The heart of Italy - 4IT1501

Day 6 - Urbino - Florence Also our last day was sunny and proved to be the hottest of all. We left Urbino and made it to San Leo, where we had coffee. Once again we were enjoying the superb roads through the hills of the region and the magnificent views. Once again we had excellent Italian food at lunch. In the afternoon we rode the countless curves of Passo Muraglione and eventually made it back to Florence in the heat. Nobody was hurt, no accidents, so much fun, such a good group-climate. It is a shame that it's over! San Leo on Passo Muraglione Day 5 - Rest day Perugia It was a sunny morning, everybody wanted to go on the ride, they were keen on seeing San Marino and the ocean - they day started promisingly. And yet - all our expectations were by far exceeded. We headed out towards San Marino, had some fresh juice there and enjoyed the view from the rock over the country. Afterwards the group tried to make its way to Coriano, however a closed road due to a hangslide made it harder. Albert finally found a solution with a local police-officer and we went to Coriano to visit the memorial for Marco Simoncelli. Everybody was getting hungry - so it was about time to get to our lunch stop: Ristorante Falco, beautifully located right on the beach in Vallugola bay. The view was superb, we had really fine seafood. But the best was yet to come: the waiter told us that Valentino Rossi was eating in the same restaurant and he was right. Albert almosted fainted out, but he was able to get a picture and was more than happy for the rest of the day. The ride took us along the ocean with excellent views. Then we visited Tavullia, had a special cappuccino at the fan shop of VR46. In the evening we made a small walk around the city and had a great dinner in Ristorante Stella. on the way to San Marino Karl - the man that never takes off his helmet in San Marino lunch stop Albert met the one, the divine, the impeccable: VR46 back in Urbino Day 4 - Perugia - Urbino We woke up in Perugia and it was sunny again. In fact we were already hot at the morning briefing on the roof-terrace. We passed Lake Trasimeno, and riding beautiful small backcountry-roads we soon arrived in Cortona, where we had coffee on the square. Not much after leaving the group found out that Albert's hidden treasure was the hermit Le Celle, an old franciscan monastery picturesquely situated in a small valley. Nice roads, views and good weather satyed with us all the way to our lunch stop. Gian-Carlo, the owner of the restaurant, gave us a lot to eat, and tremendously good food, too. Urbino was not far, hence we arrived early and everybody enjoyed some time on their own before dinner in the garden of Bonconte-hotel. Cortona Eremo Le Celle Pepi was tired a great lunch Richard Mark Melanie & Judd Pepi Karl Day 3 - Rest day Perugia Today everybody decided to go out for a ride - they did not want to miss the Monti Sbillini. We took the motorway to get there quickly, but right after exiting towards the mountains riding became awsome. The group made it to Norcia, were Saint Benedict was born. The road towards Casteluccio was a great experience for all of us. Albert promised to show the group the whole of Italy - and he kept it! We had lunch with good food and even better views. More nice backcountry roads lead us to Assisi, where we had our last stop of the day. We saw the amazing cathedral and had coffee in Albergo Giotto. Dinner in central Perugia: Pizza and a lot of historic cars! Norcia is known for food specialties - truffles, wild boar salami etc. Melanie and Judd the bikes, our two crazy Tyroleans brought: sufficient power? the view from our lunch place Saint Francis cathedral in Assisi in Perugia Day 2 - Florence - Perugia It was our first riding day and we were lucky in more than one respect. Richard made it to the tour start just in time and weather was perfect to start our riding experience. We quickly got out of Florence and into the hills of the Chianti Classico-region. Our morning coffeestop took us to Greve - we enjoyed sitting on the triangular historic plaza. Great roads and great landscapes were steady partners on our ride south to Siena. There we took some time to visit and have lunch - what an extraordinary place it is! The afternoon ride lead us through the hills around Buonconvento, Montalcino and Montepulciano, where we stopped once again before heading towards Perugia, our overnight destination. Everybody was tired but happy. our first picture-stop with a nice view on Florence our english-speaking group-members: Mark, Judd, Melanie & Richard in Greve in Chianti Siena Piazza del campo the cathedral great lunch! Eeverybody was trying to get some shade at the coffestop in Montepulciano. Day 1 - arrival day The Heart-of-Italy-Tour has started. The tour members have made it to Florence, everybody except Richard, who is experiencing a travel nightmare on his way to Tuscany. We hope he will make it all right and be able to ride with us tomorrow. Florence The Edelweiss bikes cannot wait to hit the road - what the picture does not show: Karl and Josef - the two Tyroleans - brought their own bikes and what did they bring! Tomorrow's pictures will tell. Enjoying a splendid Edelweiss-Welcome-Briefing on the terrace of Hotel Villa d'Annunzio.