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Preliminaries and Summaries
BAC Umbria; Rome to Assisi- April/May 2009
The following is the description of the ride on the BAC website.
OVERVIEW: Arrive on Saturday, April 26, 2009 and depart on Friday, May 8, 2009 in Rome, Italy. Min 17/Max 26. Trip rated 2A will average 40 miles/day and 3,300 feet of climbing. The longest day is 50 miles and has 4,800 feet of climbing. The tour is mostly on quiet roads except for a few areas of heavier traffic and riding through one busy town. Tour includes 13 nights of lodging starting with an overnight at the Holiday Inn Rome (free shuttle service both to and from the airport and city center), a bus transfer at the next day to Montefiascone where bike boxes are stored. Then bus transfer to Rome airport on departure day of tour with a mid-morning airport arrival planned.
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. 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 paninis, 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 along the banks of the Lago Bolsena before we depart with a toast to all things Umbrian.
LOGISTICS Fly in and out of Rome. Bike boxes stored at the hotel in Montefiascone. Included in price is 13 nights lodging, all breakfasts, 5 group dinners, a bus transport to start and end of tour in Montefiascone. Luggage van & drivers, maps and cue sheets, a wine tasting, and guided tour in Assisi. Estimated cost is $2,200 based on an exchange rate of $1.65 = Euro 1.00. First year tour is offered by experienced leaders Tom and Julie. The tour has been fully scouted. BAC members may contact the ride leaders by "clicking" the name at the top of this Ride Description. A deposit of $500 assures your place on the tour. Send your check and signed Ride Release and Application forms to: Tom Leever.
DATES for TOUR: April 25-Arrival Day in-Rome; April 26-Bus to Montefiascone; assemble bikes & Group Dinner; April 27-first day ride to Orvieto; May 7-Bike back to Montefiascone & Final Group dinner; May 8- Coach transport to Rome airport late morning
Here is a copy of the welcome letter sent by the Leever's.
Below are links to lodging, Garmin GPS files, Google Earth files, Google Map files and elevation profiles. If you have Garmin's Mapsource software installed on your computer, you can open the Garmin GPS files with it. If you have Google Earth installed on your computer, you can open the Google Earth files with it. If you click on a mileage, a new window will open showing the route in Google Map format. If you click on one of the links under "Profile", you will see an elevation profile.
Google Earth will give you a better view of the topography, etc. If you have the latest Google Earth, you can use your mouse to highlight the day's track and play the tour (Tools/Play Tour).
Please be aware that all routes and maps shown on this web site are not 100% accurate. The GPS software used to create them could not recognize bicycle trails or some of the waypoints described on the route sheets.
The table below is for pre-ride planning. The actual maps, profiles etc. will be supplied by the ride leaders.
Itinerary and Lodging Garmin GPS * Google Earth ** Map / Miles Profile April 25 - Arrive in Rome Holiday Inn Rome Eur April 26 - Rome to Hotel Altavilla in Montefiascone
April 27 - Montefiascone to the Hotel Aquila Bianca in Orvieto Download View
40 Miles
View
April 28 - Orvieto to Hotel Tuder in Todi Download View
46 Miles
View
April 29 - Hotel Tuder in Todi Download View
40 Miles
View
April 30 - Todi to Hotel degli Affreschi in Montefalco Long Short Long Short
Long Short
Long Short
May 1 - Hotel degli Affreschi in Montefalco Reg Ext w Spoleto Reg Ext w Spoleto
Reg Ext w Spoleto
Reg Ext w Spoleto
May 2 - Montefalco to Hotel Windsor Savoia in Assisi Med Short New Old Med Short New Old
Med Short New Old
Med Short New Old
May 3 - Hotel Windsor Savoia in Assisi May 4 - Assisi to Ca' de' Principi in Piegaro Reg Long Reg Long
Reg Long
Reg Long
May 5 - Piegaro to Villaggio Le Querce in Sorano Download View
43 Miles
View
May 6 - Villaggio Le Querce in Sorano Reg Long Reg Long
Reg Long
Reg Long
May 7 - Sorano to Hotel Altavilla in Montefiascone Download View
34 Miles
View
May 8 - Montefiascone to Fiumicino (Airport)
* You must have Garmin's MapSource installed on your computer to download and use this file.
** You must have Google Earth installed on your computer to download and use this file.