Cycle the Island of Sardinia from the Coast to the Mountains

The Italian island of Sardinia boasts crystal-clear turquoise waters, pristine beaches, mountains and scenic and quiet roads, making it a perfect cycling tour destination. Our route traverses Sardinia's spectacular coastline, known as the "Big Sur without traffic," and the island’s remote mountainous interior.

Enjoy fantastic professionally guided cycling and sparkling lakes, numerous archaeological sites and an amazing variety of wildlife including flamingos, falcons and wild boar.

Our multiple-night stays offer plenty of time to ride and explore coastal and mountain terrain. Relax on one of the beautiful beaches, explore the ruins and colorful fishing villages, and enjoy Sardinia’s famous Pecorino Sardo cheese and freshly baked bread. As with all of our tours, you decide how much or little you want to ride.

Choose from May, late September or October departures and enjoy an unforgettable experience. Contact us today to reserve your spot.

Watching Lance Battle for an Eighth Win at the 2009 Tour de France!

Watching the Tour de France is always an unforgettable experience, but this year's Tour de France trip offered that and more: A chance to watch Lance attempt to make history with his eighth victory, and watch the comeback of cycling's best. If you've ever regretted not seeing Lance ride in previous Tours, that was your chance! Challenge yourself to 14 of the best Alps' climbs and watch three Tour stages - including a mountaintop finish on the infamous Mt. Ventoux.

This Tour de France-Alps trip allows you to experience all the Tour excitement, without the hassle- no long car rides or parking necessary, since we're close enough to ride to the action. The hotels we select are conveniently close to the Tour route and are a perfect starting point for 14 epic Alps climbs, including Alpe d'Huez, Col du Galibier, Col du Telegraphe, Mt. Ventoux and more! You'll watch the last three decisive stages of the tour- the individual time trial in Annecy, the mountain stage finish at Le Grand-Bornand and the epic stage finishing on top of Mt. Ventoux- and put your legs to the test on many of the classic Tour climbs! You can't beat the feeling you get from conquering these colls.

The riding may be challenging, but the accomodations are welcome and comfortable. You can relive the highlights of the day's ride over a "recovery" beer or espresso at a local cafe, then refuel with a delicious group dinner featuring the area's fantastic cuisine and wine. Our small group size allows us to choose restaurants that the locals favor so you get a true taste of the region.

Don't miss this once-in-a-lifetime event! Contact us today to join us for an unforgettable guided cycling tour and experience that offers a perfect balance of Tour action and riding.

Cycling Tip: Skills for Inclement Weather Riding

Many of us experience wet weather during this time of year, which may lead to slippery road conditions. Unfortunately, there is no guarantee of dry weather when you are bicycle touring, as well. The following tips may help you stay upright and safe in case you encounter poor riding conditions.

In inclement weather:

1.) Always ensure you wear a reflective safety vest and have a blinking light on both the back and front of your bicycle.

2.) Ride to the right, but avoid deep gutters. Cars may have trouble seeing you in a gutter, and you may hit an unseen obstacle in an overflowing gutter.

3.) Always ride with your hands in the drops. Keep your elbows flexed and loose, but keep a nice, firm grip on the handlebars.

4.) Look up and ahead. Maintaining a line of sight beyond your front wheel will help you avoid upcoming obstacles, and help maintain better balance.

5.) Avoid “paint” in the road (i.e., crosswalks, white lines, yellows lines, etc). The paint when covered with rain is very slippery. If unavoidable, ride straight over the paint with little or no front wheel turning. If you see paint in an upcoming turn: slow down before entering the turn and make the turn at the slowest speed possible to limit leaning the bike. This tip works for railroad tracks too!

6.) Give yourself ample time to brake as the rain will make brake pads and rims slippery.

7.) Part of being safe, is being comfortable — a fender for the rear tire is recommended. It is hard to remain in control, and focused, on your bike with a spray of wet water from your rear tire hitting you in the back.

This information is not to condone riding in foul weather, but is given to increase your chances of safe riding if you get caught out in the rain!

Robert Panzera is a Level 2 USA Cycling Coach and owner and operator of Cycling San Diego (CCSD). CCSD is designed to provide a venue of warm weather training miles in the off-season for serious touring and elite racing cyclists. For more information about Robert Panzera and CCSD, visit www.cyclingcampsandiego.com or contact him at robert@cyclingcampsandiego.com

This tip was originally published in the Adventure Travel Group (ATG) monthly newsletter. For more information on ATG, visit www.adventuretravelgroup.com or contact info@adventuretravelgroup.com.

