Good Nice - Rome route?

"Steve Juniper" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<iUW4d.148529$3l3.84700@attbi_s03>...

Quoted message said:

I'm taking the wideopenroad.co.uk Rome-Sardinia-Corsica-Nice 15 day trip
June 4th and am thinking of flying RT San Francisco-Nice. Am considering
biking from Nice to Rome instead of taking the train. Are there any
pleasant, recommended routes? Can't tell much from my map of Italy, and I've
never been there before.

I couldn't tell from the wideopenroad web site where your organized
Rome-Nice ride would be going, but the best and simplest route
from Nice to Rome might be along the French and Italian
Riviera. I biked from Nice into Italy this past June and it was
a really great ride.

http://www.ebbc.org/france/riviera.html
http://www.ebbc.org/italy/genoa.html

The alternative, if you have lots of time and want some altitude,
is to head northeast into the Alps and then down through the center
part of Italy, visiting the various hillside towns along the way.
These towns and cities are incredibly beautiful.

I'm not sure how far bay_bridge_tgv actually biked, because "Nice into
Italy" isn't necessarily far at all. Years ago, I biked from Pisa
through Genoa then along the Italian & French riviera. I would NOT
recommend the ride from Genoa to the French border. It was nonstop
traffic and development, and very unpleasant. From Pisa to Genoa was
better. The French riviera has way too much traffic, too, except for
a few small sections. IMHO, there are much better areas for touring
in both countries than their respective Riviera coasts. Between Nice
& Rome, for example, Umbria would be much better than the Riviera.

[email hidden] (bikerider7) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

"Steve Juniper" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<iUW4d.148529$3l3.84700@attbi_s03>...

Quoted message said:

I'm taking the wideopenroad.co.uk Rome-Sardinia-Corsica-Nice 15 day trip
June 4th and am thinking of flying RT San Francisco-Nice. Am considering
biking from Nice to Rome instead of taking the train. Are there any
pleasant, recommended routes? Can't tell much from my map of Italy, and I've
never been there before.

I couldn't tell from the wideopenroad web site where your organized
Rome-Nice ride would be going, but the best and simplest route
from Nice to Rome might be along the French and Italian
Riviera. I biked from Nice into Italy this past June and it was
a really great ride.

http://www.ebbc.org/france/riviera.html
http://www.ebbc.org/italy/genoa.html

The alternative, if you have lots of time and want some altitude,
is to head northeast into the Alps and then down through the center
part of Italy, visiting the various hillside towns along the way.
These towns and cities are incredibly beautiful.

Eric said:

I'm not sure how far bay_bridge_tgv actually biked, because "Nice into
Italy" isn't necessarily far at all. Years ago, I biked from Pisa
through Genoa then along the Italian & French riviera. I would NOT
recommend the ride from Genoa to the French border. It was nonstop
traffic and development, and very unpleasant. From Pisa to Genoa was
better. The French riviera has way too much traffic, too, except for
a few small sections. IMHO, there are much better areas for touring
in both countries than their respective Riviera coasts. Between Nice
& Rome, for example, Umbria would be much better than the Riviera.

I have to agree with Eric's appraisal. I can't imagine that cycling
between Nice and, say, La Spezia is to be recommended. The scenery might
be superb but it's better seen on foot or using a car or train than on a
bike.

I'd get down to Pisa asap and cycle round Tuscany and Umbria.

Allan Nelson's report is good:

http://www.bikeit.eclipse.co.uk/Italy98/

Plenty more on:

http://www-math.science.unitn.it/Bike/Countries/Italy/

You might want to cross over to Elba in order to put another lovely island
on your list.
--
Michael MacClancy

www.macclancy.demon.co.uk
www.macclancy.co.uk

[email hidden] (Eric) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I'm not sure how far bay_bridge_tgv actually biked, because "Nice into
Italy" isn't necessarily far at all. Years ago, I biked from Pisa
through Genoa then along the Italian & French riviera. I would NOT
recommend the ride from Genoa to the French border. It was nonstop
traffic and development, and very unpleasant. From Pisa to Genoa was
better. The French riviera has way too much traffic, too, except for
a few small sections. IMHO, there are much better areas for touring
in both countries than their respective Riviera coasts. Between Nice
& Rome, for example, Umbria would be much better than the Riviera.

What's written above is certainly the "conventional wisdom". For what
it's worth, though, I've found all the warnings about traffic in the French
riviera to be completely overblown if you visit in the off-season. But
if your idea of good cycling is roads where you can go all day without
seeing a single car, then definitely get far away from the coast.

I do agree that biking into Genoa is not fun. On the other hand, Genoa
itself is an interesting city, and the Cinque Terre region south of Genoa
is really nice and better than anything in Umbria (but then again, I'm
someone who thinks the biking in Tuscany and Umbria is a bit overrated).

As they say, YMMV....

bikerider7 said:

I do agree that biking into Genoa is not fun. On the other hand, Genoa
itself is an interesting city, and the Cinque Terre region south of Genoa
is really nice and better than anything in Umbria

Perhaps, but the Cinque Terre is hardly good touring country, is it?
You've constantly got to go down to the coast and then back up 1000ft or
so. Perhaps I'm missing something. Which places did you visit?

--
Michael MacClancy
Random putdown -
www.macclancy.demon.co.uk
www.macclancy.co.uk

Michael MacClancy <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

On 1 Oct 2004 12:48:47 -0700, bikerider7 wrote:

Perhaps, but the Cinque Terre is hardly good touring country, is it?
You've constantly got to go down to the coast and then back up 1000ft or
so.

