Tour de France 2006 Announced -Armstrong Sucker Punched

The 2006 Tour de France was announced today and in my view, the announcement was overshadowed by the tone the organizers at ASO chose to take by denouncing doping in the sport of cycling. Though our American hero, nay, international hero, was not named by name in the above link, he was as I put it "sucker punched" once again.

It really is sad that Jean Marie Leblanc and the organizers have chosen to presume Armstrong guilty of doping, and imply that he has cheated to win 7 Tours de France. Perhaps there are some legitimate questions to be answered, (not in my mind), but nonetheless a legal and formal procedure has not been followed and so guilt of any kind cannot be attributed. As if the Tour organizers wanted to erase the memory of an American winning the Tour in such dramatic fashion, they left the images of Armstrong out of the dog and pony show today in Paris.

Anyone who browses down below this post can see what I think about the contributions made to the status and image of the Tour de France by Armstrong, not to mention the many millions of euros brought into France. ASO continues to poison its well of success by throwing off Armstrong in such an offensive manner. Its offensive to me, and to others I spoke to today. Sure, we are Americans, but I think others who follow cycling outside the USA would agree. I know many in France who have come to regard all cyclists as dopers and think its impossible for Armstrong to have won without doping but they will say in the same breath that he is the best of this time and the best at the Tour de France! Its a cynical outlook, an opinion I don't share, but not as bitter as the track taken by ASO.

Well, you can't take it away from him. You can try to tarnish his image and write him out of your history, but in certain quarters it is in vain. Good thing Jean Marie Leblanc is on his way into retirement as well, perhaps its time to turn the page on the TDF management as well.

And just a final parting shot - why doesn't someone from ASO or the Ministry of Sport pick up the phone and call the Minister of Tourism? Afterall, what does better for the sport and subsequently the economy: "underdog" heros who win in dramatic fashion towing thousands of fans along for the fun and spending lavishly in the local hotels, restaurants, boutiques, etc ....OR.... the camping cars from neighboring countries who bring all their own food and beer; park alongside the road, and get drunk for 7 days straight and piss and vomit all over the place?

hmmmm, that is a tough one.

L

Spain is the next big thing!

Having just returned from a whirlwind trip to Spain to scout new tours and meet new suppliers and visit hotels, I am convinced that this is the destination to come! Spain is already popular of course, but as we develop our cycling tours it just occurs to me that as far as western Europe goes, this has to be one of the best destinations! This from me, a francophile, who is hooked on France!

There are many reasons, and the new tours we will be introducing shortly will demonstrate just a few, but mainly Spain is so impressive for all of the following reasons:

1. charm - people, villages, history, architecture, etc. I visited so many small villages in the regions of La Rioja, in Galicia, in Castille y Leon, and in Catalonia and there is no end to the small medieval villages built of stone with small winding "streets"! You can stumble into many villages like this that have a monastery or historically significant batiment that one does not lack for discovery. Like museums, they come one after another, but if you like old world charm then you will never get tired of it. Another reason is that the people are so friendly and welcoming. English is actually widely spoken in some of the most remote villages too, so that helps some less intrepid.

2. wine - yes, perhaps known but less so is the wine of La Rioja. This region is amazingly well developed but still respectful of tradition. Most of the grapes are still picked by hand, and if timing serves you, a chance to stomp the grapes in the field is possible!

3. Price - no better deals can be found in western Europe, except for mabe Portugal. 4 star hotels for the price of a 2/3 star guesthouse in England! Hotels with charm - converted monasteries for example, are widely found. Or, in another case, a 12th century watermill that is being converted into a luxury bike hotel near L'Escala in Catalonia - 7km from the beach!

4. services - you can find it all in Spain in my experience. Madrid has a very good metro system and while the country is large, there are flights at good prices available within Spain that beats time lost on long trains.

And more...we are preparing a press release and will launch the new tours within a few weeks, so check those out for more.

hasta luego!

