Mike,
Your the best! Thanks for the info! If anyone out there ever needs a Trek, go see Mike...I bought
one from him, parked it under a Semi, and then bought another.
Stan (Not my real name, Mike, but you probably remember me...living in San Diego now!)
"Mike Jacoubowsky" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> > Does anyone have any good info and experience with travel companies that sponsor trips to France
> > to see the Tour de France? I'm interested in
> going
> > and want to hook up with a good company/group. Please advise.
>
> [This guy's looking for info I've been thinking about digging up for our website anyway, so here's
> what I've run down this afternoon. Also, if anybody has any experiences with any of these groups,
> please post in this thread or via email to me (
[email protected]) so I can put the info
> together for an informational page on our website.]
>
> As you're probably aware (and the reason you're posting now instead of later), France is going to
> be overrun by US folk in 2004, and tours are going to be fully booked before they're even
> announced (meaning that
people
> are going to find ways to reserve spots on tours they don't even know the dates of,
> locations, etc).
>
> I just did a quick search and found a site that has some info, subject to change, on how they
> think things are going to run (and their available
tours
> and costs) for '04-
>
>
http://www.experienceplus.com/tour_de_france.html
>
> But I have no idea how good they are. I just got back from a 12-day Pyrenees to Paris tour with
> the Graham Baxter group (
http://www.sportingtours.co.uk/letour/pyrenees2.html). Very reasonably
> priced, got to see a lot, but it's possibly not the best for someone who's never been to France
> before and might want a bit more hand-holding than
they
> offer.
>
> TREKTravel got rave reviews from everyone I came across who was on a TDF tour with them (we're a
> very large TREK dealer and have a lot of customers interested in what they have to offer, so it
> made since to find out everything I could), but they're basically oversold for '04 already, and
> have told dealers to work on getting people interested in their other
trips.
>
> Backroads generally gets high marks from our customers; info on their TDF packages may be found at
>
http://www.backroads.com/cgi-bin/tripLister.py
>
> Breaking Away is another popular, high-quality organization, with info on their '03 offerings
> (which will give some insight for '04) found at
http://www.breakingaway.com/flash/home.htm
>
> Butterfield & Robinson defines the high-end of cycle touring... $6k for their July 20-28th trip
> for the '03 TDF, to give you an idea. More info
at
>
http://www.butterfieldandrobinson.com/index.asp?navid=16&layid=236&csid=135&
> csid1=1998&fid1=16
>
> Bicycle Outfitters, a shop not too far from our own in the SF Bay Area,
runs
> tours in France, with info on their past '03 offering at
>
http://bicycleoutfitter.com/site/page.cfm?PageID=209. Reasonably priced
and
> good people.
>
> VeloVacations (also known as VeloSport Vacations) is a group I've come across frequently in my
> travels in France, and I found people generally pretty happy with them. Their past '03 offerings
> may be found at
http://www.velovacations.com/tdf_res.html
>
> Steve Bauer, former TDF racer, has another high-end touring company, with info on their past '03
> offerings at
http://www.stevebauer.com/performance_trips/tourdefrance3/
>
> Velo Echappe looks interesting (they emphasize having big-name cycling greats helping out,
> including Sean Kelly... wonder if his English is
easier
> to understand in person than on TV?), but I don't know anyone personally who's been on one of
> their tours; info on their past '03 offerings is at
http://www.veloechappe.com/tdf_pyrs_itin.asp
>
> Former USPS rider Marty Jemison has his own tour company, and briefly touches on their 2004 plans
> at
http://www.martyjemison.com/tdf.html
>
> Inside Track Tours is another one that I'm not familiar with, but there's info on their 2004 TDF
> plans at
http://www.insidetracktours.com/tdf_2004.htm. They do have an added bonus of having Tyler
> Hamilton, 4th place in this year's TDF and found in the dictionary when you look up "Tough as
> nails", as a general partner. For many this may be an added plus, as there could be an assumed
> benefit of being able to at least get an autograph from a real TDF contender!
>
> Cycling Ahead runs trips during the TDF, but I know nothing about them and am a little put off by
> a website that doesn't list prices; you have to
fill
> out a form on their website and they'll get back to you. Info at
>
http://www.cycling-ahead.com/TheTourdeFrance.htm
>
> VeloVista is a general-purpose cycle touring site, with a great deal of useful information,
> including info on the '03 TDF at this page-
http://www.velovista.net/tour_trip_03.htm
>
> Bikestyle Tours, an Australian touring company, has info on their '04 TDF plans here-
>
http://www.bikestyletours.com/index.php/39 (this is another
one
> I have no references on)
>
> Adventure Travel is another Australian touring company, this one with Phil Anderson, former TDF
> great, riding along. Their info on TDF trips is at
http://www.tourdefrance.com.au/default.asp.
> I don't know of anyone who's done one of their tours, but Phil's wife, Christine, speaks
> glowingly of
her
> husbands ability to entertain and take care of their guests (I met her in Lourdes at the '03 TDF;
> details on my diary page at www.ChainReaction.com/diaryfrance2003.htm#christine)
>
> ====================================================================
>
> If anybody know of other tours not listed, please reply to this thread or directly to me via email
> (
[email protected]).
>
> One other thing I should add... if you really want to get into the TDF action itself, it may not
> be practical to be cycling every single day. Conversely, if you want to really get into cycling in
> France, it may not
be
> practical to see that much of the TDF! You'll most likely run yourself
into
> the ground, and possibly disappoint yourself because things didn't work
out
> quite as planned. The best way to have a really enjoyable experience is
to
> be flexible and recognize that your original plans might need to be
altered
> a bit, and try to decide ahead of time if you want to do everything, in which case you'll probably
> need a vacation from your vacation when you get back (personal experience talking here!).
>
> Thanks!
>
> --Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
http://www.ChainReactionBicycles.com
