I did some bike touring two years ago in Tuscany in the mountainous area near Bagni di Lucca (about half hour east of Lucca.) We rented nice bikes with rear racks in Lucca from a really nice shop called Chrono. The owner, Paladino, is a really cool guy. We used the perched mountain village of Vitiana as our hub for our day tours. This area of Italy is one of the most popular with cyclists, so that part was really nice. Restaurants were quite inexpensive and the food was amazing and generally good value compared to other cities and towns that we visited. My friend and I had a blast! It is true that Italian drivers are really scary though... they drive very fast even around curves getting well into the oncoming traffic lane. I would try to stay away from major roads if at all possible. I wouldn't let this deter me from bike touring in that country again.