Green Roads of Tuscany 2018

† Explanation of BAC Ride Fee – This fee is not included in the Estimated Cost and is non-refundable once submitted. The Ride Fee for US and Canada is $85 and $100 for all other countries, both are per participant.

Ride Description

OVERVIEW
If you look at a Michelin map, roads highlighted in green indicate “scenic roads”. Most of this tour follows these green roads. To get the views you have to climb so be prepared. The average day registers over 2,800 feet of climbing. Except in and out of Florence, you will cycle country roads with slower traffic and unbelievable views. This tour combines a circle route with 3 locations of multiple night stays

RIDE RATING
The trip is rated a 3A, averaging 31 miles per day and a daily average of 2,800 feet of climbing. There are two difficult days that are required, one is 40 miles long with 3,630 feet of climbing and the second is 43 miles long with 3,960 feet of climbing. Using a different metric, the number of feet per mile, a difficult ride is widely recognized as 100 feet per mile. A moderate ride is 50 feet per mile. This tour averages a 92, or almost at the difficult stage every day. An additional factor to consider is that half of the rides are on layover days, where you choose how much you ride on those days. Cue sheets will be mailed with maps and digital GPS files will be posted on the Rode Leader Docs.

WEATHER
Temp avg. 59 F - 70 F with an avg. of 6 days of rain.  Most days are warm to hot but with showers it can be chilly.  Full rain gear, long-fingered gloves and long rain pants are recommended.

LODGING & MEALS
Hotels are 3-4 star.  All breakfasts and 8 group dinners are included.

LOGISTICS
Arrival day is Friday, May 4, 2018 in Florence and departure from Florence is Saturday, May 19, 2018.  Fly in and out of Florence. Bike boxes stored at the hotel. Bike rentals will be available directly from the rental company; details provided after you sign up. Seventh time tour is offered by leaders Tom and Julie.

SUMMARY
We begin the tour with a lay-over day in Florence where you can plan your own activities before our first group dinner on our second night in the city. We ride from Florence, south to the Chianti region with a stay in Castellina in Chianti. Then we travel through the traditional Tuscan landscape to San Gimignano, for a 3 day stay with loop rides from our hotel. We continue south-east through the Crete Senesi, the most photographed region of Italy. For our rest day in San Rocco a Pilli we take a bus into Siena for a walking tour. Our furthest point south from Florence is San Quirico d’Orcia where we stay for 3 days. There you can opt for a variety of loop rides with a hotel perfectly situated to offer elegant views and tranquil sleep. Loop rides are possible to Montalcino, Montepulciano, Pienza and BagnoVignoni. This area offers some of the most scenic rides of the tour. Our non-tourist destination is Buonconvento, a walled-village, where a wild game dinner is prepared in a local trattoria. We cycle different routes back to San Rocco and Castellina in Chianti where we have a final dinner before we say, not good-bye but, arrivederci in Florence.

COST & ADMINISTRATION
Min/16-Max/22. Estimated cost is $1600 based on an exchange rate of $1.20 = Euro 1.00. Included in price is 15 nights lodging, all breakfasts and 8 group dinners, maps, cue sheets, luggage van & driver, bus transport to Siena and a guided tour, a cooking demonstration, olive oil factory tour and tasting. Not included in the price is the non-refundable $100 BAC ride fee.  Final payment of $1300 is due January 15, 2018. Depending on currency exchange rates, there may be some minor changes in the amount of the final payment.

SINGLES
We encourage single riders to sign up who are willing to share a room. We will assist with finding a roommate. Space for 2 solo riders with an estimated supplement of $420. Single supplement payments will need to be made directly to the Ride Leader.

CANCELLATION POLICY
The BAC ride registration fee and payment processing fees are non-refundable unless the entire tour is cancelled.  Any refund amounts are dependent on our finding a replacement, plus any cost incurred before you cancel. If we are not able to fill your position, any refund will be based on the principle that costs not be increased for those who are completing the tour. Your share of fixed costs like the administrative, luggage van, leader and van driver expenses will be deducted from your eventual refund. We will attempt to recover lodging costs (most places require a final count 30 days in advance). Whatever we can recover, you will get back after the tour is completed and the final accounting takes place. BAC encourages members to purchase trip cancellation insurance.

RIDE PARTICIPANT RESPONSIBILITY
Please remember that BAC Ride Leaders are volunteers, and that successful tours depend on participants providing much of their own support.  Participants are expected to come to the ride well trained, in good health and ready to accomplish the required daily riding using well-maintained bicycles.   All participants should accept responsibility for a safe and enjoyable tour.  We encourage you to read the ride description carefully and respond to requests from Ride Leader.  While on the ride, support your Ride Leader with offers to help with various tasks such as happy hour preparation and clean-up.  Please do not interfere with the ride by inviting non-participants onto any portion of the ride or tour.  Please keep the Ride Leader informed of any special request you may have and respect the Ride Leader’s decisions.

SIGN-UP
To submit a request to join this ride use the "links" displayed above this Ride Description.  When you are accepted, the Ride Leader will move you from the Waitlist to the Pending List.  At this time you will receive an email notification to login to the BAC website to sign the release of liability form and pay the non-refundable BAC ride registration fee online and $500 tour deposit by credit card.  As soon as your deposit has been processed, your name(s) will be added to the Participant List.  To contact the Ride Leader, "click" the name at the top of this Ride Description.