Granfondo Yunnan 2018...Part 1..

Saddle Drunk November 7, 2018

Ni Hao !

Ciao & Welcome to China in the beautiful & colourful Yunnan area.

For me is the second time attending the lovely Granfondo Yunnan thanks to the great relationship with Niclas Hellqvist & Kris Van de Velde from Nordic Ways.

We(Tom & I) arrived from London on Friday in the local town of Manghsi where Kris picked us up from the airport to go to the hotel followed with a lovely catch up chat to inform me of all the new changes are in place this year edition since 3 years ago when i have last attended.

The Saturday,which I was supposed to be home due to wife’s birthday, I was instead a prepping the bikes and get few bits & pieces(cit A.P) sorted before the 8.5KM Prologue (Individual Climb Time Trial) in the afternoon.

As expected knowing the great qualities of Kris to pick and choose for his events only the best routes, that in the afternoon we were going to have a go at something peculiar & stunning.

The start was by the side of a lake next to a dam,then we had to race around the perimeter of this lake with some “mangia e bevi” before hitting a nice 1.1 Km tree covered climb with 8% average incline finishing at the top by the entrance of a temple. Some of the serious boys here racing for the prizes made it in a stunning pace.

Saturday night local dinner in Mangshi Square

Stage 1, on Sunday was the so called “ Border Ride” ,105km race to the town of Ruili coasting along the border with Myanmar(Burma) and finishing at the border check point. Due to the location & altitude the climate is tropical, where trees,plants & flower grow freely all year round to enable us to experience an enrich sceneries with plenty of colours & smells.

After the stage some of us went together for lunch to an amazing restaurant.The groups of us was a mix of 14 riders from 4 continents and 13 nationalities.Taking part at Nordic ways events are always great experience,because thanks to our passion of cycling individuals from different origins comes together for the sport.

Stage 2,on Monday we start & finished from the border check point routing us through the city of Ruili before hitting only after 9km from the start a nice 16Km climb with an average of 5% with peaks up to 10%. The ascent was pretty via little villages & nature before reaching the peak and throwing us descending into a false plain with a misty & foggy atmosphere. Followed by that we had at km 56 a climb for 10KM with an average of 6% before riveting in a serious of roller coasting hills taking us back to the finish line…

Kris has been good to all of us participant giving us a rest day,so we could rest but also move from Ruili to Tengchong for the Queen’s stage(Stage 3) of the event with 185km with a total climb of 3000m.

For now is Ciao & Arrivederci from Yunnan on Sunday the 11th of November part 2 will be published…

STAY TUNED TO BE CONTINUED……

The Passionate Italian Weekend

Saddle Drunk May 19, 2018

Aprile 2018

Ciao a Tutti,

It has been a long time that I have not written something about Cycling Experiences to share with all our followers.

I will try not to bore you too much.

Few weekends ago a group of 16 from the SaddleDrunk Cycling Friends Club ( join us on Strava via this link ) went for a long weekend in Faenza, Emilia Romagna, Italy, Europe, Planet Earth.

They flew out early friday morning from the beautiful London to Bologna, capital of the some of the best Italian food…Like Bolognese Sauce the way it is called outside Italy, Ragu another good one, Cappelletti, Tortellini, Ravioli , Tortelli, la “ “Mortazza” (Mortadella) & much more…not to mention that Bologna host the oldest university in Europe….

SD staff & I pick them up from the airport and whisked them away to Imola to have an amazing lunch inside the tragically famous Formula 1 race track where 2 pilots lost their lifes long time ago…RIP Ratzenberg & Senna where we visited their memorials. Really a big touch feeling for me as I saw it with my eyes that tremendous weekend…

OK!!..let’s get a grip and bang on Cycling…We got to the lovely Agriturismo La Sabbiona, after check & prepared out bikes we headed out to the lovely Brisighella a Medieval town.

After our lovely ride in the hills to get new fresh oxygen in our lungs, plenty of fun during the ride including a lovely crash in the first downhill.

We refreshed ourselves & headed out to Town for a meal in a traditional Osteria.

Osteria la Sghisa as usual made us feeling at home with their friendly staff and the astonishing food where we partied until late to celebrate Laura's Birthday.

The Saturday, we woke up gently by the sounds of the "Galletto" in the farm.Followed up by an Italian & Intercontinental breakfast fuelling up for our day on the bike.

We spent all day on a bike touring around the hills and preparing for the Granfondo Le Cime Di Romagna 2018 the following day organised by the Gruppo Sportivo Ciclistico Avis Faenza.

