BCI - Ride Reports, Hit the Dirt

Ride Reports List

by Sue Butler

Sixteen BCI members stepped off the train and drag our luggage, first downstairs, then back up out of the train station. Someone should inform the Italians about the wonderful invention called, the elevator. Or, perhaps we should have packed less (I seem to recall my husband mentioning that to me). The clouds threaten to rain on us, but it doesn’t matter because we’re so excited to be in Italy. Actually, we’re in Riccione, a beach city in eastern Italy on the Adriatic Sea.

Tommie Kozlov had “mentioned” to the owner of our hotel, Marina Pasquini, that our train would be arriving at 2:00 p.m. Perhaps Tommie wasn’t, but the rest of us were taken by surprise when we were approached by Marina’s friendly staff members’ offers to help us with our luggage and their invitation to have some refreshments. They had prepared a table with welcomed offerings of meat, cheese, fruit and champagne. What a grand welcome! They loaded our luggage into their van, while the rest of us walked the two miles to the Hotel Belevedere. We were all safely tucked inside the hotel lobby just as the rain began to fall. This was just the beginning of our good luck on this trip as that would be the last of the rain for the entire week.

After receiving our room assignments, we all met in the dining room for the first of many delicious buffet lunches. It was like a grand reunion as we met up with many other BCI members who had arrived earlier and were eager to assist us with our orientation to “how things worked.”

After lunch, we hung out in the lounge area while waiting our turn to be fit to our rental bikes. This was our first opportunity to meet some of the wonderful guides that would be escorting us on our daily cycling tours.

While waiting, I just couldn’t believe we were actually in Italy! It was just six months ago that we got an e-mail from Tommie saying that Richard Sheff was organizing a cycling tour to Italy and there were a couple of spots left if we wanted to join them. We jumped at the opportunity, as did about 75 others. My understanding of the story is that Richard learned of these cycling hotels and asked a couple of friends to join him. Upon further inquiry with the hotel, he was offered a group discount if he could get 12 people. Well…the rest is history. He got so many interested people that he had to book two hotels. Half the members were at the Hotel Dory and the other half, here with us at the Belevedere. The opportunity was too good to be true. For about $125 per day, everything was included: a nice room, bicycle rental, three fantastic meals (plus a snack for the road), use of the spa and numerous special events at the hotel.

Everyone was excited to learn what bike they would receive. The bikes they pulled off of the racks included expensive DeRosa and Colnago bikes, most with triple cranks (which we would soon discover were a necessity for riding in Italy). Everyone was impressed and anxious for tomorrow’s ride.
Before dinner, the hotel served wine coolers and Italian quesadillas. Feeling somewhat full now, we entered the dining room to an amazing selection of food which was divided into four sections:

Starters: which included a salad bar, vegetables, cheeses, hams or other meats, focaccia bread and other breads.

First Course: Typically a soup and then several kinds of pasta.

Second Course: Usually fish, chicken and beef options with potato and other vegetable side dishes.

Dessert: Included various strudels, pastries and cakes along with 6 fabulous gelato selections.
With meals like these, it’s a good thing that we cycling during day! During dinner, the guides would come by each table to discuss the ride options for the following morning. The options are:

Panoramic tour (15-25 miles, 9-12 miles per hour), for those who live the bicycle in a fun and cultural way.

Easy Riding (30-50 miles, 12-15 miles per hour), for the cyclist-tourist who loves to spend free time riding with friends discovering routes in the midst of the fantastic scenery of the Romagnolo hills.

Racing bike tour (60-80 miles, 18+ miles per hour), for the cyclist who wants to practice his sport in beautiful and fascinating places with breath-taking rises and slopes keeping a good level of preparation.

There was a ride for everyone, but many of us agreed that the “easy ride” was equal to our “blue rides” and were by no means easy! The rides included everything from riding flats through the city and learning to navigate lots of round-abouts, to riding in beautiful countryside and cranking up some very challenging hills. It seems we primarily rode to castles that were strategically placed at the top of mountains. Our guides were fantastic! They were skilled, knowledgeable, multi-lingual, not to mention, a lot of fun! They made each ride special.

The rides had a mix of cyclists: Americans, Belgians, Great Britians, and Germans though all the tourists spoke some level of English. This was a huge benefit for us as it allowed us to visit with the other Europeans who were lean, strong and loved to attack the hills. I shared a conversation with a gal from Great Britain who also belonged to a cycling club in England. When I asked her what a typical day in her club was like, she told me they did “time trials.” I said that was nice and explained to her that we ride for coffee and pastries. She found that amusing. She noted that they weren’t used to staying in the saddle very long because of the type of training they did, while the BCI members seemed comfortable in the saddle for long stretches of time.

My favorite quote on a ride was by Kim on a grueling 6-mile hill (with 8 to 10% grades) to San Marino: “Sue, if I ever tell you I’m going cycling in Italy, hit me in the head with a brick!” It’s true that the hills were quite challenging, but all was forgotten once we reached the top and enjoyed the amazing views.

We quickly fell into a routine that week of getting up at 7:15 a.m.; having breakfast by 8:00 a.m.; out on the bike by 9:30 a.m., back by 2:30 p.m. to enjoy a buffet lunch; lounge by the pool, socialize, spa (no swimsuits allowed) or read; shower; go for a walk and coffee; back by 6:30 p.m. to socialize; enjoy dinner at 7:30 p.m.; go for a walk along the beach; and then in bed by 10:00 p.m. It was a routine that we quite enjoyed!

On many afternoons, our hotel offered special gatherings which included an Italian lesson, two cooking lessons and various cocktail parties before dinner. They also had many day tours that you could take if you wanted to take a break from the bike. Many also enjoyed the local shopping opportunities. Angie Carson was particularly well-dressed after one of her excursions and Clint McDonald looked quite dapper in his new Italian shoes. Peter Gerrard and Don Carson wasted no time visiting the nearest bike shop.

Our friends at the Hotel Dory were two miles down the road on their own adventures. Each hotel graciously hosted a gathering so that the two groups could meet and mingle. The Hotel Dory hosted an evening of dancing and Karoke (Richard is quite good), while the Hotel Belevedere hosted a birthday/thank you party for Richard Sheff.

There is one sad event on the trip: Arnold McClintock, a long-time and beloved BCI member, died while climbing one of those famous Italian hills. The only consolation is that Arnold died doing something that he loved. He will be missed.
Many thanks to Richard Sheff, who just thought maybe he’d get a dozen folks to join him in Italy and ended up cycling with 80 of his “closest friends.” Thank you Richard, for all of your efforts. Thank you Tommie for your organizational efforts as well.

Thank you Hotel Dory and Belvedere! As Bob Hope would say, “Thanks for the memories!”