A Cyclingnews special promotion
Rolling over some of Italian cycling legend Marco Pantani's training grounds, Cyclingnews guinea pig Shane Stokes is made to feel more than welcome at one of Riccione's Bike Hotels, where he gets a taste of training camps, Italian style.
For many amateur bike riders, training to race is something of a carefully-structured balancing act. After all, on-bike time is scarce when you are not lucky enough to be part of pro squads such as Discovery Channel or T-Mobile, with the daily grind of work or study, plus a thousand other time-consuming tasks all chomping mercilessly into the kilometres you can clock up on the bike. Professionals will argue that their life isn't half as glamorous as it is cracked up to be, but apart from those harsh early season classics and occasional dosages of Belgian toothpaste, the thoughts of riding your bike all day while others worry about the small details can sure seem sweet.
Your Cyclingnews guinea pig was going to be staying at the Hotel Perla, one of the range which makes up the Riccione Bike Hotels group. The service began immediately after touchdown in Bologna airport, with Ernesto Bronzetti arriving to collect us from the airport. Friendly, bike-obsessed and with constantly-smiling eyes, it didn't take long to warm to Bronzetti, who runs Hotel Perla with his equally amiable sister Federica. His wife Kelly Gerla is also heavily involved, running the Hotel Gran San Bernardo nearby, another member of the Bike Hotel group.
"This is a real cycling friendly area," Bronzetti told us on the way back to the hotel. "People loved Pantani here and are very passionate about the sport. Cycling is very important and there are many fans in the region. It makes cycling in the area more fun, too, because there is a big respect for riders here."
Bronzetti is a real enthusiast about the sport, a fact which quickly became evident from the enthusiastic conversation on the way back to the hotel and also by the setup there. Walking into the reception area, the visitor is greeted by countless pictures on the walls relating to cycling. There's old framed magazine covers of Fausto Coppi, Gino Bartali and all the Italian greats of yesteryear, as well as a montage of impressive photos taken by Bronzetti. These are of the Settimana Ciclista Internazionale race jointly promoted by the Riccione Bike Hotels group each year, the professional teams which have spent time at the hotel (Fassa Bortolo and Navigators were staying there at the same time as Cyclingnews) and, of course, the participants of the camp itself.
Having checked in, it was time to check out the bikes we would be using. Those staying at the bike hotels can either use their own ones or rent some of the classy aluminium Eddy Merckx's on offer. Opting for the latter - and having sent height and inseam measurements prior to travelling - I was very surprised to find that the bike was set up in precisely the same way as my usual mount back home. Not only was there no need to change the saddle or handlebar position, it also came complete with a transfer bearing my name. Nice touch!
The routes, of course, are crucially important to the enjoyment and effectiveness of any camp. The Romagna region offers hugely varied terrain, from flat coast rides to attractive inland plains. Pantani trained here so as you might expect, there are also quite a few high mountains to be tackled should you want to follow in his wheeltracks. In order to make the selection of the day's spins easier, or to facilitate those who wish to do their own thing, every participant is issued with a map detailing 20 tried and tested routes; these are all rated in terms of difficulty and have a profile featuring total length as well as the different altitudes of hills and mountains along the way.
Even the names of these are enough to build up enthusiasm and a mental picture of what is on offer; the easiest routes are entitled "To The Glories of Romagna (Pantani and the Piadina)", "The Sea Lovers Panoramic Tour" and the "Sangiovese Wine Tour", while the more sadistic spins include "The Furlo Gorge", the "Three Regions Tour" and the gloriously titled "Boletus Mushroom Tour", which includes the gruelling grind up to the 1423 metre peak of Cippo Carpegna. Best of all, riders don't even have to worry about their food during and after the spins; the hotel provides training snacks and also a generous and tantalising spread once the participants return. A later evening meal will ensure that energy stores are fully topped up before the following day's ride.
Bronzetti says that the overall goal is to provide the best possible service. "We try to ensure that the riders are catered for in every way," he said. "Firstly, they have a room to store their bicycle and a workshop. We have tour guide leaders - there are three in my hotel - who look after the riders, and now also can cater for triathletes in their disciplines. There is a sports doctor to treat people if necessary, and in my hotel there is a Jacuzzi, steam bath, steam area, free entrance to the gym and a laundry to wash their clothes. Also, when the cyclists go out we have a rescue car so if they have any problems. The guide can phone and we can pick them up. I have a GPS system so that helps in that."
"In addition, we also have special food for the riders. We have 20 different routes on the Tour, and I can calculate how many calories the riders need after doing a spin. When they get back, we can replace their energy loss."
"We are enjoying the camp quite a bit," he stated towards the end of their time there. "We spend our last season training in Spain, in a comparable area along the coast. But we felt that this location had quite a bit more going for it. There were a lot more sections where we could ride on the flat, and a lot more areas where we could get into steep mountains.
"The hospitality at the hotel was very, very good. We really enjoyed it - they treated us like family, which was very important to us. As you know, cyclists have special needs and they were very accommodating. The hotel provides a very ample spread after the spins, very filling. You can then go for a sauna or have a Jacuzzi. We got very nice treatment and that was very welcome after a hard day in the saddle.
"Another good thing was that we got to meet people from other places - from different parts of the US, from the UK and from Ireland. That was fun, and so too to be here at the same time as the Navigators Insurance and Fassa Bortolo teams. All in all, the setup would get five out of five, if I had to rate it. I was very impressed."
Ernesto Bronzetti's wife Kelly Gerla runs another of the hotels, the Gran San Bernardo, and says that each of the 14 is run in the same way as the Perla. "All of the hotels have an equally high standard," she says. "The services are identical in each. The idea is to ensure the best possible stay for the riders who come along, making it a trip that they won't forget."
