Florence... top place, daft name

It is said that when those Medici people set up shop in Florence seven hundred years ago they probably thought that the Tuscan countryside was not bad but the whole area could do with a town to complement the rural landscape. What they played a large role in creating is a wonderful city, jam packed with sculpture and boasting one of the world's top art galleries.

This trip has been largely unique in that the usual mishaps, disasters and general chaos which have been a mainstay of previous tours have been unusually lacking. Our days on the bikes still rarely go to plan but the machines themselves are behaving perfectly and we are even doing less U-turns and unplanned visits to primary schools than before. The ride to Florence was typical of this and after a couple of hours progressing at pace through Umbria we legged it along the Autopista for the last 100 miles.

Talentless 'live in Florence'

You might expect that on a balmy June evening in Florence you would find us admiring the Palazzo Vecchio or casting a considered eye over Michelangelo's 'David' perhaps. You would, however, be wrong. In the latest leg of what appears to be our tour of Italan Hard Rock Cafés, we spent the evening listening not to a baroque quintet but to Van Morrison, the odd bit of Metallica and of course lots of other music most people have forgotten about. The live band were lacking mainly in talent though not enthusiasm.

On Monday we head not for the first time to Desenzano on Lake Garda where we expect to be joined by Red Lion Biker groupies... Mark, Neil (on temporary release by kind permission of Ali), Rob and James will be with us for the Italian Lakes and we look forward to their contributions to the kitty.