Cycling The World's Largest Bikepacking Event | A 500km Epic In Tuscany

Tuscany is home to the world's biggest bikepacking event. 475 kilometers, over 6,500 meters of climbing, 4,700 people, not a race but a challenge, a shared adventure, and a two-wheel journey through one of the most beautiful areas imaginable. I'm about to take it on. Thanks to Wahoo, Campagnolo, and Sella San Marco, I'm here in Italy for a big old adventure in cycling heaven. Once more, it's time to try and find my limits on a bicycle. Let's see what happens. It's pretty unreal. It's just a mad landscape. Suddenly, in this big historic city, it's full of people. Total freedom. That's what bike riding is all about. I'm straight into type two fun territory now. It's hot and long. Just me, the bike, and the road. Tuscany Trail is the biggest bikepacking event in the world. I am Andrea. I am the founder of the Tuscany Trail. Now, I am the organizer of the event. Tuscany Trail was born in 2013. The idea was create the best route of ever. If you want to discover the best part of Tuscany with your bike. Just under 5,000 people take part. It's a 475-kilometer route with just under 6,000 meters of elevation gain in one of the most beautiful areas you could possibly imagine to ride a bike. Tuscany is incredible. You can find the hill, the mountain, the sea, magical landscape, the gravel road, Strade Bianche, old town. Tuscany is wonderful. When Tuscany Trail was born, there was only in the world to divide the island trail and Tuscany Trail. I'm about to take it on. I've decided to try and do it in two days if I can. That's my personal challenge because I think for me, I want to soak up this route and get the most out of it, but I also want to try and push myself a bit and see what I can do. For me, I've been wanting to do this for a long, long time. To be here and take it on, this is going to be pretty cool. With so many people taking part, the start is spread out over two days. You decide when you want to set off. I'd set my own grand apart for 8 a.m. Saturday morning, but first, time to build my bike. Yes, for me, this is just bucket list, bucket list bikepacking. I cannot wait to get started. It's probably the best place in the world to ride a bike or at least one of them. You've got everything like amazing gravel roads, incredible views, incredible food, nice weather hopefully. It's just like that real authentic Italian cycling experience. I'm here to soak all that up, but I also want to use it as a bit of a personal challenge. See what I can do with that self-supported aspect thrown in over multiple days of riding. See what I can manage the course in. Enjoy it at the same time, but yes, get that challenge too. It's going to be a test of bike and body. I do think I've managed to get pretty much the perfect bike for the job. This is the bike I'm going to be using. I've got to say a big thanks to Campanello, Sella San Marco, and Wahoo for helping me build it up and also to make this ride happen. I've managed to build up my grizzle with Campanello's ECA GT groupset. This is the more adventure-orientated of Campanello's two gravel groupsets. It's also relatively more affordable, 13-speed, mechanical, pre-bomb-proof, and it's allowed me to run a really easy gear, which I'm going to appreciate because once I've filled these bags up, I'm going to be heavier than usual and those steep climbs aren't going to get any easier. I've definitely appreciated this once we get too educated this route and I'm starting to get tired. I've gone for Wahoo's Roam head unit up front, probably the most important bit of kit actually on a ride like this, which is self-supported. I've got all my routes pre-downloaded on here, ready to follow to make sure I don't get lost. I've got up to 17 hours of battery life too, so I shouldn't have to worry about recharging all that often. There's a few new smart features actually as well on this, which I'm going to talk you through later, it's going to make my life quite a lot easier. Sella San Marco also sent me their Regal saddle for this one. Now, this has been redesigned with comfort in mind, gravel rides, long days in the saddle, bikepacking trips. I'm also using San Marco's bags to pack everything and take everything with me. I'm trying my best to go as minimalistic as possible, which is quite hard for me to do. I'm not that good at it, but less is more, especially around here, because the more I take, the more I'm carrying up these climbs. I'm pretty proud of this bike. I've got everything I need to give this route my best possible effort. It's going to be a challenge, but it's going to be pretty fun. This is going to be a fun one. This is going to be pretty cool. I'm in bikepacker's paradise. What more could you wish for? The open road beckons, 475K, just under 6,000 meters elevation gain. I'm looking forward to this one. I'm off then. I've set off. It feels good to get going after all the preparation and to feel the movement. The route is ahead of me. It's pretty much up to me where I decide to sleep tonight. Bike's feeling good. Considering I've got a tent, sleeping bag, and mat in there, I'm quite