Male: Michael Ulery and Callie Sill have come to Tuscany from Park City, Utah for a week of romance and fun. They’ve signed up for a biking tour organized by Butterfield and Robinson.
Michael: The beauty of bicycling is that you get to slow down and you really get to see the country side and the vineyards. And you can see some of the abbeys and the villas and the castles. Rather than wheezing by in a car or a bus.
Callie: I feel, for me, it’s the best way to see foreign country. Because I feel like I'm really in it.
Male: It’s an adventure for the guides as well.
Cari: We have a route that sort of set out for us by Butterfield and Robinson. But everybody is going off and everyone has a real willingness to explore.
Callie: There's always a surprise the next place that you go to. I love that. I like not knowing what the next place is going to be.
Cari: Anyone that’s willing to wear a bike helmet all day has got to be a pretty fun person. These aren't the kinds of people that want to sit on a bus or sit in the back of a limousine and see the world.
Heather: They're like participating in things. Instead of just kind of sitting around and having things brought to them.
Male: North of Rome and south of Genoa, the 9000 square mile region of Tuscany is bounded by the Apennine Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea. Major Tuscan cities includes Florence, Siena, and Pisa. But the countryside is filled with hundreds of other towns, villages, and historic spots.
Callie: Be in the woods, and all of a sudden this little tiny village is there. It’s a block long village. So it’s a surprise.
Cari: Everyone is doing some exploring and knowing that they're going to end up in the right place at the end of the day.
Callie: You do your bike journey, you get there, and it’s an entirely new hotel which is monastery or an old castle or something incredibly charming. And you get there from being really tired from biking. And you go upstairs and all your luggage is there. It was just like, yes. You all have a nap or by the pool, do sightseeing. Then there's usually a cocktail hour and some fabulous meal.
Male: Companies that organized biking tours through the region also help you make the necessary equipment decisions.
Chris: You can choose from either sort of a racing style bike or hybrid, which is a flat handle bar bike. It keeps you more upright position. You can have toe cups on your pedals or not. You can bring your own pedals if you choose.
Male: Michael and Callie also knew that getting the bikes up and down the Tuscany hills will take some effort. But they were well prepared.
Michael: Butterfield and Robinson sends you a whole expose of what you can expect and what would be a good training regimen prior to arriving and coming to this. There would be days of strenuous of biking, we did speeding classes and we both have beautiful road bikes. I have a road bike and a mountain bike. We did a lot of training at 7000 feet above sea level.
Callie: My idea for rolling hills like this, their idea is like this. But it’s not so difficult that you can't do it. And if it’s too hard, then you call them and say, “I’m tired.” And then take where you're supposed to go. It’s not too difficult, but not for the unfit.
Chris: No, the bikes are excellent. You can always put yourself in a low gear and spin your way up the hill in a relax pace without pushing yourself too hard.
Cari: The uphills you get the most spectacular view over the valleys and the cypress trees and the villas and medieval towns perched on top of the hills. It’s incredible.
Michael: Here we go, let's have fun.
Coming down is a scream. It is so much fun. I mean, just flying through those corners. You can hear us whooping and hollering. It was bike, just great.
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