That pretty much describes some of the best rides out where
I live in California -- maybe it's just nuts, but cyclists around
here live for that sort of thing.

In any case, I managed to bike through Cinque Terre just fine on a
fully loaded touring bike, and I saw others doing the same. Yes, the
riding was slow going at times, but 1000' rollers is a bit of an
exageration.

Quoted message said:

Which places did you visit?

It's been a few years, but looking at mapquest, I think all
I did was take the main coast highway out of Genova, and then took
the secondary road that goes through Levanto. Once you get to
the Cinque Terre region, you can reach the other villages by foot
(in fact, I think that is the only way they can be reached). Unfortunately,
I really didn't have enough time to explore so I'll be back hopefully
someday. Anyway, from there I continued on to La Spezia and Pisa.

Steve Juniper said:

I'm taking the wideopenroad.co.uk Rome-Sardinia-Corsica-Nice 15 day trip
June 4th and am thinking of flying RT San Francisco-Nice. Am considering
biking from Nice to Rome instead of taking the train. Are there any
pleasant, recommended routes? Can't tell much from my map of Italy, and I've
never been there before.
Thanks!

First, a reading suggestion before the island tour: read "The Lead
Goat Veered Off' by Neil Anderson. It is about a couple who are cycle
touring the world, and specifically covers their time in Sardinia with
a bit about getting there from Nice through Corsica.

If it were me, I would jump on a train and either go to
Tuscany/Umbria, or to the Dolomites. Both areas are fantastic, quite
different, love them both. The other alternative I would make would
be the Alps, but you will be pushing it that early in the year; might
be good, but you might find roads closed, snow storms, etc. (we had to
hold off crossing Stelvio on June 20th this year as it was snowing
above about 6000'; had a few minor flurries when we did cross on the
21st). Of course if the Alps are open you can head up into them out
of Nice and loop around down into the lake country and start your way
south either riding or by train.

The one thing you never mention is how long you want to give to this
venture, and how much baggage you are willing to carry. Less baggage
means you can travel faster, but then there are trade-offs to
travelling light.

- rick

Thanks for the tips.

www.wideopenroad.co.uk is a new British tour group run by a young couple,
camping and supported, so I don't have to carry anything. I took their
Bordeaux - Alp d'Huez and Pyrenees tours already. Will pick up the book.
Tour is 15 days. I have 10 extra days after arrival Nice and 5 more at the
end of the tour. Sounds like Tuscany/Umbria before tour, then maybe shorter
trips out of Nice at the end would make the most sense (assuming I'm going
to set a precedent by being sensible).

Just bought good (US$519 + taxes & fees) RT San Francisco-Nice ticket via
Delta (not as good a deal if Delta goes belly-up before May 24th) so am
committed.

Thanks again,

Steve

Rick Warner" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Steve Juniper said:

I'm taking the wideopenroad.co.uk Rome-Sardinia-Corsica-Nice 15 day

trip

Quoted message said:

June 4th and am thinking of flying RT San Francisco-Nice. Am considering
biking from Nice to Rome instead of taking the train. Are there any
pleasant, recommended routes? Can't tell much from my map of Italy, and

I've

Quoted message said:

never been there before.
Thanks!

First, a reading suggestion before the island tour: read "The Lead
Goat Veered Off' by Neil Anderson. It is about a couple who are cycle
touring the world, and specifically covers their time in Sardinia with
a bit about getting there from Nice through Corsica.

If it were me, I would jump on a train and either go to
Tuscany/Umbria, or to the Dolomites. Both areas are fantastic, quite
different, love them both. The other alternative I would make would
be the Alps, but you will be pushing it that early in the year; might
be good, but you might find roads closed, snow storms, etc. (we had to
hold off crossing Stelvio on June 20th this year as it was snowing
above about 6000'; had a few minor flurries when we did cross on the
21st). Of course if the Alps are open you can head up into them out
of Nice and loop around down into the lake country and start your way
south either riding or by train.

The one thing you never mention is how long you want to give to this
venture, and how much baggage you are willing to carry. Less baggage
means you can travel faster, but then there are trade-offs to
travelling light.

- rick

Steve Juniper said:

Thanks for the tips.

www.wideopenroad.co.uk is a new British tour group run by a young couple,
camping and supported, so I don't have to carry anything. I took their
Bordeaux - Alp d'Huez and Pyrenees tours already. Will pick up the book.
Tour is 15 days. I have 10 extra days after arrival Nice and 5 more at the
end of the tour. Sounds like Tuscany/Umbria before tour, then maybe shorter
trips out of Nice at the end would make the most sense (assuming I'm going
to set a precedent by being sensible).

Steve,

Tuscany and Umbria are great. Late May/Early June will be starting to
get on the warm side. My favorite towns in that region are:

Assisi (hey, you're going from the SF area, why not visit the
home town of the guy SF and the woman Santa Clara are named after)
Cortona
Orvieto
Siena
San Gimignano
Volterra
Vinci
Certaldo
Lucca (might run into Mario Cippolini doing his training rides)

Quite a few towns between those to visit. Lots more. Towns I still
need to spend more time in include:

Todi
Montepulciano
San Quirico

You will feel right at home with all those hills; the towns, at least
the old, original sections, are built on the top of hills :-)

Out of Nice, by late June, you should be able to get up into some of
the passes of the Alps.

Enjoy!

- rick