happy with that. Lightest I've ever managed to get my bikepacking set up. I'm feeling agile by a giant standard. I'm excited. The stoke levels are high. We're off. Just been absolutely stunning. Really enjoying it. There's no wind. You can hear the birds. Sun's out. This is about as good as riding a bike gets. This is one of the bits I've been looking forward to the most from today. I spotted it on the map. It's this little peninsula. The trail really just hugs the coastline all the way around to the sea right on your right hand side. Beautiful gravel to ride down. It's absolutely stunning. I keep thinking I want to stop for lunch because I want to admire the view. If I did that, honestly, I'd be here for the rest of the year. Every day I want to stop somewhere and look. I'm going to enjoy this bit. Ha-ha. Eyes on our low bridges here. How far are we in? 90k? Yeah, about 90k. I'm doing pretty good actually. It's about four and a half hours of riding. It's been a solid morning. Did you want a panini as well? Yeah, I'm pretty hungry. I can't afford to stop too long. I think they're now there. I'll just be sitting here eating sandwiches for the rest of the day. That was a good lunch stop. I feel a bit stiffer though leaving the well I stopped. Belly is full. That was the best sandwich I've ever had in my life. Ready to get rolling. I did set up some customer alerts on here. Eat and drink. Definitely ate and drank. Now though, trail beckons back to hit the road. It's about 90k in and I was aiming for about 250k today. Long ways still to go. If that 90k or that 90k or anything like that one, I'm in for another treat. Right then, time to hit the road. See you in a bit. The head unit I'm using, which we have sent me there, Roam, has been super useful for following all the routes and making sure I stay on track. It's also had a few handy features which have made my life easier. The film crew who are following me and creating this video are using a tracking link that I've sent them from my Roam, from the head unit. I'm able to keep tabs on where I am, know where to get to on the route in order to meet me. Hey, Connor. We've just noticed that you've just joined the road called SP158. It's quite cool, quite scenic. We think we are still ahead of you judging by your live location that we can see moving. Hopefully, see you shortly. There's also a really handy little feature which we've been developing. They're going to release it very soon. It's connectivity with GoPro, so with an action camera, which has made my life really easy because it's quite hard to film on the go, especially when you're trying to push on. I've set up what I've affectionately called flip-flop cam right at the back of my bike on my back. It's quite hard to reach. I can literally connect to the GoPro from the head unit, start recording, stop recording, and make the GoPro go to sleep to save battery. I'm not sure you can see the size of those cow's horns. They're absolutely massive, bigger than my arm. They're a really cool part of the route. This is all private land. They've only opened it for the Tuscany Trail. One day a year, you get to ride through it on some verging gravel roads. Si, if you're watching, don't come this way if you're ever in Tuscany. Now is a good time to talk you through a bit more about the bike I'm using on this route because it's been serving me well so far. I'm about 130K in. The groupset that I've built my climbing up with is Eka GT, Campagnolo's more adventure-orientated gravel groupset. I picked the easiest gear possible, which I was a little bit hesitant about. I was like, maybe I've gone too easy, but I've not gone too easy because the climbs here are absolutely ridiculous. I've got 36 on the front, 1048 on the back, and it's allowed me to pedal up some of these steeper climbs, whereas to be honest, with the bike loaded up, I'd have probably been walking up them. I've still got the range to spin away on the flatter, faster sections at about 45, 50K an hour and still be in a natural cadence. I've definitely appreciated that. Alloy rims, so super robust. That's been another good thing because some of the singletrack sections, they're pretty tough going. I absolutely slammed into a hole earlier on in the day and I was just figuring out where to go. No bother, I was expecting a bit of a blowout or even a rim strike, but all good. Ciao, ciao. I've been saying ciao a lot today. I think I've been saying ciao to people who aren't even Italian. I love it. Everyone's so friendly though. The Regal saddle I'm using as well from Selle San Marco is designed with comfort in mind. This is a saddle that I actually used about six or seven years ago. It's been around for about 40 years. The current model has been reinvented with comfort in mind. San Marco said they've designed it around this bow system design with the rails which fit right to the back of the Scheller saddle and allow the shell to flex and absorb more of the vibrations of the road. It's like a bit of an added suspension to the bike which has been definitely helping me along. As you can see, they call it white gravel roads, but some parts it's more