At the beginning of May, I flew to Venice to attend the Novo Eroica Prosecco Hills gravel ride. I took my Colnago Rabonbank Team Lux Dream CX , which I ‘gravel-ised’ with an XTR long cage mtb rear derailleur and a large ratio sprocket cassette.

I turned up at the start point the day before the ride, on Saturday, and was fortunate to bump into some friends .

Davide and Paolo ….

Davide organises the Cicli Eroica cycling club and said there was a club ride that afternoon, and I was welcome to attend . I didn’t bring any ride kit, so I got what I could at one of the event stalls and got ready to roll…

At the start of the ride I met a nice couple with some beautiful bikes, a Wilier Triestina made with Columbus MS , one of only two tube sets from Gilco Design…

And a Grandis . An artisan brand from fair Verona, and where Mario Confente started out frame building…

Fine features on the frame, I actually managed to find one myself later in the year…

So, we set off into the Prosecco hills ,

It was great to see Eroica founder Sr Giancarlo Brocci and have the honour of riding with him…

Along the way my chain broke

When I got to a ride stop my photo was taken. When the chain broke, my hand were covered in oil. Not wishing to soil my new kit , I rubbed my hands on my face for a joke. At a later stop I managed to wash my face …

Sunday was the main ride, which was through some stunning scenery…

I look forward to the next time!