UKC

Before i came out here with my bikes for a few weeks of generally living the good Tuscan life and burning off excess with early-morning rides through the hills, i read several comments on a thread on here saying how dangerous it was riding here and how the local motorists would shoot by you with only millimetres to spare....it almost put me off bringing my bike.

Well, i am pleased to let you know that after a week or so here, i have found tuscany to be an absolute joy to ride in.
There are some fantastic roads though the hills and along the sea. I have found Italian drivers (and for sure the germans!) will wait to overtake, give you a very wide berth and even allow me to stay in front on fast downhills.

Added to this the pleasure of stopping for an excellent machiato (coffee) in beautiful hill-town piazzas and even the odd gelato and i have to say this is a fantastic place to ride...there's certainly a lot of italians out on their bikes though they seem to refuse to return my greetings and only want to quietly appraise both my bike and, i suspect, more importantly, what im wearing

In reply to Kimono:

It's one of the popular areas for pro-cyclists to live. That dodgy doctor lived in Lucca think. Won't be long before you are left wondering how you seem to be pedalling flat out and still going backwards as some very tanned person blasts past you and disappears over the horizon.

In reply to Kimono:

On holiday there a few years back, I saw a lot of lycra, a lot of sunshine, and a lot of perfect roads. I got really quite wistful that I didn't have my bike with me.

Generalising wildly (it's OK, this is UKC), there's this difference between Italian drivers and British ones: the average skill level of Italian drivers is *far* higher. Therefore they push the envelope more, and expect you to be able to cope with it and to do it back. But that's with other drivers--I didn't see anyone being pushy around cyclists.

In reply to Tim Chappell:

I'm not sure about that, there propensity to kill themselves and others in cars is certainly significantly higher.

In reply to nniff:

I'm expecting a lot of that. We're heading out for the Worlds so expecting a decent number out on last minute training/recce rides to come sailing past looking effortless.

In reply to nniff:

I have yet to be overtaken
And im no pro...but i did make the mistake of overtaking a mini-pelotonwhich resulted in a race to the death on a killer hill!