The Sleeping Giant

Napoleon Bonaparte once said, 

 “China is a sleeping giant. Let her sleep, for when she wakes she will move the world.” 

Photo Credit @ Nicole

In the last 6 months China has changed the world as Napoleon Bonaparte said many years ago.  

Our entire planet from the South Pole to the North Pole, around the Equator’s diameter , each single human living on Earth have altered their life path.  

Our grand children, great grand children will study this event at school and they will know the cause of this.Hopefully it will prepare them for maybe another Pandemic to come. 

Photo Credit @ Nicole

I have been fortunate enough to travel to China since 2010 constantly at least 3 or 4 times a year in taking part at cycling events or cycling around to discover the unknown of this immense country. 

Certainly during the years I have noticed amazing changes with people, nature, way of living and certainly a fast developing country that attract me more to discover more of their traditions. 

Photo Credit @ Nicole

During my trips I have slept in many different kind of accommodations, alone or shared , with electricity or without , with or without windows, freezing cold or really hot but still amazing experiences. 

 If you are not shy, timid, speaking & meeting people is a must when you travel the world, especially when you share your passion of cycling. The feeling of crossing another cyclist in the empty roads is astonishing, the silhouette of a cyclist far away in front of you is like a mirage that turns real. Indescribable joy, you can only try to experience it.I was lucky to meet amazing people that some of them will describe their experience of living and cycling in China. 

Photo Credit @ Nicole

Being Italian, by default I am a food lover, passionate about my palate with the will to experience more.I think when I eat, I encounter an extreme pleasure. Cycling in China every time you need to adapt to the local cuisines, hygiene and locations of your meals where in most occasions are well out of the Western Countries standards.

Photo Credit @ Nicole

I have asked a fellow cyclist about her thought of China and its beauties. She has been living over in China for a long time and has a good presence,experience within the Chinese Cycling Community.Lets hear from her below.

Photo Credit @ Nicole

Outside the big cities, China is an amazing place for road cycling/touring, which I don´t want to miss. I started road cycling before I moved to China, but in fact started longer distance riding and bike touring there and since then have been on many, mostly self-organized cycling trips in- and outside of China. 

 The country is very diverse in landscape, culture & food, and it´s perfect for little or bigger adventures. I somehow got addicted to these, they are definitely one of the reasons, beside my work, why I still live in China after more than 10 years. For me, there is nothing more refuelling than to cycle through remote landscapes, feeling in touch with the surroundings, getting big smiles (or laughs because ppl think you are completely nuts, to cycle for leisure) and thumbs up from friendly locals. 

Photo Credit @ Nicole

If you speak a bit Chinese it is very easy to get in touch, as people are very curious and want to know everything, from where you come from, to if you are married and how many kids you have (the last two are very common and important questions in China 😉). 

Said that, if you don´t speak Chinese at all, you need to be either very adventurous, stress resistant or better organize someone who speaks a bit of Chinese to come along with you, or go on an organized trip.  If you like to taste new dishes and don´t bother to always know what you are eating (it´s the taste that counts, right?), food is also amazing. Of course, you might get the runs once in a while (better be prepared for that!), especially if you are not used to oily and spicy food. In all those years though, this happened only a few times to me.    

Photo Credit @ Nicole

Thank you Nicole for sharing your experience and thoughts about China.

When the travel begins & reopen again you must visit China to experience the unknown beauty. Feel free to get in touch with us for more infos.

Stay safe & well in thus times.

Ciao from the SaddleDrunk Family.

Photo Credit @ Nicole

Giro D'Italia 2019 Italian Trip

Weekend Away for the Wine Stage of the Giro d’ italia 2019.

As the start of the Giro D’italia will be around our home town we have decided to have a trip where will be watching the “BIG BOYS” playing with their bikes.

The 2 top attractions of this trip are the ride to admire the boys during the “Wine Stage” arrival in San Marino & a lovely ride to Florence crossing the back spine of Italy which are the “Apennines”.

