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CycleItalia 2014
Time flies when you're doing what you love. Join us and do what you love in 2014.
Discover how CycleItalia is unique in the bicycle tour world.
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CycleItalia Guided Tours 2014
Grande Ciclismo Series
May 26-June 2 - La Corsa Rosa - see crucial stages of the Giro live
June 23-30 - La Primavera - trace the route and history of Milano - Sanremo
June 30- July 6 - Grandi Alpi- Val d'Aosta, GS Bernardo, Cervinia and more
July 6-17 - Salite Leggendarie - the Giro's legendary climbs
Classic Road Vacations
May 20-28 - More Monferrato- Sublime fixed-base cycling in Piedmont
June 2-11 - Vineyards to the Sea- Monferrato, Appennines, Cinque Terre
June 10-16 - More Monferrato - Sublime fixed-base cycling in Piedmont
June 16-24 - Best of Piedmont - Monferrato, Gavi, Langhe, Barolo
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NEW: Piedmont Cycling Resort
We've teamed up with Hotel Ariotto to offer you something new, Piedmont Cycling Resort. With this new program you can enjoy the Monferrato hills with an ala carte itinerary designed by YOU. Come for just two nights or stay for weeks, it's your choice. With no fixed arrival or departure dates, no schedules, you are in control of your vacation. Enjoy B&B in the hotel or take a self-catering apartment. Rent a car and drive yourself there or opt for an airport shuttle. Bring your own bicycle or rent one from the hotel. Ride, relax, eat, repeat. It's all designed to give you the utmost in flexibility. Details and prices will be available soon on www.cycleitalia.com
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Get your retro-wool trainer/sweater
These were a big hit with those who helped celebrate our 15th anniversary. Lightweight wool with a full zip front and small zip pocket in back make this perfect for the upcoming cool days, both on and off the bike. If you missed out you can still get one of your own. Click HERE to order.
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Featured Tour:
More Monferrato
We've been deluged with interest in Piedmont and especially Monferrato after our friends at BICYCLING published "Feast your Thighs" in July of this year. If you haven't seen it, you can read the online version
HERE. In addition to Best of Piedmont, the feature of the magazine article, we're offering two dates for More Monferrato. Choose May 20-26 or June 10-16. This is a five day, fixed base GUIDED tour which means Larry and Heather are there to ride with you and/or drive the support van, as well as take you to dinner at some of our favorite local places. All the dinners are included, making this a terrific value as well as very relaxing, with no packing or unpacking once you arrive. More details HERE. We've also created a self-guided program called Piedmont Cycling Resort for those want to enjoy Monferrato on their own or outside of our guided program dates.
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New for 2014: Smaller group size
Upon careful reflection, we've decided to limit 2014's guided tours to just one nine-passenger van*. We've done this unofficially in the past, most recently this season in fact. While of course some of our competitors might also do this, they still can host larger groups because a "seat in the van for every guest" is not part of their service. With us this means 6-7 clients per tour will be our maximum. The benefit to you as one of those clients is that Larry or Heather will be on a bicycle on the route with you (or in the van supporting you) for every kilometer of every route, every day. This also provides an unbeatable staff to client ratio, making CycleItalia tours among the most "hands-on" and personal in the world.
* We reserve the right to modify this policy at any time. Contact us for details.
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Larry found some rare 13-28 9-speed Campagnolo cassettes for our STANDARD rental bicycles* the all-steel ones with triple cranksets. With a 30 tooth inner chainring, your low gear ratio is almost 1-1. These bikes were originally equipped with 13-26 cassettes, so you're getting two more teeth in back. It may not sound like much, but as we always say, "it's far better to have a lower gear than you need compared to vice-versa."
*Gearing on our Premium bicycles, featuring Campagnolo 10-speed compact cranksets is unchanged with a 34-29 low gear.
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CycleItalia's philanthropy
We're extremely fortunate to be able to make a living doing what we love. Each year we distribute some of our profits to worthy organizations like OXFAM and urge you to contribute as well to help those less fortunate. GRAZIE!
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Recipe:
Panzanella
We've featured this bread salad recipe before, but Larry thinks he's finally perfected it. With the end of summer approaching, go out with a bang by serving this as a primo before a secondo of bistecca fiorentina.
1 large loaf "Italian" bread
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
4 T capers, rinsed well
3-4 ripe tomatoes, chopped
1 medium red onion, sliced fine
1 pepper red or yellow, sliced fine
1 cucumber, thinly sliced
1 handful basil leaves, torn into small pieces
2 T red wine vinegar
Extra virgin olive oil.
Salt and pepper
Buy the bread a few days before and let it sit around to dry out a bit. Cut into bite-sized croutons. Heat oven to 400 F. Arrange croutons on baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and toast until golden brown. Mix the vegetables, garlic, oil and vinegar in a large bowl, cover and refrigerate for a few hours so the flavors "marry" as they say. Just before serving, add the vegetable mixture to the croutons and mix well, then drizzle on more olive oil to moisten. Finish with lots of freshly ground black pepper and salt to taste. Serves 4 as a first course. Enjoy with Vino Toscano (of course!)
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No connection to or endorsement by Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport is expressed or implied. All rights reserved CycleItalia LLC
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