Tania Worgull

My Favorite Day on The Bike

Posted on January 9, 2015 - 2:29 pm by keith_ritter

L’Etape du Tour (French for “A Stage of the Tour”) is a European cyclosportive that attracts over 8,000 riders annually to gather and ride a stage of the Tour de France, over its most famous climbs. It’s a true mixture of pain, suffering, triumph and glory.

Trek Travel President Tania Burke riding the Etape du Tour cycling vacation Tania Burke has conquered nine years running of L’Etape du Tour with no slow down in site. A gift from her husband John, this Project One Trek Madone commemorates her accomplishment of the first five events, complete with the most challenging summits from each of those courses.
But there is one ride not featured on the bike: the first year Tania and John attempted the Etape. In 2006, Col d’Izoard and Alpe d’Huez highlighted a difficult course. According to John, “It was the most incredible scenery I have ever seen in one day. Every time you turned around there was another mountain, glacier, waterfall, or a tunnel through a mountain. Unbelievable.” Needing to finish by 6PM, they didn’t make the time cuts. Defeated at the base of Alpe d’Huez, Tania and John vowed to return and that’s exactly what they did. Nine L’Etape du Tour’s. Eight finisher medals.

Each one a classic story.

Looking at the top tube of the bike, you will notice ‘Panda the Bear’ on Tourmalet in 2010. It was a monster route to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Tour de France. Col de Marie-Blanque. Col du Soulor. Col du Tourmalet. A test of both mental and physical strength. The forecast called for hot and humid weather. What they experienced felt much worse. Citizens lining the roads dumped stream water over the riders’ heads. Tania ran out of gas 3 kilometers from the top of Tourmalet. It was time for Panda to pedal. He did, and together they crossed the finish line.

Flash forward to 2012. Col du Telegraphe. Col du Galibier. Alpe d’Huez. Again just a few kilometers from the finish. Tania had been riding with ‘the boys’ when a few of them decided to leave the group. John told Tania to go hunt them down. She did, but their good friend Dr. T. audaciously passed her on a short downhill. The race was on. 500 meters to the summit of Alpe d’Huez and Tania pounded as hard as she could. Taking the inside edge on the final left-hand turn, she stood up and took off. Dr. T. had no response. Although thousands of people crossed the finish line before her, Tania won on Alpe d’Huez.

This year will be John and Tania’s 10th L’Etape du Tour. New course. New climbs. New stories. Same great event.

Bob Joy’s 2011 Guide Commencement Speech

Posted on June 13, 2011 - 9:32 am by keith_ritter

I was just looking at the photo album of the new guides that Trek Travel posted a few weeks ago. I would have loved to deliver the inspirational commencement address at their graduation ceremony. If I had, here’s what I would have said:

Congratulations to the Trek Travel guide class of 2011! You have distinguished yourselves among your peers by gaining admission to a training program that is more selective than many Ivy League colleges. During your course of study you learned how to refill water bottles and tune bikes while your guests make leisurely laps through the breakfast buffet. You learned how to fit a premium carbon bike to the precise measurements and personal preferences of each guest. You learned how to fix a flat on the road using nothing more than a cheap plastic comb and a folded dollar bill. And you learned the art of laying out a classic Trek Travel Picnic that captures the romance of a small village in the French Pyrenees, the majesty of a Redwood forest, or the abundant sunshine of a winery in Mallorca, each time introducing your guests to local produce, specialty foods, and delicious wines.

For all you have accomplished, you know that you have much more to learn. So, for your first few trips you will be paired with a veteran guide. Jacob Young will share his famous recipe for guacamole so you can welcome your guests back from a long day of cycling with chips, salsa, and cold beer. Stephanie Stewart Chapman will tell you she is an “enabler” because she enables her clients to strive for and achieve more than they ever thought they could. Greg Lyeki will show you the art of happily riding along with the slowest cyclists in your group to be sure they find their way. And Cendrine DeVis will show you how to hide champagne in your knapsack so you can toast your guests in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower after they have completed laps on the Champs-Eleysee.

You will also hear stories about some of the legendary feats of your Trek Travel colleagues. You will learn how Dan Frideger persuaded a local boulangerie in central France to open early so that his guests would be greeted by warm pastries as they boarded the 6:30 AM train to Paris for the finale of the Tour de France. You will learn how Diane Suozzo and Doug Kirkby responded when the Italian authorities abruptly closed of the following day’s route at the Giro d’Italia by devising a fantastic climb into the marble quarries above Carrera that include five “gallerias,” or tunnels. And you will learn how one of the guides spent the night sleeping in a van on the Col d’Aubisque in the Pyrenees so she could make it to Trek Travel’s exclusive viewing perch in time to personally congratulate every guest who scaled that legendary climb the next day. Her name? Tania Worgull, Trek Travel’s president!

The Birth of the Ride Camp

Posted on January 27, 2011 - 8:01 am by keith_ritter

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!

Category Archives: Tania Worgull

My Favorite Day on The Bike

Bob Joy’s 2011 Guide Commencement Speech

The Birth of the Ride Camp

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