I was recently in Italy but not riding a bike.

Two I would add:

1) Don't assume that the yellow ticket stamping box at the train station works properly. The one I used didn't and I got major hassle as a result. Make sure your ticket is stamped or they will charge you a 50 Euro penalty. This is also the case if you board a train without a ticket and try to buy one onboard. From what I could figure out, you only have to stamp tickets that don't have a specific departure time on them (local trains?).

2) Be sure to ask about cycle routes through an area. Don't simply take a road on the map that goes where you want. I was driving to Lake Garda on a very busy two-lane road and saw some poor fellow struggling uphill with a full load while cars swerved around him in the hot sun. I later found out that there was a very nice bike-only path to the lake.

Ray