Green Roads of Tuscany 2022

† 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 5 locations of multiple night stays

RIDE RATING  The trip is rated a 3A, averaging 32 miles per day and a daily average of 2,870 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. A link to access the digital Ride with GPS files will be posted on the Ride Leader Docs under Event Link.  Please print your own maps and cue sheets and remeber to bring them with you.

LOGISTICS  Arrival day is Friday, May 6, 2022 in Florence and departure from Florence is Saturday, May 21, 2022.  Fly in and out of Florence. Bike boxes stored at the hotel. Eighth time tour is offered by leaders Tom and Julie. Details are in the Welcome Letter posted in “Ride Leader Docs”.

COVID  All participants must be fully vaccinated, including booster shots, if applicable, and voluntarily present vaccination documentation for viewing by Ride Leader.

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 guided 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 fortified village that is an undiscovered gem. We cycle a different route to Castellina in Chianti for a 2-night stay and our final group dinner before we say, not good-bye but, arrivederci in Florence.

COST & ADMINISTRATION  Min/20-Max/22. Estimated cost is $2,060 + the $100 non-refundable BAC fee.  This is based on an exchange rate of $1.30​​ = € 1.00. Included in the price is 15 nights lodging in 3-4 star hotels, all breakfasts and 6 group dinners, happy hours, luggage van & driver, bus transport to Siena and a guided tour, olive oil factory tour and wine tasting.  Final payment of $ 1,060 is due March 8, 2022. Depending on currency exchange rates, there may be some minor adjustments in the amount of the final payment.

SINGLES SHARING  It is recommended that singles wanting to share a room try to find their own room mate. The Ride Leader will assist singles to find a room mate. When a single rider applies for the ride, you will be placed on the wait list and a room will be reserved for a limited time. Once a room mate is found, both riders are added to the tour. If a single rider cannot find a room mate, they may be added to the ride on a “space available” status.

SOLOS  Space for 2 solo riders with an estimated solo supplement of $ 542. Solo supplement payments should be made by check and sent to BAC. They are due when the final payment is due. Checks should be made out to “BAC” with a notation of the tour name included on the check and mailed to:  Bicycle Adventure Club, PO Box 23998, San Diego, CA 92193.

TANDEMS/E-BIKE RENTALS  Tandems and e-bikes will be accepted on a case-by-case basis.  Talk with the leaders about this. Rental bikes will be available through CycleEurope (cycleeurope.com). Details in "Ride Leader Cos": "Cycle Europe Form".  Each rider will pay CycleEurope directly with a credit card.

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

CANCELLATION POLICY: The BAC ride registration fee and payment processing fee is not refundable unless the entire tour is cancelled due to participation below stated minimum requirements. 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. If the cancelling participant is replaced, a refund will be made at that time. If the cancelling participant can't be replaced, any refund will be determined after the ride and final expense report are completed. 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 solo supplement fee of the roommate remaining on the tour. BAC encourages members to purchase trip

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.

INSURANCE Before participating in any BAC tour, members should review their medical coverage and assess whether what you have is sufficient. If it isn’t, you should purchase additional travel medical coverage. BAC maintains a policy that provides coverage for expenses related to medical emergencies and repatriation when members are on tours outside the US and their home country. The policy ceases to be applicable if a member makes a personal deviation (e.g., makes a side trip not related to the planned BAC tour), has limits on expenses covered for family members and only applies for 45 days following departure from home. None of the policies maintained by BAC will cover costs associated with self-quarantines that may be government mandated. Members should also ensure that vaccinations are up to date (e.g., annual influenza, tetanus, etc.). If traveling outside your home country you may wish to consult with a travel physician or nurse to ensure that the appropriate vaccinations are up to date.

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 and the initial tour deposit $ 1,000 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.