Tour de Cure, Haute Route and more riding news

The latest news 

Tour De Cure

Haute Route

Swiss MTB

Le Tour - Provence to Paris Deluxe Tour

NZ MTB (info to be released soon)


Tour De Cure - Come April I will be working with Tour De Cure - a cycling event riding from Sydney to Melbourne. If you can assist, a dollar or even by forwarding this post, it will greatly benefit awareness, research, support and prevention. As part of my fundraising I am also offering a three course Sydney harbour-side dinner including alcohol, for the person, and their partner, who makes the largest donation. Here is view below! To sponsor click here.


----------
The Haute Route is drawing closer: 

We are offering an 11 day fully catered adventure including:

Entry to the inaugural 7 day La Haute Route from Geneva to Nice

Five star accommodation before and after La Haute Route - Geneva we will be staying at Le Richemond - Nice we will be at Hotel Negresco

Gourmet food including Welcome and Farewell Dinners

Premium Accommodation Package while on tour

Dedicated mechanical support 

Tours of Geneva and Nice

Cycling Kit included

Partner Program for those who not ride - daily activities

For more information please click on the French flag below.

-------------


Swiss Lakes and Alps MTB - riding some of EU's best single track (MTB based)

Welcome to the beautiful to Swiss Alps, where the grass is green, the snow is on the peaks and there are cows and trails everywhere. For the riders we have some breath taking trips going through amazing scenery and riding flowing trails. For the non riders you will have a wonderful time with our guide who will take you on hikes and show you places of natural beauty.

-----
TdF Provence to Paris Deluxe Tour - last week of le tour (road based)

The Tour de France here we come, a cyclist dream! Experience six TDF Stages including Alpe d'Huez and the Paris finish. Riders conquer Mont Ventoux and Alpe d'Huez. Grandstand seating in Paris for the finish; optional morning ride on Champs Elysées on race day.
----

twowheeltours.com.au is a bike tour company which was created to take cyclist on tours to amazing destinations. Many companies offer cycling trips, yet our subtle difference is that not only do we take those who cycle but we also take their loved ones (other than their bikes) along for the adventure. We offer a client focused adventure which is activity based for both the cyclist and non cyclist.
 

We are an Australian company which is based in Europe during their summers. We offer luxury bike tours encompassing both road and mountain biking. We are primarily based in France and Switzerland including the Pyrenees and Alps. We also offer Australian and New Zealand based tours, including Sydney for it's famous New Years Eve celebration, Tropical North Queensland for its 2012 Solar Eclipse and MTB tours to Rotorua, home of single track heaven.

Canberra Bound - MTB trails await

Monday 7 Mar 2011

Another perfect weekend in Canberra - we had our fittest group ever head down on Saturday morning. I was on my new steed, the Cannondale RZ One Twenty-1 - to have a NO chain feeling all weekend was amazing! With Sram X9 (2x10) gearing I found myself never in the small chain ring and kept the bottom 3 clean all weekend ... an truly amazing bike! It was great that we had fit MTB'ers as at our first ride site, Sparrow and then the new Kowen Trail, was Ben Henderson. The weekend before Ben was racing at the National Champs down at Eagle Park down in Adelaide, to read about his 'experience' down there click here. Riding the trails at Sparrow Hill were as per usual great! Even with the road being built through the majority of the area there is still 12k of flowing single track ... don't forget that Manly Dam(b) has all of 10k! 

After that 'warm-up' session we headed over the road to ride the new MTB Mont 24 Course, being run April 9-10. WHAT A TRACK - hats off to all the builders including Paul Cole, Alan Vogt and co! There is a little more climbing than at Sparrow but that also means there is PLENTY of flow! The final run is very reminiscent to the old Roller Coaster at Sparrow - the Kowen trail is now up there on the favourite MTB track 1st page.

From there lunch, coffee, check in at the Australian Institute of Sport and then back out on trail for some more entertainment ... now if you can't make fun of yourself then your taking yourself too seriously ... I had an accident - never before have I scratched my forearms! Not only one forearm but both! There will be footage soon of the crash ... I leave it at that.

