Flying from Bristol to Pisa on an early flight on a Monday morning - "only 50 quid each" - my brother Phil and I set out on our adventure to see our friend - originally from the same town in Devon - Jeremy Goodier, who now owns and runs "Umbria Trail Tours" in the North of Italy, with his lovely wife Sue.

We arrived in Pisa shortly after 10 to be greeted by Jer who drove over from his base in "Citta di Castello" 2 hrs away and we also picked up another guy called Steve from the airport who flew in from another location in the UK. Once all the intro's were done we proceeded to our lovely B&B accommodation just outside the town.

A snapshot of our B&B.

Early Tuesday morning we were picked up by Jer for our first ride, glorious sunshine struck us as we proceeded with the ride, which was to comprise of wide white roads "gravel dirt roads" and a series of lanes and tracks for our enjoyment, this was an introductory ride to get used to the bikes and the location.

Day 2 was different and featured more tracks in the wooded area, comprising of leaves and rocky slabs at times. Although I had my trusty g.p.s. on board and was able to record all the details of our rides to see how far and what area of Umbria we rode in, all these rides were done in a circuit from Jer's fantastic memory.

Phil Collins enjoying the view.

Jer explained that he tailors the rides to suite each group of riders style, preference and technical ability. He soon got the gist of our riding skills as we went through the day and at various times asked if we wanted to do more challenging lanes. This agreed upon, we rode through some single tracks and up tight hill passes, which were a bit tricky at times, but wow what a view once on top of the hills!!

We had completed 64 miles on the first day and averaged about the same all week, but as Jer pointed out, its not about the miles, its the quality of the lanes and tracks he takes us on that counts, and boy were they good lanes.

Left to right: Jeremy (sat down), Phil Collins (stood), Steve Fryer 
and Ian Collins, enjoying a lunch stop.

Day 3 broke, with brilliant weather once again - the same as all week, sunny and hot, hitting 22 degrees centigrade average - not bad for March! We rode out on tracks which were single at times and wide, varying from leaves, the odd bolder in the way, some slate rock with steps in it, river crossings, up and down dale and again with more fantastic views.

On this day we did some ridge riding which was brill, because we could see for miles and just enjoyed taking in the views as we travelled the ridges along these hills for miles. Reaching our average distance for a mornings ride, Jer decided to hit one of the local villages for lunch - as we did all week - an hour to stop, or there abouts. This gave us plenty of time to refuel bikes if necessary and for us to try out the local food - cured meats and cheese with a different type of bread. We soon realised that a definite must have for this type of trip, is a camel back drink system for our hydration needs, and this was also replenished at lunch time.

Reporter - Ian Collins ridge riding.

Taking it a bit easier in the afternoon, so as not to knacker us out, we did some more flowing lanes, which were nice and smooth and allowed a good speed average of some 18-20mph through out the day, which is good. Considering that although some of the lanes could be maxed at 35-40mph, or as low as 5 to 10mph - if we had some spills. Which I did, along with the others at times - as well as Jeri who did a classic.

Our tour leader was always there for us, he would keep checking back over his shoulder to see how we were coping and if I, or anyone else was missing - even from the tail end. He would turn off the hoof and be back there - 9 times out of 10 before I could pick the bike up - "brilliant bloke"

Jer supplied KTM450's, seen here at another great viewpoint.

Day 4. My brother Phil and I took a day off to tour the local town, to find gifts and have a look see what was about. This was done in the company of Jer's wife Sue, while Jer was taking Steve back to the airport. All I can say is it was a great location and town, way of life is also brill out there.

Day 5. As the treat of the week we were heading off on another direction out of "Citta di Castello", to take in more of the lanes and fantastic scenery. We didn't use hardly any tarmac roads, except to cross - to get to the lane/ track on the other side and as for people and horses on the lanes, NONE all week. We just came across a couple of blokes working the woods with their chainsaws, cutting the timber up for firewood. At times we chose to divert away from them on the vast network of lanes, or we ride past them. Cutting the wood is their living, Jer respects this and often stops and converses with them brilliantly (in Italian).

Not the usual sort of place to pose for a bike photo! 

Day 6. We did some exploring with Jer to find different lanes for his tours - this was our Choice- as we like exploring new stuff even at home. I just can't believe the amount of tracks, lanes, roman roads, bridges and rivers there are out there. We did on average 60 odd miles a day and still there is loads on his door step - so to speak - unexplored.

We had a brill week, riding over a vast amount of different terrain.

NOTHING IN THE UK I HAVE RIDDEN CAN COMPARE TO THIS!!

I wanna go back and if someone else was paying I'd go tomorrow. My final words - try Umbria Trail Tours soon.

A local MX track we passed.