Granfondo Marco Pantani Weekend

Ciao a tutti,

After the last Italian trips we have decided to organise another trip to Italy for the weekend of the Granfondo Marco Pantani in September 2019.

You will be able to ride some of Marco’s Climbs.

We will be doing a long weekend leaving the Friday morning from London Heathrow & returning on Monday evening.

The trip include 4 days of cycling in Marco’s Land in the beautiful Region of Emilia Romagna, visiting some of the iconic places where he trained & lived, enjoying the sceneries,history & local cuisine.

Emilia Romagna is also land of many other professionals cyclists,champions of the past & present, hence the Giro D’Italia 2019 had 6 stages in the region including the start & the time trial up to San Marino.

The Granfondo is held the Sunday of the weekend of the 21st & 22nd of September, the day after the UCI 1.1 race which many Pro Tour Teams attend the event to pay respect to Marco.

Marco Pantani at the time of Carrera Team.

We will be staying at 4* Hotel Lungomare in Cesenatico where will be enjoying the amazing facilities & the professional services provided by the hotel staff.

A quick brief of the details are listed below & or you can click here for full details.

PROGRAM

Friday 20th of September 2019

• Flight from London Heathrow to Bologna on BA 540

• Private transfer to 4* Hotel Lungomare in Cesenatico

• Check In Hotel

• Buffet Lunch in hotel

• 3 hours Ride with Guide

• Return on the Hotel,relax in the wellbeing centre & yoga on the beach

• Visit to the Marco Pantani Museum

• Dinner in Cesenatico

Saturday 21th of September 2019

• Breakfast

• 3-4 hours bike ride 

• Watch the arrival of the UCI 1.1 Memorial Marco Pantani Pro Race

• Return on the Hotel,relax in the wellbeing centre & yoga on the beach

• Dinner in Hotel

Sunday 22th of September 2019

• Early Breakfast

• Granfondo Pantani

• Pasta Party

• Return on the Hotel,relax in the wellbeing centre & yoga on the beach

• Aperitif in Cesenatico 

• Dinner in Cesenatico with Marco Pantani’s Mother

Monday 23th of September 2019

• Breakfast

• 3 hours Ride

• Lunch back at the hotel

• Dismount the bikes

• Transfer to Bologna Airport

• Flight Bologna to Heathrow BA545 18:50 arrive at 20:00

If you like to hear more infos please email us ride@saddledrunk.com .

Ciao for now from the SaddleDrunk Team.

SD

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.

London 2 Paris 2017

By great demand our annual ride to Paris has been decided. Those are the date to pencil in your diary 16th to 18th of June. We will ride just over 300km of lovely rolling roads at an easy pace giving the opportunity to stay altogether.We will maintain throughout the journey the  "NO DROP" policy.

Dates of departure is 16th June from Ealing to Newhaven Ferry Port,approximately 105km.On the way there we will have a pit stop before reaching a nice restaurant to refill before jumping on the ferry.

The ferry ride to Dieppe is about 5 hour.As soon as we land in France we will ride along the famous "Avenue Verte",the old Paris to Dieppe rail track.

We will ride nearly 200km that day with stops along the route to refill and chill.

On arrival in Paris at Eiffel Tower we will do our photos before heading to the hotel.A quick shower to get ready for a lovely meal & a bit of socialising in the Parisian Suburbs.

Around Paris!!

We will return to London on the 18th of June with Eurostar.

The price is for £ 250 which include:                                                                    

• 1 x Driver/Mechanic to accompany the group 
• Support Vehicle to provide mechanical and emergency assistance as required
• Baggage transfer from UK to France
• Bike return from Paris to London
• Hotel 3 star (twin/double occupancy) on B&B basis
• Ferry outbound including private cabin(twin occupancy)
• Eurostar
• Special Edition SaddleDrunk Jersey 

If you like more info or you would like to join us please email us at ride@saddledrunk.com.

SaddleDrunk Team.

GRANFONDO LA MONT BLANC

Nick named "La Granfondo on top of Europe's Roof" will be held again this year in the stunning surrounding of the Mont Blanc,in Courmayeur.

The event will be held on the 26th of June 2016 and thousands of riders will attend this astonishing Granfondo.

The rides available caters for everyone,from novice to expert.There will be plenty of climbing,plenty of elevation gain.The feed stations manned by the friendly local people will be able to provide local delicacies given you the boost to ride those mountains. 

You can reach the event from various airports, Geneva,Turin,Milan. Transfers could be arranged via private  buses or car hires.

Accommodations can cater for every needs, from apartments to 5 star hotel,Cycling and golf could also be combined.A little tour to the Mont Blanc,horse riding,relaxing at the SPA and food & wine tasting are a great combination for an amazing weekend.

Check this video to feel the immense of this location. 

We can help in arranging your weekend away in the top of Europe. Packages can be provided,for more info email us store@saddledrunk.com.

Otherwise you can find the registration link by clicking here .

Profile of the long distance. 

The SaddleDrunk Team will be there,you can also be there in sharing great emotions with us.

SD TEAM

Richmond Run Fest 2016

Ciao all,

As stated few days ago,we have partnered up with the Richmond Run Fest 2016. Below is a quick presentation of the event from the Richmond Run Fest Staff.

'Welcome to London's most exclusive race, Richmond RUNFEST. Do you ever wonder what it would be like to run through the world heritage site, Kew Gardens? On the 18th of September 2016, that's exactly what you can do. 6,000 runners will join us in the most beautiful gardens in London to take on the Kew Gardens 10k and the Richmond Half Marathon. Both races finish at a our Finish Festival in Old Deer Park where all finishers receive a medal, Nike tech tee and most importantly a beer!

You don't have to be a runner to enjoy an afternoon at our free Finish Festival. Invite your friends and family and come and enjoy the great line up of artists and live music.

In the afternoon 2,000 school children from across the borough will join us for the Richmond RUNFEST Nike Kids Mile and 500m races. The kids were welcome by local London 2012 Olympians Ross Murray and Andy Baddeley and every child received a Richmond RUNFEST medal and a Nike technical t-shirt.'

We have arranged a special discount code for all you SaddleDrunkers to be used when register for the event. Enter "SADDLEDRUNK" on check out. 

Have fun all and see you there.

SD TEAM