For dinner we were joined by Ben, h is girlfriend Ali and Peter Dowse from Capital Bike Hire. It was a great opportunity to ask some questions to Ben about his training practices, nutrition and other regimens. Ali is a physio-theparist and masseuse and also gave us some insight how we can become better riders/athletes ... all while eating ALL YOU CAN EAT.

There were some tuckered out riders so off to bed early. Hats off to Simon and Michael for getting up early and hitting some more trails. Simon had forgotten his lights so he got to use my Chutta Radical-Lights, needless to say he was impressed at the amount of light that they threw out onto the trail!

Once we filled our stomachs at breakfast, plenty of bircher muesli, bacon and eggs etc etc we were off to Stromlo. The trail was in good condition after the Rocky Trail Entertainments race that was held the day before. I was impressed that our crew did so much riding after already having completed so much the day before (and morning). Simon Finch, one of our riders, is in training for Cape Epic in South Africa, rumoured to be one of the toughest MTB races, and seems to have the lungs and legs for the race - GOOD LUCK to Simon and we'll all be following him with much interest! It was three laps for him and the other Simon, nothing to sneeze at all!

Another big session of food eating followed then back to the AIS to shower before heading back to Sydney. Big thanks to Heinz and Simon for coming over from Adelaide for the trip, they were impressed with the trails down in Canberra and I look forward to heading back to Adelaide to ride some of those great single tracks that they have in Adelaide in the very near future.  

What's next - we have a busy schedule coming up - we will be out at the Rocky Trail - Mt Annan race which is being held 26-27 March then we are sagging the Tour de Cure which is raising money for the fight against Cancer. The 70 riders will depart from Sydney and finish at the MCG in Melbourne - the riders departing Friday 1 and finishing Sunday 10 April. It will be great to be part of something so special. 

Another week another MTB and Cycling adventure

Hello all you riders out there in computer land - sitting in front of a computer instead of sitting on your bike, how sad this can be! It was another whirlwind week for all parts that are the three co's.

MTB Day Trip
---
Haute Route Accommodation
---
Facebook Pages for mtnbike & twowheeltours
---
MTB Skills Clinics for Ladies 
***
MTB Day Trip:
On Saturday 26 Feb we took our first official MTB Day Trip up to Ourimbah and Awaba MTB parks. We all had a great time besides a few minor incidents ... below are just two clips from a two 'mis-jedgements' - the other clip from our trip can be found here.

What are these day trips about ... they're all about taking Sydney riders North to hit up the MTB trails at Ourimbah and Awaba. mtnbike departs from two locations in Sydney, 1) Super Centre at Moore Park and 2) 120 Pacific Hwy North Sydney. Cost is $89 and includes transport of you and your bike plus lunch. The trails up there are flowing and full of single track. Book Now to get your spot sorted. If I come along what should I bring? Check out our FAQ section.

***

Haute Route Accommodation

Accommodation has been booked for La Haute Route. Five star accommodation pre and post race in Geneva and Nice. Below is a brief review of what is in store for those lucky enough to be coming along for the racing adventure. 

Accommodation Geneva

Le Richemond  Set on the banks of Lake Geneva, overlooking the famous Jet d’Eau, with the snow-capped Alps in the distance, the historic Le Richemond is one of the most prestigious hotels in Geneva. All rooms are decorated in a contemporary style and equipped with a unique individualized heating/cooling system, dual-line telephones with voice messaging, LCD flat-screen television with interactive video on demand, satellite, cordless keyboard with internet access through the TV, data port with high speed internet connection, in-room safe, minibar, hairdryer, heated towels rack and many enjoy views over the peaceful Brunswick Gardens or Lake Geneva. In addition, in all Suites: docking station for Ipod, plasma screen in bathrooms, and DVD player.

Le Negresco Set on the shore of the Mediterranean, the Negresco is much more than a luxury hotel; it is the result of human adventures, of meetings, of anecdotes, of artistic flair – from the situation itself and its collections. The decoration of each one of our 94 guestrooms and 31 suites has been inspired by the most outstanding periods of French art and history. Rooms have been individually decorated to reflect styles as different as Louis XIII and art deco. The most recent technology has not been forgotten and every room is equipped with LCD television sets and Wifi Internet access.

