Cycling the Dolomites--and feedback on my FAQ?

[khg]

So some of you know that, for the second time, I spent the end of the summer cycling in the Italian Dolomites with Cinghiale Cycling Tours. Briefly, it was amazing, and I just signed up for this year's tour!

Then I came back, started a new job, and have sort of dropped off the face of the earth with my new workload. So Happy New Year and all--I hope everybody is doing well :)

When I did this trip the first time, I had a ton of questions, was really anxious and nervous, and was grateful for any crumb of info I could find. Before the trip this year, I was in touch with a few people who were considering the trip and had a ton of questions, were nervous, etc.

So as part of the write up of the trip on my blog that I *just* finished, I added a FAQ section. I don't know if this is really the right forum for this (sorry if it's not!), but if anyone is curious about the Dolomites trip, and wouldn't mind looking at the FAQ I wrote, I would really appreciate some feedback--am I missing some obvious questions, should I give better explanations, that sort of thing.

It's here: https://mebikedolomitesoneday.wordpress.com/dolomites-with-cinghiale-my-faq/

And a couple reasons why I'm going back:

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5662/21763155992_61e3d17e62_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/za8S4s)

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/589/21775138505_29b073ef2b_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/zbch3v)

And because I was even happier and more delighted than I look in this photo:

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5784/21796279081_1cd8584ef3_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/zd4Cpc)

[rebeccaC]

Nice write up!! Is your husband going this year? You covered some things the cinghiale faq doesn’t and in a well written and more personal way ….they should link to it! (I noticed you didn’t mention the 40,000 ft of climbing :)) ....and S&S couplers ftw on a traveling bike!!

great photos!!!!

....and you had me with the chocolate and cookies :D

[khg]

Thanks rebeccaC! Added travel couplers and 40,000 feet info to the FAQ :)

My husband is going this year--he put the dates on his work calendar as soon as they were announced, just in case we were able to go back. He didn't want to miss it again!

And don't forget--they aren't just any cookies, they're Italian cookies :D

[Crankin]

It's a good write up, khg. Good enough for me to know I would never do it! I know as soon as I start anything that resembles training, it takes all the love out of riding for me. I know I'll never be the fastest on a tour, and I have never been the slowest, but my mantra is to just get up the hills as slowly as I need to, to get up them in these kinds of situations. Sun and heat affect me, eating and drinking (an important part of the tours I've done in Europe) affect me, it seems, way more than others. I do ride a lot of hills, and that's how I've got to where I am at. I guess I just don't want to suffer as much as others. It does look beautiful, but I think that any vacation for me in the Dolomites would be what we call a "regular person" vacation, with a little riding and hiking thrown in. In fact, that's what my 2 vacations in Italy have been, and I loved it.

[salsabike]

The total climbing was all I wanted to know, too--but I DID want to know it. Great pictures! Glad you're both going this year, and hoping that that new job is going well. :)

[shootingstar]

Great photos kg!

Since it's so rare for me to travel in Europe, I prefer a cycling trip that's more utilitarian and enjoyable with some benefits of scenery along the way. Cycling would be secondary, while my effort is learning and seeing up close great different culture, history, art and architecture. I would be taking too much time, trying to climb the mountain routes. And with limited vacation time, need to focus on where I want to spend time and money overseas.

Coincidentally dearie and I are planning a European trip, hopefully this fall. It would be in Beaune area of France just north of Alsace region or southeastern part of France in Beaujoulais wine country. Not as hilly as Dolomites. Then we take a high speed train with bikes to Barcelona, Spain for a few days. Back via Spain to Germany to a medieval, Rennaissance well- preserved town that neither of us have visited.

It will be my 4th trip to Europe.

[khg]

Great photos kg!

Since it's so rare for me to travel in Europe, I prefer a cycling trip that's more utilitarian and enjoyable with some benefits of scenery along the way. Cycling would be secondary, while my effort is learning and seeing up close great different culture, history, art and architecture. I would be taking too much time, trying to climb the mountain routes. And with limited vacation time, need to focus on where I want to spend time and money overseas.

Coincidentally dearie and I are planning a European trip, hopefully this fall. It would be in Beaune area of France just north of Alsace region or southeastern part of France in Beaujoulais wine country. Not as hilly as Dolomites. Then we take a high speed train with bikes to Barcelona, Spain for a few days. Back via Spain to Germany to a medieval, Rennaissance well- preserved town that neither of us have visited.

It will be my 4th trip to Europe.

That sounds like a wonderful trip--we were in the Beaune area in 2011 for a few days, and it was amazing. The food... The wine... Did I mention the food? And the wine?!?! We biked the trail through the vineyards, which was really fun. Then we drove to Strasbourg to visit some family who were there for work for a few years. Both of us took Latin in college, and have studied a bit of French and Italian, and traveled in France and Italy--we feel very comfortable in countries where they speak Romance languages. But we know no German at all. So of course, the French GPS of our French rental car--which we hadn't used, because we could read the signs in France--stopped as we got the border of Germany. We literally drove off the map! And right when we couldn't read the signs and felt lost for the first time on the trip... It was both terrifying and hilarious as we turned to each other with the simultaneous realization "we don't know any German!!!" panicked, and scrambled through the guide book for how to say "I don't speak German." Whoops...

