Offered: Italy September - 1 week of cycling

Italy, September 1 week of fun

Heavy Duty Ride Training, Fun and Frolics 

A few weeks back myself, Digger, Tiswas, Object, Cheevil, Dammit and Hippy went to North Italy in prime Giro territory to do some heavy duty ride training and I'm seriously thinking of heading back there for some more punishment.

See the original thread here: http://www.lfgss.com/thread38700.html

So does anyone fancy this? Trying to negotiate the same awesome deal we had in May. What are the broad strokes?

THE FACTS
I'm looking to find 6 people to go. Me and one other (cheevil) are already confirmed, so that 8 in total.
Staying a big beautiful Italian villa very close to Zoncolan you get bed and breakfast plus return airport transfer in Italy.
I thinking of going mid September - so that's 6 nights / 7 days. Exact dates will be arranged once 6 people have signed up.
The plan is to enjoy 5 days of good hard pack riding.
Vehicle escort during the ride training is also included.
How much you ask? All this for the princely sum of £300 (TBC) BUT ONLY IF I GET A FULL GROUP GOING.
This includes B&B every day and half board for 4 days (so sampling the local delights for 2 nights) Most importantly, there is an AWESOME gelateria around the corner from the homestay.

OTHER IMPORTANT STUFF
You will need to buy your own flights to/from London Stansted and Trieste.
At the moment it's about £40/50 via Ryanair but this will increase!
Then you also need to bring your bike (in a box) - Ryanair rip you off
here: £40 each way.
And then you need to sort out your own local airport transfers.

INTERESTING STUFF
If you don't fancy all that riding but only some, then there's lots to do in the region.
You can trade a day to see Venice, the Italian coast is also close, plus some really amazing weird spa stuff and food and wine festivals.

THAT'S AWESOME, I WANT TO COME!
Cheevil and I are jointly arranging this group ride / holiday, so if you are interested, PM me ASAP and you can go on the VIP wait list.
Thereafter Cheevil will be in touch with the finer details and guide you through the rest of the process.

If you have questions, then post in this thread.

Please note: your place is not confirmed until we are in full receipt of full funds - you will be required to provide a deposit (£150) if you want your place reserved. The remainder of the payment will need to be paid when final numbers have been confirmed, which will be in advance of the break. And to be super clear, you are responsible for buying your own flights! The sooner you buy the cheaper it is! So act fast!

So who's game?

So far the following have expressed serious interest

Robin Mather
Mattha
Jennyj
Pocketful

They will have first dibs, so add your name to the list and PM me asap, its first come first served.

deposit paid
bike box enquiries underway
leg waxing booked at salon

Sorely tempted. Only one question:-

I'm *relatively *new to riding in a group, and as such I'm a little bit green with cycling etiquette. That said, I'm not an idiot (touch wood), and I'm obviously dead keen not to piss anyone off with me' bad manners. Problem?

best bet would be to do some group rides before coming out, it will improve your fitness and help a lot

where are you based?

I'm based near Kings Cross/ Old Street.

Yes, it would be a good idea to attempt a few test rides. I spotted your Thursday evenings' out West, which I'm sure would make for a solid experiment, but the commute from work is that bit too tricky.

The next forum rides I'm up for include TNRC on the 6th, and then a run out to Kent on Sunday the 11th, I'll mebe see you at one of them? I've also got my first couple of Sportives coming up; though I suspect that your trip will be booked up by the time they're under my belt.

An example of what I find slightly disconcerting is Dov's talk of "half k changes at the front". It's this sort of thing that I'm sure I'd cock up.

dj might be absent from the forums for a bit so i'm going to chime in.
come to the thursday ride. worse case scenario you suck. no big deal, we're all improvers i guess. dont want to paint a picture of the thursday rides being some kind of mens personal growth group with drumming and sharing of feelings but it is a pretty supportive/non-judgemental environment and the people i've ridden with are fine men and women who will share their knowlege of riding with you.
also, i've been doing twice weekly reps on swains lane trying to get some climbing training in. something like this might be a good idea.

oh yeah, the commute from work - i'm based in soho and leave there at 6pm to get to kew. feel free to hook up and ride out to kew together.

^I'm over at Old Street, finishing at 6pm, which to me feels a toenail too far for Kew @ 7pm. That said, mebe it is doable with only a marginally early release from work.

