BOLTON CLARION TOUR OF TUSCANY

>> So, as we played the tedious game of sheep-herding at Manchester airport (1.25 hours to drop our bags/bikes and another 1.25 hours to clear Security) nothing could diminish our excitement for this long-awaited tour. We were originally going to fly to Verona but airline cutbacks put paid to that and so we were now heading for Pisa instead –obviously with our 10 day route modified accordingly.

Our first day’s ride, from Pisa to San Gimignano, saw us endure the inevitable climate acclimatisation - going from North West UK highs of 150C to Tuscan 300-350C, however the sumptuous scenery and delightful villages helped us to ignore our sweating brows, passing through San Mianato, where we stopped for lunch, then onto San Gimignano where our hotel was located bang in the centre of the main square – Refreshing beers sat outside offered the perfect end to our first days ride.

The following day entailed an indirect route to Siena, pausing at the Ponte della Pia (a medieval bridge dating back to the 13th century) before reaching Rosia for a light lunch. The terrain was much more challenging (hillier) than yesterday, with a final ascent up to the centre of Pisa where a brief look at the Piazza del Campo (famous for the Palio bareback horse race). Another well-earned beer sat outside one of the bars in the multitude of surrounding medieval streets helped to cool us before heading to our hotel.

Day 3 saw us heading to Chianciano Terme which included a not-insignificant (when carrying panniers) 5,300 feet of ascending, but the scenery was quite simple outstanding - Punto Panoramico Crete Senisi Agr Baccoleno offered a truly stunning vista, typifying how you imagine Tuscany to be. Lunch was taken in San Quirico d’Orsa, a charming little village where we had to take a short detour via the back streets to avoid the oncoming Mille Miglia – a 1000-mile annual Classic car race. Chianciano Terme didn’t appear too attractive at first sight but a walk into the old town offered us a pleasant evening of dining and relaxation.

Our 4th day took us into Umbria and on to Perugia, an easy day’s cycling following yesterday’s tough ride with lunch in Tavernelle; we did have a climb up to our hotel but it was located some way below the summit and right next to a series of escalators (built inside the hillside) which glides pedestrians up to the top and the centre of town (and back down again) all at no cost. Perugia is incredibly atmospheric, in my opinion even more so than Siena, and we filled our bellies with good food, washed down with fine wine.

Day 5 offered us another easy day – upon leaving Sienna we glided downwards for a scintillating 13 miles! We paused briefly in Passignano alongside Lago Trasimeno but declined the option to stay for lunch, instead continuing for a further 6 miles until we reached La Puntabella, a bohemian style café located on a sharp bend, overlooking the lake. With full bellies it was onwards to our next destination, Arezzo where the interesting (old) part of town is located atop a hill; an extended wander around the streets eventually led us to Pizza’s, Pasta, Wine and beer!

Day 6 offered a rest day for some or, for 4 of us, a short jaunt to Cortona – a small, hilltop village, full of shops, tourists and café’s – where we just about managed to squeeze our bikes between shops & chairs to park them whilst we dined.

Day 7 and the ‘ease-ometer’ was on the rise but not by too much (that would be reserved for tomorrow); with our route taking us along quiet, villagefree lanes there were few opportunities to stop for lunch so we were relived to find a small Trattoria half-way up a 7 mile ascent. Suitably refreshed and with the summit not too far ahead, we were rewarded with the final 17 miles being virtually all downhill to Florence, complete with the Duomo, Ponte Vecchio and numerous, often naked, Michelangelo sculptures.

Day 8 – it was tough! We knew it would be and we weren’t wrong. 70 miles with 6,500 feet of ascending; not ideal with panniers but there were no alternative routes to get to Bologna. Suffice to say, it was very hot (although luckily enough slightly cooler than previous days), it was hilly and it was energy-sapping. There were essentially 3 ascents: 6 miles, 11 miles and 4 miles in length; the gradients were generally okay but there were a ‘few’ sharp sections – I briefly saw 18% on my Garmin! We stopped for lunch; I can’t recall exactly where but it refuelled us sufficiently to reach the final summit – at this point I wasn’t the most popular tour leader but I think the final 24 miles to Bologna regained me some forgiveness as they were all downhill.

Day 9 was another tough day (I wore my flak-jacket), 64 miles with 6,000 feet of climbing as we headed to Pistoia. The beauty of this route was that although we had lots of climbing to conquer, there was essentially only one hill (with some dips) – this hill was 26 miles long! But, it meant that the gradient was very comfortable. Lunch was taken slightly off-route at a small café adjacent a fishinglake and, as were becoming accustomed to, the final 10 miles were all downhill again. Our hotel also had an outdoor swimming pool – ideal for cooling down after a hard day’s pedalling.

Day 10 and the ride back to our start-point in Pisa; we had two alternative routes, both easy – we chose the very easiest one! Just 41 miles with less than 1,500 feet of climbing. We stopped at Lucca for lunch, another delightful town where we headed for the main square but got lost amidst the absolute maze of narrow streets; we also got split-up into 2 groups and the Garmin become more of a hindrance than a help as the tall-sided buildings were causing a loss of GPS reception. We did of course eventually succeed and had a fine alfresco meal at one of the numerous cafes lining the perimeter of the square. A very easy final 14 miles delivered us back to our hotel in Pisa where we re-packed our bikes for the flight home tomorrow – we were so looking forward to spending half the day queuing up!

My Garmin recorded a total mileage of 540 miles and 31,335 feet of ascending; there’s no doubt this wasn’t a tour for relaxing, but the scenery, destinations, food and drink were sumptuous –oh and the Gelato wasn’t bad either!

– Mike Singleton

This is a relatively new 350 km circular, off road touring route set up by Cycling UK. It joins up existing routes including the last part of the South Downs Way, The Ridgeway and The Thames Path. It also takes in Salisbury Plain. A nice route all in all but not as developed in terms of signage and services as the pre-existing routes which make it up. Plus, the connections between these existing routes is often