The Birth of the Ride Camp

A few years ago I was heading out for a ride and ran into my neighbor.  He asked if Trek Travel had trips in Mallorca (we did not at that time) and went on to rave about his own trip to Mallorca that he did earlier that spring with his local cycling team. They rode for 6 days to build their early season base miles in what sounded like ideal terrain and a climate that was significantly better than Madison, Wisconsin!  He suggested Trek Travel do a trip there and after his glowing review of the area I was convinced.

In 2009 we added a Classic Climbs of Mallorca and a Luxury Mallorca trip to the roster. Similar to my neighbor, the guests give glowing reviews.  The more I thought about the conversation I had with my neighbor the more I realized that we needed a trip that focused even more on the riding. A trip that, like my neighbor mentioned, focused on building base miles, and one that was also at a price point that was affordable for even young teams. I knew Mallorca was known as Europe’s biking destination but did not realize how many people go there to train.  It is a cyclist’s paradise!  You can go during the winter, have great weather and awesome riding in a beautiful place.  I looked at a bunch of companies that offer a wide variety of trips and thought we can do this better.  A lot of the companies offer trips at a low price but don’t include the use of a bike and have a lot of additional costs once you are on the trip. Most importantly, they don’t have the customer service for which TT is known. Mallorca was an obvious choice in Europe.

I know a lot of people in the U.S. who would love to go on a trip like this but heading across the pond is not an option.  We need to have a place like this in the U.S.!  Solvang jumped to the top of the list.  This is the place American pros like to go in early spring to get in some miles and big climbs. The riding is spectacular and the weather is perfect for training from late winter into late spring.  Even the Amgen Tour of California has held the Individual Time Trial in Solvang 3 times and is featuring Solvang again in 2011.  Solvang was the winner.

I am really excited about our new Ride Camps, they give a big group of cyclists exactly what they are looking for—great riding in an awesome place without the hassles of planning on your own.  I think the best two things about our trips are the free use of a Trek 5.2 Madone and the fact that like all of our trips, Trek Travel takes care of all of the details so all you have to do is ride!

 
One of the sweet roads in Mallorca!