At the moment my fitness is pretty reasonable. I'm often out for 50mi+, and Swain's is a regular fixture. I do ride by myself quite a bit, it's just co-ordinating myself with a group with which I'm a little unsure. I guess this reinforces the need to ride out with you lot to see how I fare.

I'm out this evening (with a possible spell around Regent's park beforehand); though I'll definitely check with boss about slying out early for the next run, and I'd be very greatful for a rear wheel on the way out West.

Out of interest, since the start of the year I've had booked off a week in September for a London - Edinburgh ride. I then arrive at this forum, ride alongside other people for a bit, and suddenly the long days with only an MP3 player for company seem less appealing.

Cheers for the time spent writing responses. I'll keep an eye out for future Thursdays.

London to Trieste is also possible on the train.

If you book in advance it's as cheap as £135 return.http://www.seat61.com/Italy.htm#Venice

Ryanair ftl!

Ryan air: 20p for the flight, £50 for a sandwich. Was the scheme ever implemented to make people pay to use the loo?

@friday doing a brighton and back run on sat morning with a couple of mtb/fixed riding mates who are newish to road riding. both have road bikes/lycra but the pace will be moderate and there are multiple bail out points. i suspect one will get the train back from brighton as he stacked pretty hard last week and is still sore. drop me a line if you want to join us.

^Bollocks. Thanks very much, but I'm going to have a crack at Swaintoux on Saturday.

Another good opportunity missed, so two off the bat. I hope I don't sound like I'm reluctant to show my face. If I wasn't already booked up (I've been looking forward to Swaintoux for ages) then I'd be well up for the test run.

I'm aware that this is something that I should sort out sooner rather than later.

hi all,

this looks very appealling, i recently rode to paris and the bug has hit me hard.

i have the same woes about larger group riding as Friday does. i have rode with 4 as a max.

whats the average millage per day on this trip? dont worry i read the original thread.

i would interested in going for a ride with you guys to check i can keep up.

Please direct any queries to Cheevil on here

She can then pass you my contact details.

fuck me, swaintoux. i'd forgotten about that. signed up but going to have to bail.

getting seriously excited about this.
need to get:
rapha italy jersey to ingraciate myself with the locals.
collection of italian insults to undo the above in the case of traffic incidents - "testa di cazzo/porca madonna/etc etc"

This sounds great. How many passes do you plan to do in a day? or how many miles? I did a similar trip in france / spain in pyranees, and it was great... You can't beat being big hills.

is there still space for one more?

Are the rides all planned out, or will it be played by ear? Is the support van confirmed for all days (additional cost?). Average distance / elevation?

An example of what I find slightly disconcerting is Dov's talk of "half k changes at the front". It's this sort of thing that I'm sure I'd cock up.

It sounds fancy but it's pretty simple. Ride in a line, nice consistent pace, keep pedalling and feather the brakes if need be, no surprises for the guys behind. After your pull drop back and let someone else lead until you arrive at the front again.

so it looks like the italy thing wont be happening as nobody can make it.

**an alternative **and one which might be better for those with little time:

three day long weekend in the aravis, in a village on the TdF Morzine-Avoriaz to Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne stage.

staying at a mate's chalet which does ski holidays in winter and mtb and walking hols in summer.
For three people staying in a three person room we'd be looking at €165/£135 each for transfers to/from geneva, breakfast and the room itself. The chalet is old but very comfortable with modcons. I spend a few weeks here every winter snowboarding the fucking epic cols behind the col de balme and the great granbo park. good alpine cycling country too though.

availability looks good through sept/oct and flights to geneva with easyjet are usually reasonably inexpensive, even with the cost of tking a box.

I'm doing this trip anyway, if anyone wants to join me I can be flex about the timing and fuck, the more the merrier right?

the chalet is in st jean de sixt about a third of the way out from morzine.
http://www.letourdefrance.com/2010/TDF/LIVE/us/900/etape_par_etape.html

Thats a great place to do some cycling - i used to live on the Swiss side of PDS, its a really bike friendly resort

^lucky!
yeah, been eyeing up the roads there for a while and thinking it woud be a waste not to ride them given that i know people there.

I stayed in St Jean a few years ago; well, actually in a tiny village nearby called Urine (no, really). Fantastic place to cycle.

surely taking the piss?
sorry, couldnt resist.