Our Forever-Young Guides

We asked a few of our guides to share their thoughts on cycling, livlihood, passion and, more precisely, how leading Ciclismo Classico tours and cycling both on and off tour has added countless years to their own experiences and lives.

Frank Yantorno and Dana Geraghty

The old saying is very true: “You don’t stop playing when you get old, you get old when you stop playing.” While growing up in Colorado, we were rarely without our bikes. Our bikes provided us with a sense of individual freedom, allowing us to explore further and further away from home.

For us, Italy is a land of infinite discovery, which we enjoy exploring by foot or bike. Because we prefer living without a car, and having not owned one for more than 10 years, we use public transportation or our bikes. It helps slow life down to a more natural pace and thus enhances the possibilities of even more new discovery. When we have time off from leading Ciclismo Classico tours, we often design multi-day rides for ourselves. We’ll select different itineraries all over Italy and some of its neighbouring countries.

Sometimes we just leave home without knowing where we’ll be spending the night. This challenges our minds to be open and resilient. Now living in Merano, Trentino-Alto Adige, which is at the foot of the Dolomites, we have easy access to a lot of great hiking and some of the world’s best cycling roads. One of our first rides after moving here was up to the top of Passo Stelvio from our front door. The adventure is a great one, though we have doubts that climbing the Stelvio would add years to your life, but like they say, “If it doesn’t kill you, it’ll make you stronger.”” That’s for sure!

In Roman and Medieval times, many of the towns all over Italy were connected or reached by a one-day walk away from another. One can explore several villages in one day by bike, each with its own unique traditions, culture and very local cuisine. Cycling through these towns allows us to come face-to-face with locals, creating a more intimate experience of a place and its people. Meeting and joking with some of the older locals or perhaps ex pro-cyclists—who recollect stories of their own experiences—often unleashes a youthful joviality forever shared.

Dana and I have been leading tours for Ciclismo since 2000, with more than 150 tours each and although we’ve done some tours even 20 or more times, it never gets old. Each tour is a unique experience based on the dynamics of the individual group. On tour, we explore and discover together and apart, but each guest (and guide) is gifted with a personal experience of youthful wonderment. What keeps us passionate about leading Ciclismo tours is the newness of discovery and the unique experiences we share with our guests, whether it’s a kilometre 0 meal freshly prepared by a local farmer or simply an entertaining anecdote told by a “more experienced” local cyclist.

In any case, we all should continue to accumulate adventurous experiences, because one day when we become the proverbial older “”ex-cyclist” joking with the new breed of young cyclists, at least we’ll have some GREAT stories to tell!

Luca Dalla Villa

Cycling definitely keeps me young. Last week I received a Facebook friend request from an old schoolmate of mine, which was a really nice surprise. However, when I saw his profile, there he was: big round face, big red nose, gray hair… you’ve been there. I thought: “He’s old… but he was born in August and I was born in September—the same year!” I do not feel so old—I feel younger and I think I know why.

For sure, having a very active and healthy lifestyle makes a huge difference. I swim, run and love both activities. My feelings when I run and swim are unbelievable—it’s like an explosion of positive sensations. I think that’s why runners, swimmers and all healthy people are happier. But when I ride the bike, there is something more and now, even if I do have a few gray hairs, I think I know the difference between me and my Facebook friend. It’s about the journey.

With old and new friends, I share the road, an experience, hours and days in the saddle, a challenge; it’s all a growing process. Cycling is a growth process. And I think you are not getting old if you are still growing! Mind and body moving together getting somewhere. This is my understanding while I ride with my 12-year old son, Lorenzo. This year I am spending my off-season riding with my son, since he expressed the desire to ride more seriously and learn as much as possible. His first request was to see the places I like to ride and to try out “real” climbs.

His words really touched my heart.

Cycling with Lorenzo has nothing to do with gear talk or upmanship. He is a real, pure cyclist and he wants to see places, do things, and say, “I have done it!”

I shared with him his first climbing experiences: Ghisallo and Colle Brianza. I shared with him that big, rewarding effort to get to the top, visiting the famous Madonna del Ghisallo church and the cycling museum there, as well as the 2nd and 3rd breakfast stops in Galbiate on the famous Giro di Lombardia route. Precious memories.

Lorenzo is curious and very thirsty for new experiences. How beautiful! I think if I continue to live my life following his example, I won’t get old.

Enrico Chierici

I started to cycle when I was a kid. One of my friends had a wonderful Coppi road bike and so I asked my parents for a similar at the end of the school year. At that time, I lived in Acqui Terme and the Monferrato and Le Langhe countryside became my playground. For a long time, I dismissed the bike in favour of new loves: mountaineering and ski touring. I became an instructor for the Italian Alpine Club and for many years, my vacations and weekends were dedicated to ropes and skies. Many years later I took up cycling again, mostly for training, first by MTB and then with a road bike.

Last year, I had the possibility to turn a problem (a crisis) within the company I was working for into an opportunity to radically change my life. So I got certified as a naturalist guide specializing in bicycle tourism. This eventually led me to connect with the Guide Manager at Ciclismo Classico and the rest is history.

Cycling keeps me young from several points of view. First of all, it’s an excellent aerobic activity, which we know is very important in order to keep our heart and whole body in good shape. But for me, it’s a way of satisfying the need to explore new things and hidden places in my region and discovering new areas of the world, keeping my curiosity alive! It’s also important to have fitness (and other) goals in life.

When I guide a group of Ciclismo Classico guests, I like to focus and share more of the emotions and feelings we can experience during the trip more than the gear or technical aspect. Of course, these are equally important and I also enjoy sharing that. However, it’s not by chance that my personal website is named “”Emotions in Motion.””

When I’m at home, I cycle 2-3 days a week on average, both road and MTB. Lately I’ve been lucky enough to ride sections of the Via Francigena in Central Italy and the Alta Via dei Monti Liguri in my region (Liguria) by MTB. 

After picking up the sport of cycling, I fell in love all over again with self-supported travel and bike trips. My recent trips include Danubian trail from Passau in Germany to Budapest, a portion of the Alps traverse from Trieste to Stelvio, Sicily and parts of the Via Francigena.

Above photo: Enrico riding in Chile

Currently (yes, right now!), I am undertaking Puerto Montt in Chile to Ushuaia in Argentina along the famous Carrettera Austral and Ruta 40! I’ll also take the opportunity to do some trekking in Torres Del Paine, so as not to forget my other big passion: hiking in the mountains!