† 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 $50 and $100 for all other countries, both are per participant.
LOGISTICS: Arrive in (Rome) Fiumicino on Friday, April 26, 2019 and depart on Thursday, May 9, 2019 from Leonardo da Vinci airport, Fiumiciino, Italy. The tour is mostly on quiet roads except for a few areas of heavier traffic and riding through Assisi. Tour includes 13 nights of lodging starting with an overnight at the Hotel Tiber in Fiumicino. The hotel offers a shuttle service to and from the airport for € 6 and € 14 Euro to the city center. We take a private bus on the next day to Montefiascone where bikes are unboxed or rented from a local bike store. On the departure day, May 9, from Montefiascone, there is a bus transfer to Fiumicino airport with projected airport arrival of 10:00 AM.
RIDE RATING: The trip is rated a 2A!, with daily averages of 31 miles and 2,492 feet of climbing. The longest day is 46 miles and has 4,300 feet of climbing. Grades may exceed 8% to reach hill-towns. Roads are mostly quiet or may have moderate traffic. 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 an 85 feet per mile, or on the high side between a moderate and difficult rating. Longer options are available. Roads are mostly quiet or may have moderate traffic.
SUMMARY: Our tour departs from Rome with a private coach to Montefiascone, famous for Est! Est!! Est!!! white wine. To avoid traffic and tourist-inflated prices, tour stops are in smaller villages except for Assisi. There are 4 two-night stays during the tour to offer a chance to see it all at a relaxed pace. From Montefiascone we cycle past medieval hill towns and rolling fields of grain to Orvieto, famous for its Duomo and ancient frescoes. Then we have 2-night stays in Todi, Montefalco and Assisi. In Assisi, our stay is in the midst of a 4-day Reennaissance festival, Calendimaggio, pitting the upper and lower parts of the city against each other. You'll ride through green pastures dotted with herds of sheep and down hillsides that offer views of castles nestled in the mist. Frequent stops for pecorino panini, hand-rolled strongozzi with porcini mushrooms and gelato are a must. If you want to take a day off and tour instead, the city bus is available (and inexpensive) for visits to Spoleto and Spello. Some of the most picturesque rides come at the end of the tour. Our final 2-night stay in Sorano offers apartments in a quiet setting on the edge of town. Plan a visit to the museum which is carved out of the city wall. It offers sweeping valley views where swallows dart in and out of ancient rocky ledges. You'll be tempted to whisper, the silence is so profound. Then it's a final ride back to Montefiascone along the banks of the Lago Bolsena before we depart with a toast to all things Umbrian.
WEATHER: Temperatures are mild to warm but showers are a possibility. Plan for full rain gear including long fingered gloves, helmet and shoe covers along with a rain jacket and rain pants. Evenings can be cool so plan on long pants and a jacket.
COST: Estimated cost is $ 1,500 based on an exchange rate of $1.20 = 1.00 Euro. Included in the price is 13 nights lodging, all breakfasts, 7 group dinners, bus transport at start and end of tour. Luggage van & drivers, maps and cue sheets, a wine tasting, and guided tour in Todi. A deposit of $ 500 for the first 20 riders assures your place on the tour. Final payment of $ 1,000 is due by January 15, 2019, which may be adjusted if necessary due to currency fluctuations.
SINGLES and SOLOS: Single riders are encouraged to sign-up. We will assist with the singles search for a suitable room mate. Singles who are accepted but waiting to find a room mate will have a limited time-frame to do so if there are more BAC members registered on the wait list. Space for 2 solo rooms with an estimated solo supplement of $400. Solo supplement payments need to be sent to BAC, PO Box 23998, San Diego, CA 92193
DATES for TOUR: April 26-Arrival Day in-Rome/Fiumicino; April 27-Bus to Montefiascone; assemble bikes & Group Dinner; May 8-Bike back to Montefiascone & Final Group dinner; May 9 – AM Bus to Fiumicino Airport for departure
CANCELLATION POLICY: The BAC ride registration fee of $100 and payment processing fees are not refundable unless the entire tour is cancelled. Refunds of tour payments will depend upon whether a replacement rider signs up, and on costs that can be recouped. The amount refunded will be based on the principle that the tour’s remaining participants will not incur any additional cost as a result of cancellations. Your share of fixed costs like the administrative costs, 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). If a single participant cancels and another roommate cannot be found, in addition to other costs that cannot be recouped the cancelling roommate may also be liable for the single supplement fee of the roommate remaining on the tour. 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.
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 click on one of the “I request…” buttons displayed above this Ride Description. The Ride Leader will contact you and if accepted you will be placed in the Pending List. You will receive an email notification to login to the BAC website to sign the release of liability form, pay the non-refundable BAC ride registration and the $ 500 deposit. Once that is completed you will be placed in the Participation List. After you are a Ride Participant, you will be able to access the Ride Leader Docs on the tour site to download things like the Welcome Letter, cue sheets, hotel list, GPS files and a participants list. Hard copies of the maps and cue sheets will be mailed approximately 60 days before the tour. To contact the Ride Leader, "click" the name at the top of this Ride Description.
Bicycle Adventure Club
PO BOX 23998 San Diego, CA 92193
Telephone (858) 715-9510 office@bicycleadventureclub.org