The Bicycle Adventure Club - Come Ride With Us!

Tuscany on the Med 2018!!!

September 5th to September 15th

Ride Director: Stephen Kiel
Ride Co-Director: Linda Kiel
Report by: Anthony Moy

“Tuscany on the Med” and its sister ride, “Spring in Tuscany,” are longstanding BAC tours, having been offered annually since 2008 and semiannually since 2014. Despite their longevity these tours are perennially full and waitlisted thus proving them to be very popular, so popular that repeat participation is not uncommon.

Since 2014 Tuscany on the Med has been under the direction of Stephen and Linda Kiel whose organizational skills, zest for cycling, and eternally positive attitudes virtually ensure that you will have an unforgettable tour. Both Tuscany trips are a bit unusual: they’re fixed base trips originating out of one hotel rather than traveling point-to-point like most BAC tours. Also unlike almost all BAC tours, which take no more than 26 participants, Tuscany on the Med accepts up to 40, the current BAC allowable maximum. So fulfilling your “Under The Tuscan Sun” fantasy is easier than ever! (Previous tours had up to 78 riders!) Apparently many had the same thought: for eleven members it was their very first BAC tour and for two others their first overseas BAC tour.

Tuscany on the Med is a great introduction to a “lazy” person’s version of bike touring: instead of having to ride to the next hotel in inclement weather, you’re able to slouch a bit and forego the character-building rain riding by just staying at the Hotel I Ginepri to enjoy the beautiful pool, beach, and veranda instead. The resort area in which you stay has an assortment of restaurants, pizzerias, food stands, and small shops to keep you entertained as well. Fortunately this year we had no rain while riding. But we did have to withstand an impressive lightning storm one night!

The Kiels have selected an array of local roads for nine days of riding that take in the impressive vini- and agriculture of the Maremma area. The rating of 2B was spot on, with a variety of riding from relatively flat to rolling terrain to short, gut-busting double-digit ramps to test your low gears and perseverance. Most of the area’s towns are atop hills, some small and some not so small. But whatever moans there were at the uphills was soon replaced with swoons at sights of the atmospheric villages we visited.

For cultural highlights we took a highly informative tour of the Petra Winery in San Lorenzo and a quintessential Italian lunch at the olive grove owned by the Hotel I Ginepri family. For many it was their first taste of wild Italian boar meat ‘cinghiale’ grilled and served al fresco. We were also able to enjoy the local farmers market in Donoratico.

Despite all the positives there are some qualities to this tour that might give you pause. Yes, 39 North Americans at dinner—especially after a few glasses of the local wine—are very loud. Dinner conversations could be deafening no matter how interesting and delightful, and they reminded me of how my ears felt after a Grateful Dead concert when I was in the sixth row center. Also for those of you who must ride a different road every day and seek endlessly varying landscapes, you may find that riding out of a fixed base is just too much like riding from your home. But if you can adjust your mindset—easy when you’re in Italy—the rewards of a fixed base tour more than make up for any ill conceived slights.

The reward of coming to Italy is that no matter where we were born or where we grew up we discover that we are all Italian.

Photo is courtesy of Teresa Keathley and the Tripper Report is by Tony Moy & Roger Hoyer.