Accommodation Nice

***

Facebook Pages for mtnbike & twowheeltours

It is with great honour that we now classify as 'amateur sports teams' on facebook! We are closing down the standard pages and now moving to 'liked' pages. If you are a member of facebook and are not FRIENDS of mtnbike & twowheeltours click the links and join in to see what we are all about.

***

MTB Skills Clinics for Ladies 

We are just about to start another block of Skills Clinics for Ladies on MTB's. Below are more details and we will be running another block of four in April. Dates to be released in the very near future.

Skills Sessions 2011 - Each month we will be running a block of four skill sessions at Moore and Centennial Park.

Details are:

In March they will take place on Tuesday 1, 8, 15 and 22

Cost - $100

Time - 6:15pm - 7:30pm

Equipment - we reccommend that you at least have a comfortable pair of cycling shorts, a helmet and a working recently serviced mountain bike.

***

Have a good week and see you out on the trails/road.

Will Levy

will.levy@twowheeltours.com.au

+61 (0) 430 121 776

www.twowheeltours.com.au

www.bikeshuttle.com.au

www.mtnbike.com.au

AMB + mtnbike weekend = May 29/29 '11

Life is never meant to be dull! It is has been another great week both on and off the bike. 

In brief:

AMB

Trizone

SMP Saddles 

Day Trip

Ladies MTB Skills Sessions

AMB - Australian Mountain Bike (!) - the big news of the week is that we've got a weekend coming up where the boys from AMB will coming down to Canberra. To start the weekend a skills session will be held, during this block of time riders will be coached on techniques such as cornering, braking, obstacles and many more MTB skills. Throughout the weekend AMB will be riding with us and continuing to coach and instruct. A truly great way to improve your riding ability and a great learning experience. More info can be found on the site by clicking here. 

Trizone - Big thanks to trizone for their great work and helping to spread the word of bikeshuttle.com.au - we have some events coming up which we will be shuttling bikes to, these including the USM Event Mooloolaba Triathlon (late March) and the Olympic distance Byron Bay Triathlon (early May). No more packing your bike, putting it in a bag, then taxi, then plane etc etc! Let us transport your bike from Sydney to your event without the hassle. 

SMP Saddles - this week I added to my Cannondale CAAD 10-1 a SMP Composit saddle. I've been riding my old saddle for almost 10 years now, afraid of change! How very wrong I was, Oly, from Cheeky Monkey Randwick, suggested that I give it a test and I'm sold! It does seem a little hard to the touch but the way it is designed is quite impressive. Obviously much research has gone into these saddles and my body appreciates it in every single way!

Day Trip - mtnbike is about to take its first official day trip from Sydney. Heading out from Moore Park Super Centre and North Sydney Post Office on Saturday 26 Feb we will be heading to Ourimbah and Awaba MTB areas. These two great ride sites offer plenty of flowing single track and are favourites to many Sydney MTB'ers - the only issue is that they are not really in Sydney ... they are 1.5 hours away! That is where we come in and take you to both locations, provide you with lunch and do all the driving! Come join us for an MTB day trip - we will be offering these trips once a month, our next one is slated for Saturday March 12. 

Ladies MTB Skills Sessions - it is hard to believe but we are just about to finish another block of our MTB skills weeks for ladies! We will be running another block in March and we have a number of eager riders looking to enhancing their bike handling skills. These MTB sessions take place in the Moore Park/Centennial Park areas on Tuesday nights. We work on different skills each week including the following:

Session One - Slow Corners - Sweeping Corners - Braking - Neutral Position - Balance

Session Two - Changing a tyre - Tight Corners at a Higher Pace - Climbing Technique - Balance - Neutral Position

Session Three - Cleaning your bike - Obstacles - Neutral Position - Pumping the Bike - Wheelies

Session Four - Putting Practice into Trail Sections

---

That is all the info I can muster for the week. Take good care and look forward to seeing you out on the road or trail. 

One more thing - Australians wanting to head to Haute Route - this will be an amazing cycling race - here is the new flyer ... 

Cheers - Will 

Will Levy

will.levy@twowheeltours.com.au

+61 (0) 430 121 776

www.twowheeltours.com.au

www.bikeshuttle.com.au

www.mtnbike.com.au