Would you like to ride a bike across Italy?
In 2005 I fulfilled a dream of retracing the ancient Roman road, the Via Appia, on a bicycle. Now I’m making it an annual event, and looking for people to come along.
You haven’t really experienced Italy until you’ve done an Italy bicycle tour. You’ll visit remote, tourist-free villages in the mountains, make friends with fascinating people, and enjoy some of the best food and drink ever created on planet earth.
And you don’t have to be a super athlete to complete an Italy cycling tour.
Fourteen years ago, a friend dared me to ride a bike 1,200 miles over the Rocky Mountains to a summer job in Idaho. I bought a ten speed for five dollars at a thrift store, learned to fix it, and made the trip. I was out of shape, untrained, and didn’t really know what I was doing. But after 3 weeks, I was hooked.
Bicycling Italy’s ancient Appian Way is a lot easier. You’ll go through fields of wildflowers and olive groves planted on gentle rolling hills. Explore old Medieval fortresses and Roman ruins, which are often forgotten along the road side.
The only real challenge will be a day or two crossing the Apennine mountains. But you’ll be rewarded with views that most Italy travelers never see, not to mention hand-made gelato.
I lived in Italy from 1997 to 2001, and worked there as a tour guide for two seasons. I speak fluent Italian, and have made several bike trips all over Italy.
This blog is dedicated to using a bike as a means of transport, but I’m especially trying to recruit fellow riders interested in bicycling in Italy. If you’re an experienced biker or familiar with Italy, this will be a fun and easy trip. If you’re new to both, get ready for a life-changing adventure!
I’m planning the next Italy bike tour for April or May, 2010. Send an email to jacob@bicyclefreedom.com if you want to come along.
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