DonnaMobile,

Our first few days, assuming we repeat the planning, are off the bikes.  We are doing an organized tour and riding the bikes provided (Domane SL7s, so nice gear, but not quite my beloved Seven ;-)).  We decided to go with a tour not knowing the country at all.

Our original plan was to arrive in Rome on a Wednesday morning and take a train to Florence.  Stay three days there using the train to get to various places we wanted to see (including a day in Florence).  So, we were looking at that as free time for traveling and were busily reading up on options.

We had planned to arrive in Rimini the following Saturday evening with the riding starting Sunday and continuing through Friday.  The route starts in Rimini with overnight stays in Urbino, Gubbio, Spello, and Orvietto, then ending late Friday in Porto Santo Stefano for an overnight on the west coast before heading back to Rome the next day.  A day in Rome, then a flight home the following morning (Sunday).

We sooooooo want this to come together.  Once we booked it for last May we were hooked on the idea.  Reading lots of materials, trying to learn some language basics and just marveling at the beauty of the country.  My partner is a potter and she spent two weeks in Italy in a workshop September of 2018 and just loved it.  Fingers crossed!

Thanks for the local knowledge.

Hope the heat drops off soon.  Upper 80s here in the mountains of Vermont today so it's gotta be hot in NJ.