Photo Credit @ Smart Travel Italy

You will be flying out from London Heathrow to Bologna on Saturday 18th of May 2019 where you will be whisked away on a private transport to Imola for lunch.

Our home base will be a wine farm in the hills of Faenza with a lovely swimming pool overlooking the fields.

We will be riding for 4 days.

• Day 1 : After arrival we will be riding for 70km Ride;

• Day 2 : Ride to San Marino to watch the “Wine Stage” 160km Ride;

• Day 3 : Ride to Florence across the Apennines 110km Ride;

• Day 4 : Ride to Ravenna for the start of stage 10. 60km Ride;

Photo Credit @ Italian Tribune

Please see details here:

Price per person:

GBP 440 for cyclist on double occupancy

GBP 350 for non cyclist on double occupancy

GBP 480 for cyclist on single occupancy

The prices above include:

• Return flights with British Airways from London to Bologna 18/5/2019 return 21/5/2019 ;

• Economy class including cabin luggage + 1 piece of luggage of 23kg (additional luggage can be added at your own cost). The 1 piece of luggage is your bike bag.

• Private airport transfer for you and your bike.

• Private Transfers in town.

• 3 nights accommodation at Agriturismo La Sabbiona on a bed and breakfast basis.

• Trip jersey .

• Daily supported rides with guide and mechanical support if required.

• Complimentary sport nutrition.

At your own cost:

• Cooking course at Agriturismo La Sabbiona available at cost of £45 per person (2 and1/2 hours course and eating what cooked);

• Cycling bibs of the Event kit available at £65;

• Bicycle hire available please advise if required

• Bike box hire available at £30, please advise if required;

• Travel insurance (we recommend Yellow Jersey Insurance. Discount code available)

• Incidental expenses

For more information please email us store@saddledrunk.com

The Best Cities to Cycle in 2018,Part 1.

Ciao a tutti,

We will start a series of tips about cycling in Cities and telling about this is a special guest is Flora Dallas,she is a content writer for Fat Lama - the world’s fasted growing peer-to-peer rental platform.

Copenhagen, Denmark

The prevalence of the cycling culture in Scandinavia make it hard to pick out a clear winner, however, if one had to choose, Copenhagen probably takes the biscuit as the ultimate city-cycle experience. You can explore one of the most picturesque harbours in Europe, via the 454 km of cycle tracks. In fact it is so popular that whole infrastructure in place to promote cycling - with bikes being given traffic light preference in rush hour, cycle only bridges and superhighways all in place. In fact cycling is so popular here that only 29% of households even own cars!  

Cambridge, UK

If you are planning an easy city break ‘staycation’ then you could do a lot worse than exploring the ancient colleges, parks and, of course, punting in Cambridge. Though the UK is perhaps not as up to date as their Scandinavian counterparts when it comes to cycling; Cambridge is truly the exception, as its high proportion of students and flat landscape have cultivated a long history of cycling as the primary means of transport. Indeed, you will find it easy to navigate with 30% of the city being traffic free and over 80 miles of cycle tracks to play with. If you do not want the hassle of taking your bike on such a short trip, you can always borrow bikes locally and cheaply from people nearby on peer-to-peer rental sites like Fat Lama.

Chicago, USA

If you are looking for a US city break with a cycling twist then look no further! Chicago with its famous Millenium Park and Navy Pier, make it an ideal candidate for cycle exploration. What’s more, it has the infrastructure to back it up, having undertaken some major cycle improvements in recent years through the Loop Link transport project. Currently, it has over 200 miles of cycle paths in place (set to rise to over 600 by 2020) plus the 18.5 mile lake front trail, making it the cycle-friendly major city in the US.

Until next time stay safe on the road.

The Passionate Italian Weekend

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.

AYRTON SENNA MEMORIAL

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….

Agriturismo La Sabbiona

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.

Local Delicacies

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.

Laura's Gluten Free cake

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.

Local Art

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. 

Italian Style Aperitif Time

A team photo at the feed station!!

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

SD 

Setting new best FTP's while making Pasta.

Ventoux

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.