My voice will probably differ from the other answers you got so far. Be very comfortable to to listen to it though.
Quoted post said:I'll be careful and limit to answer some of your questions:
Should I expect the time off to hurt, help, or make no significant difference 2.
It's a Stage race we're talking about? (so I assume you are of a certain level)
If your Base, your work capacity, your CTL has been brought high enough, you should avoid the collapse or the catastrophy.
However, 12 days off is some bad tapering strategy. I don't see how it could help (unless compared with an even worst tapering stragtegy such as training to failure and/or injury 4 weeks into your main event). And logically, compared to a better tapering strategy, I don't see how the end result could be the same.
Quoted post said:Will 2 weeks be enough time to regain fitness when I return? 3.
These will greatly help. And again, I don't know your profile, meaning I don't know what your goals are during this Stage Race. But no matter what, these two weeks will help regaining lost CTL and sharpen your knife as well.
Quoted post said:What has helped you stay somewhat fit when on vacation off the bike in the past.
This would highly depend on your background in other cyclic endurance sports. If you're a competent runner, then running is certainly a great option. If you are not at all a runner, maybe putting on some bad running shoes, and then starting to run quite fast (which is what your cycling fitness would probably allow you to do) could lead to an injury which could mean the end of your cycling season.
So really, without knowing your more as an athlete, it's very very hard to tell.
