Headway Systems: Cycling in Italy

Under the expert organization of Vic Panei, our group met at the airport in Rome where we got a bus and travelled about 2 hours north to the Tuscany Region.

Our home for the first week was at L’Ippocastano in Camucia. Here are a couple pictures of L'Ippocastano.

Day 1 Sept 14th Our route today took us from Camucia to Foiana to
Castiglione and back to Camucia (Map of route coming)


Vic had pre-arranged bike rentals from Punto Bici in Perugia. The bikes arrived Sunday morning and the owners helped to make sure all our bikes were working and adjusted properly.	Vic gives us a pre-trip talk before we head off.
Our first day, minutes from our B&B, and it starts to rain! Someone forgot to order the weather.	Sheltering under the trees. The rain was short lived.

As soon as we hit the first town, less than half an hour away, we stopped for cappuccino. Considering the rain and cool weather, it was a good idea.	Roy seems to have a handle on the process.


We were just at the tail end of the sunflower season. Most of the sunflowers had already dried up and were ready for harvest.	Typical farm house in the area.

Next stop, Foiano for lunch. As Myrna found out, they make their sandwiches big!	Roy stopped to snitch some grapes from along side the road. They were very sweet.



Here we are entering Castroncello	Statue and bell tower.


The doors are always interesting no matter where you are.

As no one has a yard of any type like we do in Canada, they grow their plants in window boxes and in pots wherever they can.

Next stop, Castiglion Fiorentino.	The weather was still overcast but we didn't get any more rain. All the fields had been harvested already.

Lots of grape vines everywhere.

Castiglione Fiorentino All the towns in Italy are built on top of the hills and usually had a rock wall built around the town for protection during the warring days.	Re-grouping at the bottom of town. Still some distance to climb

This wouldn't be the first hill that we had to push up. The streets are very steep in places.		The street starts off wide enough but notice how narrow it becomes on the left side.
Here is the main arch way entrance to Castiglion F.
We made it to the top with a great view of the countryside out through the arches.



The sun was making every effort to pop out.	Standing on the edge of the wall. It was a steep drop down the other side.
Re-grouping before we leave Castiglion and head towards home. It's a great downhill for a change.


On the way back towards Camucia, we passed this castle. Apparently it belongs to Sting so it was closed to the public. Nasty guards dogs and the whole lot.

Time to relax before dinner.	Beautiful sunset.

THE ASIAN TEAM Keang and Sherman are relegated to the kitchen as we're having rice and tuna tonight. Surely the Asian component of our team would be our best bet for having rice cooked to perfection. Or so we thought!	It was a great feed of "sticky rice", the specialty of the house.

Shift into gear for Day 2.
Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10, Day 11, Day 12, Day 13, Feast

Vic Panei	Gelato King	Pasta Chef	Bob Sullivan
Keang Ung	Sherman Hirowatari	Ian Nicholson	Doug Gray
Myrna Pollard	Brian Pollard	Jean Waddell	Bill Waddell
Bruce Dupuis	Sandy Broen-Dupuis	Roy Scarisbrick	Carol Guthrie