Guest Stories: Brent & Jan Johnson

A Lifelong Passion: Cycling, Friendship, and the Magic of Italy

Cycling has been a lifelong source of enjoyment for me. The first thing I saved up for as a 7-year-old boy was a bicycle. My passion has not only been for riding, but also for the design, aesthetics, and mechanical aspects of cycling, including the bike itself. I started riding in the 1970s as a teen on what are now classic steel racing bikes, and the most legendary are Italian. So, when I first heard about the L’Eroica event in Tuscany, I bought a steel Bianchi and “relearned” riding these now-ancient tech bikes. I looked for a tour since I knew nothing about Italy and European travel, and came across Ciclismo Classico and the Tuscany and L’Eroica tour.

My wife and I did our first-ever trip to Europe in 2018, landing in Florence. A few days later, we met up with our guides, Sandro Draghi and Marcello Bonini, who took us all to an Agriturismo in the countryside, Il Molinello. What a perfect place and pair of guides, who became instant friends! It’s not just these two. All the other guides we’ve had on now, with 10 more tours, are among the most engaging and genuinely helpful people you’ll ever meet. It’s been a privilege to circle back with guides we’ve had before on other tours, as they all remember you.

That first tour is still very special as everything was new, or should I say old. Having come from a part of the US where the very oldest buildings date back to the 1850s, staying in a farmhouse first built in the 1400s was mind-bending. Rolling through towns like Siena, just as old and even older, was a delight. I soaked it all up. I even remember a day of riding when Sandro stopped us at an overlook to view the classic rolling hills and farmhouses of Tuscany. I looked down and admired the plants on the ground, and exclaimed to myself, “Even the weeds are different here!”

That same Ciclismo experience or magic has wowed us each time, like Bike Across Italy, La Bella Sicilia, Majestic Dolomites, and also Bike Across Ireland. Not only are the guides welcoming and a delight to talk to, but the people we meet are also welcoming and a delight to talk to. We’ve seen towns and places that few tourists get to see as we visit the “small” places where the everyday Italian or Irish person lives and works, even for many generations. We are introduced to their vineyards, special restaurants and recipes, houses, castles, and churches, which are as wonderful as the great palaces and cathedrals in the bigger cities.

Some new and lifelong friendships from across the country have also formed where we’ve done multiple tours with like-minded cycling travelers. I’ve learned new skills, such as how to descend switchbacks, from a real cycling Master’s champion from Virginia. They help to motivate when things aren’t perfect out on the road, and you can share good stories of the day or what you do back at your home.