Self Guided Travel

I know I have covered this subject in the past, and I have put the link above to our website with more details about this form of travel, but I feel compelled to comment on it again.

We have come to the end of the season and we have had another great year, sales up more than 17% over last year. Our self-guided product leading the way with some destinations up more than 100%. Especially Spain, this is the new big thing! More on that subject in a future post.

Just to get something off my chest, I want to put on the record that despite our success and 95% client approval rate, we still have a few - around 5% who just can't be pleased. Any business will have these issues, and as hard as we try, we just can't get to be perfect. However, rather than trying to be perfect, we would like to understand the problem. Often, I can boil some of the issues down to this concept of self-guided travel.

What about this term "self-guided" implies guide, group, or some form of full time support? I just received a comment from a client who paid 480 euros for a 4 night tour and his gripe was with the implied support? Though he wasn't specific, he says after the tour was complete that he wasn't happy to only have someone to call who spoke English to help him if he should need something. And while he didn't need any thing during his trip and all went well, he found it necessary to complain about that. The client went on to say that since he has done 15 different bike trips (neglecting to mention that this includes Backroads which famously charges more than $3500 for a 6 night fully supported tour), he found it unacceptable that his self-guided tour, should he need anything, would be available by contacting our local rep. Hmmm....

Now, we really want to avoid any kind of misunderstanding with any clients. We try very hard to give lots of info up front on our website and in our pre-travel documents, but we just seem to never quite reach a few people. Its frustrating. Now, why would I publish this here in a blog when it could clearly sound like we have an unsatisfied client? Well, its reality. I would tell anyone this story. If you come on a self-guided trip, you will pay less but you need to have some comfort with being independent or "self" sufficient; "self"-enabled, "self"-capable, etc. Anyway, going to a foreign land where English is not the primary language isn't easy, but having someone locally available who speaks English and is capable of solving anything for you is a comfort and 95% of our clients think that is ok.

We have to keep our perspective; 95% is pretty good.

L

Cycling Mont Ventoux

I finally got through the last issue of Bicycling, and I really shouldn't do this, but I can't help myself, but as a resource for some unlucky few who find this blog, let me tell you: You don't have to pay outrageous sums to ride Mont Ventoux!

Secret is out! I'm spilling the beans and will probably be banned from the bicycle touring world, but guess what Mont Ventoux is open to anyone with a bike, or other forms of locomotion. Yes, we do operate a trip to ride Mont Ventoux, and it is a self-guided program for which we do make fair profit. But, I just read the story about Cycling Ventoux in the last famous issue I have now thoroughly trashed, and I am again left gaping.

The story was pretty good, written in that same style that starts to grate on me, but the description of the ride and the daily pilgrimage as well as the nice photos were inspiring. The author, a client of Velo Sport vacations, paid $1795 (he actually didn't pay anything in exchange for the story and this ride in which he famously crashes) to be guided up Ventoux. The story also mentions that Trek Travel, the johnny come lately to the travel industry (where profits by travel operations must take a back seat to PR), offers to take you up Ventoux for only $3175. Ahem.

I know, its a foreign country, and it can be nice to have a guide to look after things and create atmosphere, as well as be part of a group. That is what guided cycling and travel is about; and there is nothing wrong with it. My point: It would have been nice to see an alternative printed to show that paying these sums are not the only option! Our tour in 2005? 780 euros for 5 nights. Next year we are cutting it down to 3 nights and price will probably be around 500 euros, or about $700. Well, ok, I'm not sour that our company wasn't mentioned; I don't expect that. They could mention ANYONE else offering the alternative and it would be fine.

Why does it matter? Because people need to know there are other options out there and that they CAN afford a trip to Europe! This is a common misunderstanding because most mags do the same thing.

If anyone is interested, I wrote a long bit back in May about cycling Ventoux. I went up in May on my own for fun one morning, and all the details are there in Archives on the right side of this page. Just get your bike and RIDE!

PS: it is steep coming down; know how to use your brakes and common sense! Duh.

L