Challenge yourself next summer in the Alps and Dolomites

In the summer of 2010, why not travel with a group of Cyclo-Vets and challenge yourself on some of the classic Giro d'Italia passes in the Alps and Dolomites?

This is an unbelievable opportunity for Cyclo-Vets and the Adventure Travel Group cycling tour includes:

• Substantial discounts of up to $500 are being offered if enough riders sign up early;
• The tour is being advertised first to Cyclo-Vets, so this can be a virtual club-trip, if riders get into gear quickly;
• The tour is limited to 14 riders and will be led by Bezer.

As with all of Bezer's Adventure Travel Group tours, riders travel in style, in this case to some of the most picturesque cycling routes in the world. Tour participants will sleep in boutique hotels'inns located in some of the most beautiful villages in northern Italy.

"We have five 2-night stays which allow us lots of options for spa/massage, relaxing by the pool, hiking and, of course, great biking," said Bezer. "Riding will average 40-60 miles daily along lakes, vineyards and spectacular mountain passes. Climbing days average 4000-6000 feet, with options for more or less, so this is for the intermediate/advanced rider, or virtually all of the Cyclo-Vets."

Included is a climb of the spectacular Passo Stelvio, which, at 20km/5304ft, is one of the highest mountain passes in Europe and was ridden in the 2005 Giro d'Italia. The guided bike tour also includes the Grande Strada delle Dolomiti, a road built between 1895 and 1909, and one of the most famous cycling roads in Italy.

Details of the "Italy: Lakes, Alps, Sud Tirol & Dolomites," tour are described on the Adventure Travel Group website.

Experience the Best of the Tour de France with Adventure Travel Group

Test yourself on epic Pyrenees cols and enjoy all the Tour action!

"My husband and I have been dreaming about a cycling trip to see the Tour de France and ride some of the classic Tour cols for years-you guys gave us that opportunity," said one of our guests from our 2007 Tour de France trip. "The trip really inspired me," said another 2007 guest.

Of all the trips we offer, our Tour de France trip is always inspirational to our guests because of the personal challenge the routes offer and the ability to see the pros tackle these very same climbs- and how fast they do it! This year's trip includes 18 epic cols, and there's no better sense of accomplishment than taking in the view from the top.


When we create the route for our Tour de France trip, we design it to include the best of everything-tour action, unforgettable riding, plenty of flexibility, and great restaurants and accommodations. This year's trip includes some of the same areas we traveled in 2007, so we're incorporating all the favorites from the trip:

Easy access to all the Tour action

We'll watch three stages - two exciting mountaintop finishes and a start - and they're just a short ride from where we're staying. We'll join the world's biggest cycling-themed party, with booths selling refreshments and Tour memorabilia and thousands of fans enjoying picnics as they wait for the riders. The race start is a great opportunity to get autographs and photos as the riders line up at the start.

Unforgettable riding

If you like climbing, this is your trip. With 18 cols close by, you'll have your pick of world-class climbs. We select lightly-traveled roads that offer picturesque scenery and plenty of challenge. Some of last year's favorites that we'll be doing again this year include: Col du Tourmalet, a long expansive climb that travels through mountain meadows of grazing sheep; Superbagneres, which winds through a beautiful green valley, along switchbacks up through the clouds for spectacular views; Col d' Aspin, considered one of the more beautiful climbs of the trip.

By the end of the bicycle trip, there's no climb that will intimidate you: Via Capri? That's nothing. Mt. Palomar or Montezuma grade? You call those climbs? Tackling the Pyrenees will make you feel invincible!

Flexibility makes this a real vacation

We've arranged the European bike tour to include several multi-night stays in some of the Pyrenees most picturesque spa towns. You'll feel like you've stepped into the pages of a storybook in our Luz St. Sauvier B&B, you'll enjoy St. Lary's shop- and cafe-lined cobblestone streets and the awesome views of the surrounding peaks in Luchon. Because we remain in each area for a few days, there are unlimited options for riding-take it easy, go as hard as you want, explore the area off the bike, it's up to you.

Delicious food, great accommodations

Lise and I take our guests off the beaten track to find some of the area's best restaurants-places that only the locals know about. The area's cuisine includes fresh fish, succulent duck and flavorful meats along with plenty of fresh vegetables. We take the same care when selecting accommodations, choosing quaint, family-run inns and B&Bs that offer hearty, cyclist-friendly breakfasts and comfortable rooms.