It's good to know what kind of vacations you like--there were some people who did the Dolomites trip who were perfectly capable of doing the rides, but suffering as much as that just wasn't their idea of a fun vacation.

I sorta hope in the FAQ that I make both sides of the equation clear--no matter your cycling ability, if you don't want to go to your limit on the bike every day, it's not going to be a fun trip for you. But if you think that the challenge sounds enticing, and prepare for the challenge seriously, it's pretty doable. When I did the trip the first time, I was sure I was in completely over my head, and was surprised by how well I did on the trip instead. I was also surprised by people who were not so excited about how challenging the trip was--why did they sign up for it?

I've been lucky enough to do some non-bike trips in Europe too--I've had some days hiking through museums that felt just as arduous, and just as delightful as any day bicycling in the Dolomites. There are just so many fun things to do and see!

I hope you'll post photos from your trip!

[rebeccaC]

.....if you think that the challenge sounds enticing, and prepare for the challenge


i’ve met a few people on my harder organized rides that i’ve come to really like. why this ride? can lead to an interesting conversation about challenges.

thinking solo or with a couple of friends usually suits my mood/focus better than with groups on hard bicycling challenges.

maybe it’s the mediterranean mountain/desert roads in my area but this dolomite thing is making me miss the beauty of the french alps and the northern italian mountains



....I sorta hope in the FAQ that I make both sides of the equation clear.....

clear to me....and thinking about it I need to add apple strudel and a masseuse to the chocolate and cookies.

[khg]

thinking about it I need to add apple strudel and a masseuse to the chocolate and cookies.

Yes! We had apple strudel a couple of days too--highly recommended ;)

[ny biker]

My new favorite phrase: ego is way too heavy to carry up a climb with you. :D

p.s. The faq looks great to me. It's not a trip that I see in my future anytime soon, but I know a few people who might be interested. Thanks for posting it!

[shootingstar]

My new favorite phrase: ego is way too heavy to carry up a climb with you. :D

:p So true. Some people get captivated by tourism photos or they never really did steep mountain cycling before.

Sample southern Germany (https://cyclewriteblog.wordpress.com/2010/06/12/cycling-for-spargel-kirsch-and-blue-painted-bikes-black-forest-region-germany-june-3-11-2010/)portions of trip a few yrs. ago.

Freiburg, Germany portion. (https://cyclewriteblog.wordpress.com/2010/07/10/freiburg-germany-cycling-among-medieval-and-renaissance-restoration/)

https://cyclewriteblog.wordpress.com/2010/09/18/european-city-museums-more-than-second-cousins-centuries-of-rich-history/

In Copenhagen (https://thirdwavecyclingblog.wordpress.com/2010/09/29/losing-my-cycling-identity-in-the-world%e2%80%99s-cycling-nirvana-copenhagen/) for a few days.

Yes, well I took 3 yrs. of high school Latin. Didn't help me much except for knowing connection between Latin and Romance language verb conjugation, plural vs. singular roots.. other word derivations.
If I'm truly desperate, I try my pathetic crude French outside of France, if speaker doesn't know English. My partner can speak eroded German and read basic German....he immigrated from southern Germany as young boy. His extended family still has a little vineyard from the 1700's.

I can only read some simple French words on menu, signage, etc. but it was helpful overseas. I do feel more at "home" just to hear French even if I only understand 5% of it.... Better than hearing Italian or Greek. My thoughts on bilingualism, multilingualism. (https://cyclewriteblog.wordpress.com/2015/04/01/hanging-onto-my-broken-mother-tongue/)

I have not picked up beyond 10 German words since we've known each other for last 25 years. But have a better feel of German cultural habits/ticks. I think he knows under 5 Chinese words from me.. :rolleyes:

[khg]

:p So true. Some people get captivated by tourism photos or they never really did steep mountain cycling before.

Sample southern Germany (https://cyclewriteblog.wordpress.com/2010/06/12/cycling-for-spargel-kirsch-and-blue-painted-bikes-black-forest-region-germany-june-3-11-2010/)portions of trip a few yrs. ago.

Freiburg, Germany portion. (https://cyclewriteblog.wordpress.com/2010/07/10/freiburg-germany-cycling-among-medieval-and-renaissance-restoration/)

https://cyclewriteblog.wordpress.com/2010/09/18/european-city-museums-more-than-second-cousins-centuries-of-rich-history/

In Copenhagen (https://thirdwavecyclingblog.wordpress.com/2010/09/29/losing-my-cycling-identity-in-the-world%e2%80%99s-cycling-nirvana-copenhagen/) for a few days.



Thanks for posting those links--I stole a few minutes from work to look at a couple of them. I love the Tour de Spargel--now I'm hungry!