes out there--locals and tourists alike.

yep! gravel has become more popular in italy in the latest couple of years, yet not as huge as road riding

I had pretty good luck with some of the Erocia type routes. I would highly recommend to not restrict yourself to road bike riding. You would really be selling yourself and the region short if you do that.


Tuscan countryside ride | Ride | Strava

that's funny. when i was in tuscany in 2019 there were ZERO gravel bikes. i was there for a launch and a bunch of the euro press was there and they thought gravel would never catch on in europe and specifically not in italy. but everywhere my wife and i went with our gravel bikes, where there were groups of cyclists (e.g., club teams ending a ride at a cafe) groups of riders would crowd around our bikes.

the funny thing is that the strade bianchi is made for gravel bikes. you can ride the groomed and flat stuff with a road bike, sure, but once the gravel points up or down hill - which it does in chianti and unless you stick to a river valley - the road bike is not fun on those roads. which is why nobody back in 2019 was on them. they had the wrong bikes.

---

Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

I think Americans and other tourists that have the resources to travel to Tuscany have way more disposable income to buy shiny new toys than the locals. I did L'Eorica in 2002 when they had a whopping 250-300 is riders. They were quite amazed that I traveled from Hawaii to do a bike ride. (Was also a vacation) A lot of the locals were riding their L'Eorica bike as their daily rider. I don't know for sure, but I think a lot of Tuscan residents are happy with not having big time jobs and incomes. I didn't even think to think of that until several years later when in Dingle, Ireland our tour bus stopped at a little roadside trinket shop. My wife and I weren't really interested in shopping so we walked down the street. There was a guy about my age now (old) that was gardening and had a little Jack Russell dog helping him. He was wearing a sweater that was old and had several holes in it, pants to match and old boots. When I asked about his day he says.....

I got up this morning and rowed out in the sea (on a real old rowboat) and caught a couple fish for lunch. I am working on my garden now and will take a nap when I am done. Then I will cook lunch for me and my wife and head off to the pub for a pint or two on me bicycle. His bike was a 50-or60s vintage three speed, his house needed paint really bad and he didn't have a car. I am thinking that this guy is the king of the world. Has everything he needs and lives life as large as anyone I know. Just doing exactly what he wants. He also had a log longboard like from the 50s. I asked him about it and he said he was too old to surf but it still floats if I wanted to borrow it. Wish I would have had time.

Back on point. Other than way less gears to choose from those old 1950-1980s bikes had pretty good gravel geometry, room for 32mm tires and were soft enough to ride gravel. My old 1975 MKM is perfect for gravel, its replacement Viner, Ciocc, Moots and Kestral were designed for smaller tires, less clearance and faster steering. They would all suck on gravel.

I think as time passes more and more Tuscany locals will be buying gravel friendly bikes because they are more available. Maybe not, but I would like to think that. More than anything the newer compact cranks and pie plate cassettes sure make those steep hills more user friendly on my 70 year old knees. But in the meantime they are eating way better food than we have, drinking excellent coffee, have 4 Euro a liter fresh table wine that is prolly 5% alcohol and very tasty, riding some of the nicest (but steep) roads on the planet, and living the life we can only dream of by going on vacations. Not too bad of a life indeed.

Interesting take on the guy in Ireland. You are probably right. People like this have 'IT figured out'.

---

Running is the best source of fiber that I know of...

Interesting. Any thoughts on staying in either the Chianti region or San Gimignano? I will likely choose one of those two, this way we are in-between Siena and Florence (and relatively close to Volterra, Pisa, and Lucca) for easier city visits to drive to.

The other thought was to stay in Montepulciano which I have heard great things about (both on this forum and other areas), but is south of Siena and it seems not convenient. Any thoughts on 'going out of my way to Montepulciano' (for either a bike, or drive to with the fam), or is it really not necessary when there are other locations in closer to proximity...

We have 7-8 days...


Thankfully, this is part of a longer 5-6 week Trip (including Naples/Amalfi, Madrid/Salamanca, Porto, Bilbao and Basque, Girona, and Paris... Whew, it's tiring thinking about it... especially hauling the bike box around), where it seems there are other cycling oases. Not trying to make anyone jealous here, but will be working and my wife has conferences in Spain (where she is from).


Girona also seems like paradise on the bike. Will be in the Basque (Spain) region right around the start of the tour (actually, my idea to specifically go out of our way for that), and seems like it may be similar. Would love some context on the other areas too if anyone has it.

---

Running is the best source of fiber that I know of...

i don't know enough about italy to tender a worthwhile opinion, tho if i was exclusively riding a road bike i'd head for the dolomites. many others would tell you, unequivocally, girona.

---

Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

There are so many good areas to ride in Italy. As soon as you get out of the major cities there are tons of choices on not well traveled roads. Dan scares me with his comment on the Dolomites. I have not ridden there, but holy smokes they have some long hard passes/mountains. Tuscany is relentless for hills, but the Dolomites are some serious mountains. The nonpave roads seem more like mtb trails, but I am old. I might try them on an e-bike or 30 years ago younger legs, but alas my goal of riding the great Tour de France/Italy HC cols are dun passed me thinks.

Did this last year https://strava.app.link/YvmWuwMS7wb

One day, would love to, for sure. Problem is getting the rest of the family to go there. Might be a hard sell. My wife and the rest of the fam want the wine tasting, and leisurely travel between the cities and towns. Although, to be fair, I too probably like more 'rolling' than mountainous, due to less 'freezing', and just feel it is more exciting to climb 5-15 min than 1 hour plus. Although, I do love mountains too. Too many places to see, too little time... Maybe one day I'll buy a DeLorean ;-)

Girona does seem amazing. Basque seems great too, but harder to find information on. Find it a little surprising since the Basque (and their culture, as well as riders) seems to have a lot of presence at the tour.

---

Running is the best source of fiber that I know of...

Thank you. Really appreciate it

---

Running is the best source of fiber that I know of...

Hey as long as your are enjoying what you are doing that is what counts.

---

Running is the best source of fiber that I know of...