We offer a variety of fully-supported guided bicycling tours to France, Italy, Spain, Croatia, Chile, Argentina and Quebec. Please visit the ATG website for details at: www.adventuretravelgroup.com or contact us at info@adventuretravelgroup.com

Cycling in Croatia: The New, Hot Cycling Destination

With its sublime stretch of Adriatic coast and 1,045 islands, Croatia is Europe's hottest new travel destination and a fantastic place to visit by bicycle! Conde Nast and GQ magazine pro-claimed the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia as the "next Riviera" and the Istrian Peninsula "the New Tuscany."

Croatia, formerly part of Yugoslavia, became an independent country in 1992 and is located along the Adriatic Sea just east of Italy. European tourists quietly visited Croatia for decades until tourism was interrupted by the Balkan war in the early 1990's. The best time to visit Croatia by bicycle is May, June, September when the weather is warm... but not too hot!



My grandparents immigrated to the USA from Croatia in 1914 so I have a special interest in this wonderful country. In fact, my grandmother took the last ship that departed from Yugoslavia before the outbreak of World War I when all emigration from Yugoslavia was banned!

"For Cycle Trips, there are two main destination areas: The Dalmatian Coast and The Istrian Peninsula." - Gary Bezer

If you love islands, the sea and want to visit Dubrovnik, a World Heritage City, then Dalmatia is the place you want to visit. You can experience the Mediterranean Sea. "The way it used to be," with crystal clear Adriatic waters, lush islands, unspoiled fishing villages, beaches, vineyards, Roman ruins and medieval walled cities.


Start your trip in Dubrovnik, then continue by boat to the oasis of Mijet, an island blanketed by forests and edged with hidden limestone coves. Next, explore the beautiful island of Korcula, the birthplace of Marco Polo. Sail onward to the sun-soaked of Hvar, accented with vineyard-draped hills and friendly coastal villages. Finally, visit the isle of Brac, featuring Croatia's most photographed beach., Zlatni Rat, before returning to the mainland in Split, an exuberant town famous for the Diocletian palace, one of the most imposing Roman ruins in existence and a UNESCO World Heritage site. From Split, take the bus back to Dubrovnik for your return travel home.

If you want to ride on roads so small you think you are on a bike tour path and want to go "off the beaten path" and discover "authentic old world charm," visit Tito's former summer residence on the Brijuni Islands, and see a Roman Coliseum that rivals Rome, then the Istrian Peninsula is for you.


"The heart of Europe" is what the Istrians call their peninsula, inspired by its geographic form and its liveliness. This is where Central Europe and the world of the Mediterranean meet. On one trip you can easily visit Italy, Slovenia and Croatia and explore both the interior countryside, which is dotted with remote hilltop villages that some are calling the "New Tuscany," as well as the scenic Adriatic coast of Kvarner Bay and the popular western Istrian coast. You can also take a cycling tour ride through scenic wine country and visit Roman ruins, Venetian and Austro-Hungarian architecture left over from the heyday of these historic empires.

Riding the Pyrenees with Adventure Travel Group - 3 of 3

At the start of stage 17 in Pau, we watched as a spectator booed the first Rabobank rider as he rode to the start line- this was the first day the team rode without Rasmussen. The rider stopped, angrily glared for 30 seconds, then circled back to the spectator and squirted him in the face with his water bottle. Across the way, a group of people dressed as giant hypodermic needles protested in front of television cameras. Tensions were definitely high at the start of this stage, but it didn't ruin the Tour experience. Several of us were close enough to the Discovery riders to get autographs from George, Levi and Popo. We were able to see all of the teams up close as they assembled at the start.

You Call That a Climb?

Looking back on our EuroBike Tour, the miles didn't seem so significant - around 40 to 60 miles a day - but it felt like so much more. They were definitely some of the hardest - but sweetest miles I've ridden. Everyone in the group improved as a rider, and all of us had different opinions about which climbs were the toughest (it was Tourmalet for me). And because most days included hours of climbing, nothing seems daunting anymore - an hour of climbing? A grade of over 10%? No problem, we did that for days.

Cycling together on a group cycling tour also gives you an opportunity to get to know people a little better - whether it's because careers and lives outside of cycling are secondary, or whether people are more likely to let down their guard on a bike. It's hard to beat the friendships you develop through cycling. We all came away from the trip with memories of great cycling, shared pain (the good kind), scenery, food and new friends to call for a weekend ride or to plan future cycling adventures with.

SDBC Rides the Pyrenees with Adventure Travel Group - 2 of 3

by Lonna Ramirez

The Hills Are Alive...

