Hoping to watch Lance win his 6th in '04. Any good/bad experiences with those tours where you ride portions of the day’s route. I found ‘breakingaway.com’ but don’t know what others there are or if its a good way to go. Haven’t been to France before so I’m leery of doing it without some kind of tour package. I know its a long way out, but I want to start planning and saving.
Here’s a website that offers TDF tours. I don’t know much about them but have read their’s and others brochures/websites etc. There’s lots of others listed in the back of the cycling magazines. Every time I look at any of these bike tours I go into “sticker shock” when I compare them with how inexpensive it is to travel on your own in Europe. Still, I’d love to cycle there sometime.
Richard
I have friends who went with Breaking Away and they had a blast. I know someone who went on the tour with Chris Carmichael (and definitely paid $$$ for it). He said it was awesome. This summer I and some friends are going with Bikestyle Tours out of Australia. We pay US dollars for Aussie prices, and partying with a bunch of Aussies kind of tipped it in Bikestyle’s favors. I can’t wait. And you are smart to plan ahead. We put our name on their list in August and the second tour (Pyrenees to finish) was almost immediately sold out. We are doing the start through the Alpes and that one was open a little longer, but not much.
Hi Milo,
In response to your message, these French tours have been very popular for people thinking about organizing similar trips.
French Alpes Tour: Your Personal Tour
http://www.biketoursdirect.com//?location=tourdetail&tid=255&cid=6
French Mountain Bike Safari
http://www.biketoursdirect.com//?location=tourdetail&tid=271&cid=6
Paris to Reims by Bike and Boat
http://www.biketoursdirect.com//?location=tourdetail&tid=120&cid=6
Hope this helps.
Sincerely,
Barrett Goldsmith
Group Sales Representative
BikeToursDirect
Toll free 877-462-2423, ext. 5
Direct 610-751-0864
www.biketoursdirect.com http://www.biketoursdirect.com/
I did the Trek Travel Provence trip last summer - it was awesome. Everything was top notch. It’s expensive, but I would do it again in a minute (actually, I’ll be going with them to Tuscany in 2008).
Destination cycling is one of the best, they were written up during the last TdF by pezcycling, you should be able to google them.
I’ve done several trips with Breaking Away. I would probably use them if I went to France again (although I’d be more likely to rent a place to use as a base) but having been touring Italy with CycleItalia (former BA employees) in recent years. The one thing I noted with BA’s trips is that they often attract groups of people who want to associate only among themselves. Thus, it’s better to have at least one friend with you to prevent loneliness and to make sure you get a compatible roommate.