Cinghiale Tour report...

[Ryun]

Been back from Tuscany for a couple weeks and have had a chance to process everything from the trip and recover a bit from the jet lag.

Long essays are not my thing but I would like to leave some feedback and certainly answer any questions anyone might have re: Cinghiale tours.

First a big thanks to the forum for all the S&S tips. Our coupled bikes worked great and the packing/unpacking went very smoothly. Steve @ Hampco did a great job with the geometry and Kent Ericksen's fabrication was incredible.

We could have rented bikes but both of us are pretty finicky on fit and it did make the longer rides (esp the descents) very enjoyable. The rentals they had were very nice BMC gran fondos with ultegra. About half the riders brought there own. I dont know if I would have like a full size bike case in some of the rental cars or in a couple of the airports so the S&S solution worked for us.

the riding was very nice. Even though this was a two piggy ride, there was still a number of climbs of 8-15k each ride. There were twelve riders on this trip and it broke up pretty evenly into skill levels. I was with 3 other guys plus Andy most of the time and we averaged 60 miles a day even with the heat. The middle group cut it a little short some days and we regrouped often at the top of the climbs. My wife is a solid B rider and held her own most days. We rode from our base each day and by the end of the tour, you feel very familiar with the area. I dont know if I would have liked moving hotels each day.

Andy was great to ride with and I probably spent 5 hours riding shoulder to shoulder just chatting. I was a bit suprised at how much he was around. Very much HIS tour not just in name. He is still very very fit.

The whole feel was very casual and low key. Much more like staying with a family. Andy and Elaine were always mixing it up and were very accessible. Occasionally it cross the line from organic to disorganized and that could cause some frustration for some more type A personality. We didnt have an agenda so we were ok with it most of the time.

Food was fantastic. Cooked onsite most days with a nice homemade feel. Lots of wine of course. We stayed on the Chiappini winery grounds. Andy is a complete wine geek and I learned more about local wine and olive oil than I needed.

Id definitely recommend it. Ive never done a "tour" or organized ride so I dont have much to compare it to other than team training camps but it is really what we expected.

Anyway here are a couple photos and Id be happy to answer any questions

[JasonF]

Wow, so cool - one of these tours is on my list.

Question: Did you do any special type of training? Where did you fly from (i.e., did you do an overnight)? Did jet lag factor in?

I'll have tons more questions....add more pics!!

[Ryun]

Nah no real special training other than just riding. I was actually injured this winter so I had fewer miles (and more pounds) than I would normally have.
We are from florida so the first day or two of hills took a little adaption but with the proper gearing it was fine.
We flew out of JFK overnight on the way there so jet lag wasnt a huge issue. We arrived one night early in Pisa to give us some wiggle room in case of any travel hiccups. The first ride is easy to help get rid of airplane legs.

My wife only rode 4 of the six days and did a couple of the cooking lessons in the down time.

Pretty good support. About halfway through each ride, there would be snacks setup and water/skratch provided.
Also the routes took us through a number of small villages where we grabbed the occassional espresso

[thwart]

Thanks for taking the time to write this up! Great pics, too.

Hey, it's Italy… so I suppose some minor chaos is part of the culture. Not a bad thing necessarily…

Glad to hear you had a good time.

[guido]

Oh does that look like fun!

[PaMtbRider]

Well done. A Hampsten tour is on our short list.


Ride first....work later!!!!!

[cv1966]

Glad to hear it went well, really nice photos. A couple friends went on a cinghiale tour last year. They had such a good time they signed up for the Dolomites tour this year. After hearing all the stories I had sign up too. Can't wait!

[pbarry]

Thanks for the write-up! Someday, for certain. :)

[choke]

Lucky you.

Andy is a very cool person and if I was going on a trip like that a Cinghiale Tour would be at the top of the list.

[velomonkey]

This is so awesome - for sure on my bucket list. Here is what I see - some dude with not only him, but his wife on an awesome Hampsten. You got to ride with Andy and he signed your frame and you got awesome food.

Color me impressed.

[jghall]

Thanks Ryun. As with many others, a bucket list item. Your visit and view point made it sink even more. Great pics. And you're right, Andy does look extremely fit at this day and age.

[enr1co]

Wow, thanks for sharing your experience- great to see/hear it was a memorable one!

[FlashUNC]

Anything you'd have done differently, either in prep or during the tour that might be good advice for others before they take the plunge?

[Ryun]

Anything you'd have done differently, either in prep or during the tour that might be good advice for others before they take the plunge?

Great question...
--I ignored the warning to wear walkable shoes and I would have preferred to not to have to wait to change shoes when the van arrives. Iwear custom road shoes so getting something would have been a hassle. My wife certainly would have enjoyed the stops a bit more with walkable shoes. We hung out a couple of times at cafes. I would have trained in some walkable shoes and tried to get them to work.

