Guest Spotlight: Vicki Sama and Your First Bicycle Vacation Experience

Vicki is a long-time athlete but a first-time Ciclismo Classico guest.

I had the pleasure of leading her on her first-ever organized bicycle vacation this past June through the Costa Brava. It was a wonderful group with spectacular weather (well, okay: we had just one day of rain).

So I asked Vicki a few questions about her decision to take an organized bike vacation and why she choose Ciclismo Classico.

Here’s what she had to say:

Vicki, how did you hear about Ciclismo Classico?

Riding in Spain has been was on my bucket list for a long time. I did a Google search for “bike tours” and “Spain,” and Ciclismo Classico showed up.

The website had pictures of the beautiful Costa Brava coastline, cyclists riding along the Mediterranean cliffs, picturesque hotels on the beach and the stone bridges and walls of ancient cities in between.

I liked that the website included bios of the guides because I wanted to be with experienced guides who know the country, roads, language, culture, and people. Those are attributes that make a good trip even better.

After scanning the website, I got in touch with Rosa Bleta – who is so sweet – and she gave me some more information about the tour, hotels, food and what to expect.

Once I figured out that the staff at the home office and in the field are knowledgable and skilled, I booked the trip.

Have you ever taken an organized bicycle trip before?

I’ve organized my own bicycle vacations before – booked my hotels, rented cars, rented bikes, figured out routes from maps, etc. Those kinds of trips are fun and allow for a lot of spontaneous moments and the opportunity to make changes easily.

As a result, those tours were relatively cheap but harder to do a point-to-point ride excursion. An organized tour like Ciclismo Classico is the ultimate luxury in bike touring, and so I spoiled myself this time.

What were some of your biggest reservations about signing on a group cycling adventure?

Group dynamics can be a challenge when there are people you don’t know. But at the same time, it’s exciting to meet new people and make new friends. I don’t have any hesitancy when meeting others.

How do you consider yourself as a cyclist? Was the trip you choose too hard, too easy, or just right?

I’m a former pro cyclist and an avid rider now. The trip was billed as “intermediate” and where I’ve lived in Colorado and California, if you say you’re intermediate, you better be darn fast.

So that’s why I thought there would be faster cyclists.

Turns out, this tour was too easy for me.

I would have liked to be more challenged on the rides with additional mileage and other riders who pedal faster. Fortunately, Nicolo rode upfront with me and we pushed the pace slightly and would circle back to others further down the hills. He also let me bomb the descents, and that made it a bit more fun for me.

How were you feeling the first day?

Great. Excited to get on a bike in Spain.

I liked that we were able to go for a short ride the first day to suss out the situation, see how people ride, get to know the bikes, the guides and each other.

I love Girona and glad the trip started there and that we had more than one day in our first location.

Who were your guides? Did they make your experience memorable?

Gabe Del Rossi and Nicolo Dionisio led the tour. They are terrific in different ways.

I respect Gabe’s tour experience, his historic knowledge of the cities and his established relationships with the hotel staff and restaurant owners. It was as if he lived in every town we visited, and that makes a difference in how people view us, tourists.

The locals treated us well, introducing us to amazing wines and food and sharing personal stories, creating comfortable spaces for our dinners with incredible views and making us feel as if we were family.

Gabe knew the locals by name and they knew him well too.

He is organized, likable, savvy, knowledgeable about the history of every town and building, and he’s a good communicator, letting us know what to expect at every inch of the route and leaving us confident about what we were about to do each day.

Where Gabe was the captain, Nicolo was the lieutenant – organized and quite helpful but more at ease. Nicolo made the rides exciting because he saw he could trust my fitness and bike handling skills and we had some good thrills riding hard both up and down some steep terrain.

I could have ridden off on my own ahead of everyone, but that wouldn’t have been as fun. I went on a group tour because I wanted to ride with others. So it was a blast riding with Nicolo and some of the other guys too when they would leave their wives or girlfriends further down the climbs and hang with us up at the front.

But every boat needs a captain, the person who steers us in the right direction and keeps us on course.

Without Gabe’s direction, we might not have sailed so smoothly. I adore both Gabe and Nicolo. They are a great duo and each has individual strengths that complement the other. Together they made Costa Brava an incredible trip that I will always remember. I look forward to another tour in the future with them. #bestguidesever

What are your best memories from your Ciclismo Classico biking vacation this year?

One of my favorite memories is riding the curvy road along the Mediterranean Sea, looking off to my left and seeing the beautiful cerulean sky and vast ocean and listening to the jam coming from Nicolo’s rear pocket speaker.

There were no cars on the road. It was so relaxing pumping our pedals up and down the rolling hills. It felt like we were in a movie. Lunch at the olive farm was also high on my list of favorites.

How was the food and wine during your trip? Did you learn anything new about the local cuisine?

The food and wine were marvelous.

I have never liked anchovies until this trip, and I fell in love with the anchovy toast with the tomato spread, a traditional appetizer in the Catalan region.

The seafood was fresh and delicious. The portions were large and there was plenty of food for all appetites.

Breakfast was typically a smorgasbord of anything you wanted from eggs, ham, potatoes, fruit, granola, yogurt and more.

Lunch was on the road often at a cafe. The best lunch stop was at an olive farm where we got to see live chickens in the hen house and taste the freshly compressed olive oil, which was the best I’ve ever had. (Sorry mom, the Spanish olive oil beats the Italian one!)

Everything about our dinners including the locations and views and the restaurant owners… all of it was so perfect. I learned about the Catalan diet, and it fits with my healthy lifestyle, which is a lot of fresh fish, vegetables and of course, the anchovy toast.

Gabe has great relationships with the locals, and because of that, they treated us special. We tasted wines and they served us little extras that made our meals exceptional. Loved the food on the tour. The only problem is not eating too much!

How was the group? Did you know anyone else you were traveling with? Was there good camaraderie?

I had a friend with me on the trip. The other ten people on the trip seemed to know each other from previous trips. I thought they might click and keep us out of their conversations, but instead, they were interested in us and made us feel like we’d been there with them before. Nice folks.

Would you do it again? If so, what would you change? Would you feel more prepared next time around?

Of course, I would do a CC trip again, and I’m already booked on a tour in Greece for next June. I can’t wait! This next one is an advanced tour, so I’m excited about the ability of the group ride going up a notch.

Ready for a Bike Tour with Ciclismo? Browse our upcoming 2020 bike tours today!