In the evening we had another amazing meal at Casa Spadoni where everyone was able to enjoy more culinary delicacies from the area of Emilia Romagna.

The Sunday morning we had an early wake due to the 7:30 start of the event.The 3 various distances were perfect for the different group abilities. The distance covered were Corto, Medio & Lungo.

Everyone had great fun,and we all enjoyed the “LOCAL’s” attentions, the friendly event’s staff,the well organised event and routes and the well stocked feed stations.

We were awarded 2 trophies due to be the furthest team. The trophies were a really long & thick “ SALAMI “ and a big ceramic vase from one of the local ceramist in Faenza.

Faenza is very well known in the world thanks to be the home of Ceramics.

Prize Ceremony to be the farthest travelled Team.

The last day of our trip was a realxing day where we had a really slow where we enjoyed our breakfast.

Our local host Serena owner of La Sabbiona, prepared our class room with flour,eggs, rolling pins, chef’s hat & all other items needed to complete the cooking course.

At the end of the course all the “students” were able to eat the food made during the class & well earned after sweating.

As the weekend was more than amazing, we will make this an annual event for the club.Therefore if you like to be part of just join us at ride@saddledrunk.com

I hope you enjoyed the reading and remember to be safe on the road.

Ciao

Setting new best FTP's while making Pasta.

Ventoux

Saddle Drunk December 10, 2017

Our guest writer & friend Leigh send us few lines about his experience with us at Mt Ventoux a couple months back...

Firstly thank you so much for organising it Stef. Even when it went tits up with the airport strikes you managed to sort it all for us.

It was an amazing trip and I look forward to going on more with Saddle Drunk in the future. I was surprised how easy it was to get to Ventoux from London with the bikes on the plane and train. It was great that you had booked everything for us. Made the journey very straightforward, even after I went to the wrong terminal to begin with.

The accommodation was perfect. Plenty of space for us, very near Ventoux and came with great chef 😉. I loved the warm up ride to the very snazzy bar on the mountain. Excellent way to prepare for the next day's ascent(s).

From a cold grey London in the morning I was now sitting on the mountain in the afternoon, enjoying beautiful views with great beer and greater company. Who could ask for more. I absolutely loved climbing Ventoux.

I couldn't have asked for better weather and better climbing companions. Apart from obviously reaching the top twice the highlight really was the hybrid pain au chocolate/almond croissant (most delicious pastry I have ever had).

I will definitely be back to climb the mountain again. I need to bag the 3 ascents now. It is an addictive climb which really is legendary. Thank you to yourself and Dave for making the weekend such a joy.

Thank you very much Leigh & if you like more informations for our next trip across the continent please email us at ride@saddledrunk.com.

Merry Xmas.

La Vacanza e' Finita!!

Saddle Drunk August 25, 2017

Ciao a tutti,

Now the holidays are over and we will be getting back to the normal life,routines, activities.

We will spent the next few rides chit chatting away about the amazing holidays we had & peoples we met..

Brain cells will start to plan for your next trip,goal.target or PB's...Always remember to stay concentrate on the road while talking on the saddle.

Therefore if you let me, I would like to give you few cycling events which are worth taking part:

The Road World Championships 2017 Granfondo in Bergen,Norway just less the 4 weeks away;
Leg of Steel 2017 in the Surrey Hill it say on the tin..good riding.Amazing event organised by Ful On Tri (30th of September);
Our few days trip around the Mount Ventoux, 8th to the 10th of October email us at ride@saddledrunk.com for more info;
The stunning KOM in Taiwan ,for real climbers not for the faint hearted (October 2017);
The Granfondo China in November ,multi stages event in the stunning Yunnan (November 2017);
We also have another little trip away to Majorca from the 6th to the 9th of November, email us at ride@saddledrunk.com for more info;
Ethiopia Wild Bike organised by a good friend Willy at PA Cyclism (December 2017);
Another one is the Patagonia,Argentina & Chile ride, for real wilderness (December 2017);
Finally my favourite...The Mongolia Bike Challenge....Mongolia is a stunning country,people are amazing and this is the best way to see the true colours (August 2018);

Those ones are my favourite that I would like to share with you. So now is time to shape up, to keep dreaming or start dreaming.

Be determine and you will reach your destinations, push your limits.Don 't create barriers that are not needed.Just do it.

SD Team.

Vamos en España , 23rd March 2017 !!

Saddle Drunk October 6, 2016

Ciao a tutti,

In collaboration with PA Cyclism we have created a cycling package to Spain for March 2017. Those Spanish tour can be for Road Bikes or Mountain Bikes. There will be plenty of climbing this is why the area has been used copious times by the VUELTA.