--If I didnt have a coupled bike, I would just bring a saddle and pedals. The rental bikes were fine and dragging a full size case through the smaller airports would have been a huge pita.

--if you dont travel to europe often, your credit cards may not have a chip and pin code. We had a couple of cards we forgot to update the PIN codes and getting them to work in Europe was a challenge. Pre buying some Euros from our local bank helped with this. The towns are pretty small and no real accessibility to banks of any size.

--Longer layovers in some of the airports especially Rome. They have transfer buses from one terminal to another and they can run behind especially leaving.

--I probably would have spent a little more time on learning Italian. Translators are almost always with you but since most of the villags arent "tourist" destinations there is little to no English spoken. I got by with Spanish but would have liked to have more Italian in my vocab.

-This probably only applies to flatlanders but take more gearing than you think you need. I got by most of the time with a 36x23 but having the 25 and even 28 for the 16-17% short sections made things more enjoyable when the group was going slowly. I imagine the dolomites would be worse.

-I ended up with a bad stomach one day since I wasnt that use to eating so much rich meat and sauce. I would come prepared just in case.

- We did some light gravel roads and the guy with the ultra high end storck with lightweight wheels etc wasnt happy. Bring reasonable tires and equipment.

Those are the first things that come to mind.

And yes I am very lucky not only to have gone on the trip but the fact I have a hot wife who would spend our 20th anniversary on a cycling trip.

[rwsaunders]

Thanks for posting as that looks like a ball.

[thunderworks]

Glad to hear it went well, really nice photos. A couple friends went on a cinghiale tour last year. They had such a good time they signed up for the Dolomites tour this year. After hearing all the stories I had sign up too. Can't wait!

I was on the tour with your buddies from WS, NC . . . and am going on the Dolomite tour this summer too . . . should be a blast if it doesn't kill me.

I can't speak highly enough for the Cinghiale organization - unbelievably nice people, accommodating, and just plain fun to be around. Italy is a dynamite place to ride a bike. It seems ingrained in the culture.

[fuzzalow]

And yes I am very lucky not only to have gone on the trip but the fact I have a hot wife who would spend our 20th anniversary on a cycling trip.

Forgive me Ryun for being such a cycling nerd, but you are indeed blessed and I could not help but notice:
http://forums.thepaceline.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1697902800&stc=1&d=1435184322
This folks, is some pretty good cycling fit & position on a bike. Yes, I tattle on about this subject because I'm into it. And some folks think that all I glorify is the racebike extremes of riding EuroPro but that is not true. This fit & position is a case in point in that balance is found in any rider geometry you want to achieve to whichever the comfort level you want. Relaxed arms, straight back, little to no weight into the hands, shoulders relaxed and not hunched because there's no torso weight pressing into the handlebars - the weight is on the saddle and flows on the pivot of the pelvis into the pedals. The secret to riding the drop bar bicycle well & comfortably is balance. Just like you see here.

[weisan]

fuzz pal, you sure the perspective is not distorted with the picture taken at an angle?

Great report, ryun pal!

[fuzzalow]

fuzz pal, you sure the perspective is not distorted with the picture taken at an angle?

weisan-pal, my post was not to attention what is fetchingly obvious but to illuminate the grace & form of a skilled rider. And in fairness and flattery, entrancing either way.

Thanks to Ryun on the Cinghiale Tour report.

[beeatnik]

Andy was great to ride with and I probably spent 5 hours riding shoulder to shoulder just chatting. I was a bit suprised at how much he was around. Very much HIS tour not just in name. He is still very very fit.





Guy in Rapha looks pretty fit, as well :p

http://forums.thepaceline.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1697902807&stc=1&d=1435184687

[jmal]

Are you from Cville? I immediately recognized the Fortuna kit.

[Ryun]

Lived there for about 10 years and raced at UVa among other teams
Fortuna was started a while after we moved but we try and keep in touch
Although it's been a few years since we've made it up for Carl f s boys club challenge
We moved away in 03

[jmal]

I see. Small world. Just out of curiosity, how did the riding on your tour compare to riding in the Cville/Blue Ridge area from a fitness perspective? I've fantasized about doing one in a few years and wonder which level would be appropriate.

[Fiertetimestwo]

Glad to see that you had a great time, Ryun- excellent pictures. Your thread is timely as I have just this morning paid the balance on my Cinghiale trip coming up in September- can't wait!

[pdmtong]

RP, thanks for the great report on a ride most of us will only dream about going on, let alone celebrating with our spouse. What great memories!

[tiretrax]

Congratulations, Ryun. Despite not having walkable shoes, it looks like everything else was perfect.