Last week I wrote about the dumpster-diving bicyclist who has turned the inexpensive bicycle tour into a science.
Conversely, there's the super-expensive bicycle tour where corporate executives pay up to $30,000 and more for bike trips staffed with people to cater to their every whim.
One of those outfits is Destination Cycling. Founder Joe Tonon writes about the technological side of this bike tour business in Fortune magazine's Small Business section this month.
The cyclist said he raced for a few years, before putting together bike tours in France and Italy for friends. He saw a lot of interest in European bike touring several years ago and founded his company in 2002.
Tonon writes that he runs bike tours from his bicycle about 70 days a year. Some of the tours simulate the Tour de France, covering about 100 miles a day for three weeks. He writes:
“Our customers pay us $30,000 for the experience of a lifetime and, in some instances, six figures for exclusive tours. They expect us to plan for the unexpected. ”
His staff includes semi-pro riders, logistics experts, van drivers and massage therapists. They all carry laptops and have access to all the route and rest-stop information. Any member of the staff can pinpoint any tour using GPS.
On the road, Tonon stays in touch with his staff with a two-way radio and wireless headset in his helmet.
The bike tour director is looking after his clients long before the ride begins. He can monitor their training on CycleOps Indoor Cycle Pro PT300 indoor cycling machines and check their weekly ride information to make sure they'll be in good enough shape for the rigors of the ride.
Much of this travel and training coordination wouldn't have been possible before wireless technology.
You can check out the “performance adventures” and “lifestyles adventures” at the Destination Cycling website.
It sounds like quite a different bicycle touring experience than what Nick Lubeki wrote up in Dirt Rag magazine article entitled, “Do-It-Yourself Bike Touring.”
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