like white rock roads. I also like how it's kept its traditional look still which completes the bike in my opinion with the bags as well, the dust on top. It's like this is my kind of bike, my dream bike, my dream route. Wow, that's loud. It's getting louder. I better not sit around for too long because that thunder's coming in. I do not want to get caught in it. Oh, you can't sit down for too long. I'm joking about this thunder, Murray. I really don't want it to hit me, especially seeing as I'm the tallest rider on this route. Time to hit the road again. Yes. Total freedom. That's what bike riding is all about. It's me, the bike, and the road. It's like the cycling I fell in love with when I was a kid. It's time to get tired now. I've been plugging away the last little while. I've had the trail to myself actually. I think a lot of people have called it a day and are starting to look for a place for the night. I've got a number in my head that I want to reach. I want to get to spend the night there, set up camp, give myself a fighting chance tomorrow. I'm plugging on. Just going at my own rhythm. It's pretty unreal. It's just a mad landscape. You don't get the really, really big mountains that you might in the Alps or the Pyrenees. You get these hills everywhere with these towns on but instead, you get this panorama all the time. It's just absolutely jaw-dropping. You can see for miles everywhere. It's hard to get off the bike really when it's like this. I just want to keep on going. There we go. Sunset on day one. Getting absolutely spectacular. The colors are just incredible. Tell me you're in Tuscany without telling me you're in Tuscany. What a day. I'm getting to the end of my day now. At the top of this one, I'm looking for a place to eat. Big feed, gelato, fill the stomach. I'm going to roll on a little longer and find somewhere to build my tent, camp for the night. Pulled over for the night. Rode 45 minutes more in the end. I've got to the outskirts of Pienza. I found a nice little quiet bit off the trail. Set my tent up, get a bit of a night's sleep. Good to be lying down. 220K done. It was about just over 13 hours on the bike today. Pretty good going, but tomorrow even longer. I think I'm going to need to do 250, over 250 tomorrow with 1,000 meters more climbing. I'm happy about today, but if I'm going to do it in the two days I said I would, tomorrow's going to be an even more epic day. Let's see what the morning brings. See you then. Time to get back on the road. Morning has broken. Right then, all packed up, ready to go. Seven o'clock in the morning, which for me, to get all packed up and to be hitting the road on my bike is pretty good going actually. A bit of a faffer. A breakfast of a couple of croissants, a few bananas. I haven't had any coffee, so that's first things first. I need to find that on the route, but I'm quite excited to get going again. I'm not looking forward to putting my helmet on because I left it out and it's absolutely just been covered in dew. I'm going to have a really wet, soggy helmet to put on. I can feel the sun already. Marvelous. Absolutely marvelous. I'm just climbing up, getting going to Pienza. For those Gladiator fans amongst you, this is literally the spot where they film Gladiator, when your man returns home. There's the big monologue. I thought it'd be kind of rude to not come here and give it my own go, so here's my attempt. I think Hank's done this, so it's kind of a GCN tradition. I am Conor Dunne of the bikepacking division of GCN, father of Jesse and Bonnie, husband to Stacey, and I will finish this Tuscany Trail, whether it be today, tomorrow, or next week. Don't know where the pirate bit came from at the end there, sounded a bit piracy, didn't it? There you go, Gladiator. For two double espressos, this is the way to start a morning. It's going to be hot today. I can feel it coming. No storm chasing today. No storm chasing today for sure, so I'm carrying my two jackets around for nothing, but I'm quite glad of the heat, actually. It's quite nice. Don't think it'll be too bad. I can see Siena just in the distance, the unmistakable tower from the cathedral. Let's try Bianchi finishes. Pro race that uses these roads. I'm on now. This really is proper strato territory, those real white roads. You may have seen the pros racing on. I'm doing my best to race myself today. Heading there, that's going to be a big milestone for me. As you can see, it's at the top of a massive climb. I've got to get up that first. I think I'll have a little snack and then push on. Try not to stop too much, but just get panoramas everywhere here, up these steep climbs and just these views. It's just like open up. It's just absolutely mad. I'm getting a bit of a cool down, not the way I envisaged it. Nice heavy feet for the climb up to Piazza del Campo in Siena. It's nice though. Wow, some spot. Quite a contrast after being out some pretty remote areas actually today. It's really quiet and then suddenly in this big historic city, it's full of people. This place looks good. Look at that. Now we're talking. Belly's full, bottles are full. We're ready to