The typical day at Cycle Bella Italia begins at around 7:30, when guests partake in a full Italian breakfast to fuel up for the day’s ride. Don’t be shy, enjoy all of the breads, pastries, cheeses, meats, yogurts, espresso and cappuccino. You will be burning plenty of calories on today’s ride so mangia!

Arrive in early afternoon at our base of operations, a hotel within the medieval town of Pienza. Settle into the room, get fitted on the rental bike or assemble yours if you chose to bring your own, and take a short afternoon ride to loosen up the legs. Following our warm-up ride, we get ready for dinner, meet for prosecco or wine before dining in one of the excellent local restaurants. Early to bed for weary travelers so we can be rested for our first longer ride tomorrow.

Rides on these days can be mapped to provide almost any distance suitable to the riding group. For those riders that want to challenge themselves with more distance and elevation, ride routes of 50 miles and more are available.

For those riders that want a less challenging experience, rides of 25-35 miles will be available. In both cases, we will ride to small villages where we can stop for an espresso, cold drink or light food to enjoy the environment and provide energy for the next stage of our ride.

An optional ride day. If riders choose to recover on Day 5, a longer excursion to Siena or Florence can be arranged. For those who choose to ride, the ride would typically be a little less challenging than the prior 3 days. Once again, ride routes would take us to a village where a café stop will be part of our plan.

A day for a full challenging ride following our lighter Day 5 excursion. Day 6 could entail a more “epic” ride – a personal “queen stage” that would take us to Mt. Amiata, or shuttle us east to Cipo di Carpegna – the personal training hill of Italian champion Marco Pantani.

Our last day of riding. We can choose to venture out on a new route today, or ride one of our favorite rides from earlier in the week.