Italy is charming, fascinating, gracious, individualistic, joyous, novel, riveting, sensuous and voluble. One could run through the alphabet and find phrases and descriptions - beginning with each of the 26 letters - that personify the wonderful country that is Italy.

In an effort to bring this specialness to the fore, we have a delightful itinerary that is wholly Italian. The Regioni of Italy are comparable to the states in the U. S. A. and we have chosen to explore three in depth: Toscany, Umbria and Abruzzo. Additionally, we make more than passing acquaintance with Marche, Emilia Romagna, and Lazio.

As with all Beach destinations, these offer tremendous terrain; scenery that truly does take the breath away, and riding opportunities incomparable elsewhere. To take maximum advantage of all that central Italy offers, this itinerary features many double overnights. These allow exploration in-depth, or riding each and every road that strikes your fancy.

We begin with the heart of Italy - Tuscany (Toscana). All of Italy is beautiful, but this region surpasses all others in natural beauty. It is one of the most verdant areas with beech and fir woods, majestic and elegant cypress trees, and one hundred nature preserves. The rare scenic beauty is accompanied by a clear and unpolluted sea.

The Etruscans were among the earliest inhabitants of Europe. Tuscany has been the protagonist of both Etruscan and Italian architecture, art, history, and civilization. Tuscany was the birthplace of the Renaissance, and as such, is home to the amazing villages, towns, and cities that provided the linkage between medieval man and modern man.

Nowhere is that link more apparent than in Florence, where art, architecture, and history abound. Stroll on the Ponte Vecchio, the oldest surviving bridge across the Arno, and shop for antiques, jewelry, crafts, and leather goods. It’s just a short walk to the Uffizi Gallery, where you can view paintings by Michelangelo, Botticelli, and Titian that comprise the finest collection of Renaissance art in the world.

As modern men and women, we have the opportunity to ride, and ride we shall! Traffic in the cities and main roads is heavy and wearing. But away from the main valleys, dynamite little roads await the tires of your bike. These tiny roads take time and reward you, the explorer, with a glimpse of Italy that is unforgettable in its timelessness.

The roads of Tuscany and Umbria take you through olive groves, spectacular mountains, medieval villages, and quiet countrysides – and oh, the vineyards. The character of Italy is as complex and ingenious as the products of the grape. Never mind the incomparable Verdicchios, Valpolicellas and Chianti Classicos. If they can turn three ounces of Balsamic vinegar into a $200 item by aging it in oak barrels for several decades, what is impossible?

In Siena and Arezzo only the purest Italian is spoken. The clarity and beauty of the language is unequalled elsewhere and was spread throughout Italy, and Europe, and the world in the works of Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio, all inhabitants of Tuscany.

And then on to San Marino! Now, this is a puzzlement. San Marino is in Italy, it is completely surrounded by Italy, but it is not Italian.

A sovereign territory for 1,500 years, situated southwest of Rimini near the Adriatic coast, San Marino is the tiniest republic in Europe - just 23 square miles! Only the Vatican, comprised of just 0.5 sq. km., is smaller.

Founded in 300 A.D. by Marinus of Dalmatia, legend has it that in 441 A.D. a hermitage was erected, and it was around this hermitage that the capital city of San Marino actually grew.

Mount Titano is composed of three peaks, each of which is the site of a castle. The Guaita was erected in the eleventh century; the Fratta, on the highest peak, and the Montale are both thirteenth century castles. The Fratta contains a museum and an interesting display of armor.