roll. I'm crossing Piazza del Campo. I have to walk this bit and then descending down and continuing with the route. It's back to the trail. I'm feeling good, which never normally happens in these videos. I don't know if I'm getting cocky, but I'm thinking it's 12 o'clock now, just over 170K still to go. Could I make it back to the finish and get a swim in the sea for sunset? That's my little nugget that I'm going to try and work towards and see if I can do it. James Portnoy Pass now. I'm just stumbling around the Piazza del Campo. It's smelly giant. I'm straight into type two fun territory now. It's hot and long. Not in the sense I've been going for eight hours since I left camp this morning. It's just starting to take its toll, but half three now, just coming up to under 120K to go. I really want to try and push on now, see if I can make that sunset swim. I think it might be a tough ask. The challenge is starting to bite now. It's definitely starting to bite. Loving a bit of hiker bike. That was tough actually, legs were on the old shake. The top, thank goodness that one's over. What goes up must come down. I think this one might be a good one. Oh my gosh. I'm starving. I'm going to have three dinners. I was doing well. I had a bad patch and then I pulled myself out and I really dug in. 164K in the bank, 11 hours riding on and off since this morning. It's pretty solid. I haven't worked out how far there is to go yet, but I'm gearing myself up for it first. I just want to absolutely smash as much food in this restaurant as possible. They're going to have an absolute field day. I'm just going to figure out where on earth I actually am. I remember this town from before I came here. As you can see, I feel a bit delirious right now. This is the face of a man who's bitten off more than he can chew. He's too stubborn to bow out. I'm an idiot. I'm at a town called Legatico. Now's not the time to have perfect Italian pronunciations. 385K in. It's like 90K still to go. That's a long, long way. There's also a massive, massive climb. The one I remember looking at, I think that's the biggest climb of the whole route straight after dinner. How much climbing have you done so far? I don't know. A lot of climbing. This one, we're at 130 meters elevation roughly, unless I'm on the climb. Hold on. Is that? No, I'm not on the climb. You're going crazy. No, it's the next climb. Yes, a big old climb still to go. I remember looking at that thinking they're really rough roads. Bolognese, then bike riding. I don't even feel like I'm in my own body. Absolutely do not feel like I'm in my body. The final push begins. The last bit of walking. The sun's setting behind me. It's been magic, although it's been the steepest climb ever. Slightly thankful that a lot of it's been tarmac until this point. That helps me out a bit. Now, I just need to make my way to the very top. I know Si is probably the king of these efforts. I've seen him listening to his music when the going gets tough. He's been messaging me all day like a good mate to remind me to keep on it, keep drinking. I thought I'd channel my inner Si. He sent me through his motivational playlist that he uses. I've decided to whack it on. It's actually a really cool feature on my head unit on the old Roam. I can skip the tracks from right in front of me. Let's go with the first one and see what happens. Si, I can't listen to James Blunt now. Right, let's go next. That's James Blunt as well. James Blunt 2. Another one of James Blunt. It's all James Blunt. Changing the playlist. All right, what have we got? I know what I'm feeling like. Here we go. There we go. A bit of Robbie. The wings unfold. Lying in my bed. Running through my head. And I feel the love is dead. And through it all, she offers me protection. A lot of love and affection. Where to come the worst despair. Robbie was good, but too much of him is a bit much. A bit more sunset vibes. I'm off the mountain, back on the road. You can see the sea. Still a while to go. Night's coming. One last little push and enjoy this ride back. I've got 48K to go, but only 220 meters of climbing left. Pretty much this is the last little pimple on the profile. I think all I need to do now is bring it home. Bring it home in the dark. 16.5 hours I've been going for. Oh, my jeepers. Let's not get lost right at the end. Oh, my gosh. You've done it. You've done it. Oh, my gosh. That was a long bike ride. At midnight, 42 hours after setting off, I rolled into the finish. Just a little late for my sunset swim. I'd spent 23 hours of that riding my bike, every second of which could arguably have been a highlight. Sometimes we ride our bikes to go far and test our limits more than before, but sometimes the ride is purely about where we go and what we see along the way. Sometimes, it's both. I think for me, this ride, the Tuscany Trail was exactly that. Any challenge we set ourselves is hard at some point, but when you do it all again instantly, it becomes less about the finish, but just the ride itself. Thanks for watching, everyone. That was an absolute dream. Right, I guess find more pizza. Oh, I'm flipping out. I can barely walk.