As you can read in his presentation, Andrea Tiberi he is not the classic 'race and badge only' athlete, but there is much more. He is a true adventurer, hidden under the guise of an Olympic athlete. Sometimes he also drags others into his adventures, as when he decided to involve his wife Betti - Elisabetta Eydalinn - in his vision of cycling.
The two set off on Saturday morning from their home in Sauze d'Oulx to begin a new, decidedly GRAVEL adventure, which they called 'Couple Trip'.
"The idea came from Betti. After all the training she had done in lockdown on the rollers, she wanted that effort to go towards something real, and so the idea of a trip, together, to rediscover the sense of freedom that we had been missing for a while, was born. And then it's a bit like couples therapy, not in the sense of healing but in the sense of taking care of oneself, in this case, of us.
As a medium, we chose the gravel bike'. - two Santa Cruz Stigmata equipped entirely with Miss Grape panniers, one Tendril 10 litres on the handlebars, one Internode 3 on the frame and the ever-present Cluster 7 on the under saddle.
We wanted to cover enough kilometres to get to the sea, but at the same time have the freedom to throw ourselves into some dirt roads and above all to ride the Via del Sale, a long high-altitude dirt road on the border between Liguria, France and Piedmont. Then the pass into France, over the Colle dell'Agnello and then Izoard and Montgenèvre, to return to the gates of home'.
The real challenge this time was not mileage or force management, but teamwork. Indeed, Andrea had to proceed at Elisabetta's pace, and she had to put up with her husband and his desire to increase the pace.
In races or adventures in pairs, what counts most is finding the right chemistry and being able to become a real team. Andrea and Elisabetta made it in life, but they were not sure that they would be able to overcome the challenge on the bike as well.
"So many kilometres and altitude differences that Betti decided to tackle with a certain amount of courage, and in this case my challenge was not so much physical, as being able to support her and help her manage the planned stages. And then to document the journey as best I could".
They finished the first stage in Clavesana (CN) in the Langhe. There could not have been a tougher start. They were in the saddle for more than six hours, three of which under incessant pouring rain that put Elisabetta, but also Andrea, to the test... You can have all the gas in the world, but the rain bothers everyone. '80 km under water... never a joy'.
The next morning they woke up to sunshine.
The real challenge this time was not mileage or force management, but teamwork. Indeed, Andrea had to proceed at Elisabetta's pace, and she had to put up with her husband and his desire to increase the pace.
In races or adventures in pairs, what counts most is finding the right chemistry and being able to become a real team. Andrea and Elisabetta made it in life, but they were not sure that they would be able to overcome the challenge on the bike as well.
"So many kilometres and altitude differences that Betti decided to tackle with a certain amount of courage, and in this case my challenge was not so much physical, as being able to support her and help her manage the planned stages. And then to document the journey as best I could".
They finished the first stage in Clavesana (CN) in the Langhe. There could not have been a tougher start. They were in the saddle for more than six hours, three of which under incessant pouring rain that put Elisabetta, but also Andrea, to the test... You can have all the gas in the world, but the rain bothers everyone. '80 km under water... never a joy'.
The next morning they woke up to sunshine.
Once again Andrea Tiberi has embarked on a slightly out-of-the-ordinary cycling adventure. The cross-country racer is rediscovering himself as an explorer and it is a pleasure to live his journeys step by step through social media (especially his Instagram account where he recounts his adventures live on Stories).
Their plan was to arrive in Monesi di Triora, a town in the Ligurian Alps. Everything did not always go smoothly, but that is also the beauty of Gravel adventures.
"We set off in the direction of the sea but in planning the route the app we use (Komoot) put in a dirt section that was more MTB than gravel, especially as the rains had made a bit of a mess of things. So we had to struggle a bit and there was a bit of a crisis for the Betti, but once we got off the top... downhill it was super.
They stopped in Monesi di Triora because the high-altitude dirt roads of the Via del Sale start from there. "On paper it was the 'easiest' stage from an altitude point of view, but 50 kilometres of gravel are never to be underestimated, and in fact it was very well pedalled and the scenery was beautiful.
We took it easy except that within no time a black cloud front started to arrive from the Ligurian side and at that point we started to run. Taking water above 2,000 is not a pleasant thing, so we 'tarellato' (beaten NDR) a bit more the
second half, up to the Tenda pass." Then they rode down to Cuneo and for a few kilometres cycled through orchards, their goal was to get as close as possible to Val Varaita.
On the fourth and final day, the Alpine tappone awaited them: Agnello, Izoard and Montgenèvre. 160 km, 4,100 metres D+, the last effort with a return to their 'sweet home' in Oulx.
"After last year's trip (Dream Lines) I realised a little bit that in cycling journeys the head counts more than the body; it counts knowing how to take things philosophically, knowing how to work hard enough, without exaggeration but with perseverance.
That's why I had the courage to plan this stage even though Betti had never in her life made such an effort. Because I knew that when she is motivated, she has the head to do everything. And on this trip she was super motivated; on this stage even more so, it was the return home, the return to Benny's; I admit that I wasn't sure she would make it, in addition to the stage itself there was the fatigue of the previous days and the weight of the luggage which she never wanted to lighten despite the fact that I proposed it to her so many times. She wanted to complete her tour 'on her own'. Attacking the Izoard was hard for Elisabeth. That's where she really put her head.
And after passing Montgenèvre they returned home, pedalling the last 15 kilometres in the downpour.
In short, an epic four-day trip. A mini-adventure within everyone's reach or almost, an opportunity to do something different from the usual, without the stress of the stopwatch. Also the demonstration that all it takes is a few days, two gravel bikes ready for anything, four panniers (Tibi and Betti used the Made in Italy ones by Miss Grape) and even the
forest road behind the house can be the start of something magical.
Find your own Couple Therapy too... pedal out of your comfort zone.