The Bicycle Adventure Club - Come Ride With Us!

Spring in Tuscany 2017

May 24th to June 3rd

Ride Director: George Hall
Ride Co-Director: Thomas Glendinning
Report by: Lily Reid

Let me introduce myself, my name is Lily Reid, I live in Seattle and am a member, and a ride leader, with the Cascade Bicycle Club. This was my first tour with Bicycle Adventure Club but not my first bike tour as I've completed more than a dozen tours in Europe and North America.

My first impression is that BAC has a fervently enthusiastic membership. I know members near home who after their first tour are "hooked" and go on to do multiple tours. This tour in Tuscany is a bargain priced gem and an excellent way to sample BAC. It is a fixed base tour centered in the charming, rustic, Hotel Bambolo, on the edge of the small town of Donoratico. The great appeal of this tour lies with the accomplished tour leaders, George, “Giorgio", Hall and Thomas Glendinning.These leaders are highly experienced and know the territory intimately. Riders could choose to use printed maps, ridewithgps downloads and cue sheets, or just tag along with the leaders for a stress-free experience.

Including our leaders, we were 40 people of varying abilities. Almost everyone was from North America with a large Canadian cohort.

The ten-day tour includes breakfasts and sumptuous group dinners on all but one night. You will not go hungry on this tour as the day starts with a comprehensive breakfast buffet featuring eggs, meats, cheese, pastries and cereals with beverages of choice including espresso drinks. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality and quantity of food at the dinners. I eat seafood but no meat and never had a problem finding something delicious and I think flexible vegetarians would be very happy. Vegans might need to make special arrangements.

The Hotel Bambolo is an excellent base with everything a cycling guest desires. Beautiful, extensive grounds with a landscaped pool, a secure shed for bikes and even large, outdoor clothes lines to dry our kit. The town of Donoratico is rather sleepy and un-touristy but has useful resources such as good supermarket, an excellent dispensing pharmacy and a railway station to facilitate journeys on the "rest day".

The charm of this tour lies in the exquisite small hill towns with their abundance of coffee and lunch stops. Most of the posted routes are around 40 miles with 2,000' or more elevation. Even though the sun could be intense the cycling roads were most often tree lined and shady. I was happy to repeat some climbs as they became easier with familiarity. I enjoyed the motivation of a stop for espresso or cappuccino and, in time, became more relaxed about the long, hair-pin, curving, descents. The scenery and quiet roads lined with vineyards and crops such as wheat, oats and barley could be enjoyed with just the clarion sounds of birdsong and the wafting fragrance of star jasmine and oleander. This area is just far enough from the major tourist circuit to be relatively free of traffic and tour buses. Proximity to the Tyrrhenian coast made for variety with some routes visiting to the beach towns such as San Vincenzo.

I heartily recommend this tour as an introduction to BAC and riding in Italy.

Photo: The Pool at The Hotel Bambolo, Donoratico, Tuscany