You arrive on Saturday 13 June, ideally before noon. A group transfer collects you from Florence airport (FLR) and brings you out to Palazzo a Merse, the farmhouse B&B where you stay all week. That afternoon is for unpacking, settling in, and getting your rental bike fitted. If you're bringing your own pedals, saddle or computer mount, the bike partners will fit them for you. The riding starts on Sunday.

The riding pattern is three days on, one day off, then two more days. Sunday, Monday and Tuesday are full ride days. Wednesday is a day off the bike for touring and recovery. Thursday and Friday finish the week. A typical day is about six hours out including stops, which works out to three to five hours of actual pedalling, with a café or lunch stop roughly every 90 minutes. The listed routes: - Chianti and L'Eroica, 41 miles with 3,500 ft of climbing - Val di Merse loop, 51 miles with 4,000 ft - San Gimignano, 52 miles with 4,200 ft - Strade Explorification ride, 52 miles with 5,000 ft

There are two pace groups every day, and there's never more than eight riders per guide, with at least one guide out on the road with you. There's no support van crawling behind the group with its hazards on. You carry your own food, water and spares, as you would at home. The guides deal with mechanicals and keep an eye on safety, and every route has a bailout option. Slower groups cover less distance in the same time window rather than being pushed to finish the full route.

What sets this camp apart from a standard Tuscany road tour is the gravel. You ride sections of the L'Eroica route, the vintage-bike gravel event that cyclists travel from all over the world for, along with plenty of Strade Bianche white roads. Bike rental is included because flying a bike to Italy is a hassle. If you'd still rather bring your own, a mechanic can be arranged from $200.

The area covers Val di Merse near Siena, Chianti, San Gimignano, Montepulciano with its wineries, Monticello up on its hill with views and good gelato, plus Pienza and Cortona and the Umbrian country roads lined with vineyards and olive groves. Your host is Andréa Rossi, a local guide whose family owns the farmhouse.

What's included

- 7 nights at Palazzo a Merse farmhouse B&B (double occupancy) - Daily breakfast and dinner - Hosted camp dinner(s) out in town - Road or gravel bike rental - Bike fitting at the start of camp - Six guided ride days of about six hours each, with two pace groups - Guide-to-guest ratio of no more than 1:8 - Daily on-bike workout nutrition - Cappuccinos before 11am - Group airport transfers from/to Florence (FLR) - Camp swag

What's not included

- Flights to/from Florence (FLR) - Alcohol - Lunch and café stops on rides - E-bike upgrade ($250) - Single supplement for a private room - Mechanic for your own bike (from $200) - Massages - Independent excursions - Travel insurance - Separate transfers outside group transfer times