Our guided bike tour began and finished in the city of Pau, and we spent three days in Luchon, St. Lary and Viscos - all great towns with charm, picturesque surroundings and great cycling trips. Daily routes included some of the most beautiful and brutal climbs in the Pyrenees. We climbed four of the five cols of stage 15 a few days before the pros came through (we rode them over two days, while the pros knocked them out in one), and watched two Tour finished and a start. We climbed Port de Bales, Superbagneres, Portet d'Aspet, Col de Mente, Col de Peyresourde, Col Pla d' Adet, Col d' Aspin, Col du Tourmalet, and Col du Solour/Aubisque. Most of these climbs had steep sections, many over 10%, and to do a few of these climbs was tough enough, but several in the same day at race pace like the Tour riders... absolutely mind blowing.

With the exception of the roads along the Tour route (tons of RVs and campers) and the Col du Tourmalet (very popular with cycling tour groups), we had most of the climbs to ourselves. We wound our way up lightly traveled mountain roads, rolling over spray-painted names of riders from previous Tours. The scenery was spectacular, with green meadows, wildflowers and snow-covered peaks in the distance - it was like a movie set from "The Sound of Music." We rode past waterfalls, waited for grazing animals to cross the road and had the satisfaction of looking back over miles of switchbacks from the top of the cols. As beautiful as it was, it was tough. There was probably a lot that I missed while I was staring at my front tire, slipping into a climbing coma on some of the more difficult climbs.

Partying Tour de France Style

Watching a stage of the Tour is like attending a huge picnic, party, parade and sporting event combined - something that every cyclist should try to see at least once. As the riders are preparing for the start, the tour caravan begins its drive of the entire course, with costumed people tossing hats and other samples at spectators amidst loud music. The caravan doesn't look out of place at the start or finish lines, but it's an odd sight driving along narrow mountain roads. At the stage 15 finish line in Loudenvielle, we joined hundreds of people on the grass in front of the TdF jumbotron to watch the progress of the race. We saw Vinokourov get his last stage victory of the Tour before he was kicked out. Similarly, we watched the stage 16 finish on Col du Aubisque, where Rasmussen earned the yellow and polka-dot jerseys for the last time. And we were there to watch Team Discovery's Alberto Contador and Levi Leipheimer seal their positions on the podium.

SDBC Rides the Pyrenees with Adventure Travel Group - 1 of 3

by Lonna Ramirez

It was an hour into the first climb (Port de Bales) of our 10-day cycling trip. The group had split up, tackling the seemingly endless climb at their own pace. It was foggy and a little cold, but perfect for climbing. I kept hearing what sounded like dozens of people banging pots and pans somewhere off in the distance, but the fog was too thick to see where it was coming from. As I came around a switchback I saw the source: Cows, scores of them, with bells around their necks, grazing along the road and the surrounding hillsides. They were completely oblivious to cyclists, and several of us had to maneuver around a group of particularly stubborn ones that wouldn't budge from the road.

Port de Bales, an hors categorie climb, was our first taste of climbing in the Pyrenees on the 2007 Tour de France trip with Adventure Travel Group (ATG), run by SDBC members and guides extraordinaire Gary Bezer and Lisa Fleury. We'd be hearing the cow (and sheep) bells on most of the climbs over the next nine days. As hard as the climbs were, I always looked forward to the sound of the bells and coming across the grazing animals.

Good People, Good Times...

My husband Dan and I had dreamed of watching the Tour de France in person and attempting some of the epic climbs, and the ATG tour offered an ideal opportunity to do both. The group included fellow SDBC member Andy "Il Falco" Gurney, Mark Warlen, Richard "The Gentleman" Lakier and Keith Kumm. In addition, a father-son duo from San Diego and a recently married tandem couple from New Jersey came along - she wore a veil on the back of her helmet every day and was photographed and cheered on by the French. Theirs was the only tandem we saw in the mountains (for good reason). Two Florida cyclists, Fred and Michael, rounded out our guided bike tour group in France and were the strongest climbers in the group, even though there are no hills in Florida. They claimed they practiced on bridges, but I'm guessing they trained in an undisclosed location with Rasmussen.

Each morning we discussed the details of the day's route over freshly baked croissants, pastries and coffee. ATG provided directions, maps and highlights of the day's ride along with easier or more challenging options for the day. Throughout the day, Lise parked the van at various places along our route, offering water, snacks and transported jackets and other items to lighten our load on the bike. After our ride, we'd gather at a local cafe or bar to have a "recovery" beer and watch the Tour. We'd end the day with a group dinner that gave us a chance to try the local cuisine and wines. Gary and Lise chose restaurants that offered excellent food and great ambiance.