FinKraft@ Bianchi

Every time we have a camp I try to add something exciting to break things up and expose our clients to something that they do not see every day at home and of course it has to have something to do with the cycling industry. I think that is part of our culture, motivation and life style and it also helps us appreciate our bikes a little more and helps us understand the sport we love so much - passion like they say in Italy. It is like getting a pit or back stage pass for us cyclist to watch a stage of the Giro or visit at a bike factory.

 This year in Italy we hit the Bianchi factory which is right near Bergamo . I have wanted to go there for years now , but it has never fit our schedule in the past .

Today was a perfect day , it was pouring rain and riding was not that appealing first thing in the morning.Salvi Bikestore, our connection to Bianchi. Franco Salvi got us in and Matteo at our Cascina Belvedi hotel hooked us up with his van , short drive and not too bad to find. Driving in Italy could some times be a challenge as you could imagine. Bianchi is an old bike company and every body knows the history .

 Fausto Coppi put the brand on the map and after that many legends and teams has ridden Bianchi bikes. You can almost feel the passion for bikes when you pull up into the factory parking lot. Our guide is Frederica , nice Italian charm and her English is good - always a challenge in Italy as well .  There are a lot of frames getting ready for either customers or the 3 pro teams that Bianchi is sponsoring . I think in the past few years Bianchi has once again climbed back up to the top of racing bikes and it is a winning bike in many aspects . We actually witnessed Thomas De Genth win on Stelvio a couple of days later which was a historic moment for Bianchi I am sure .

Oltre is the top of the line road bike and there has gone a lot of hours and espressos into this design . This is the bike that the 3 pro teams ride on and there is a lot of feed back going to the designers from the racers.  Bianchi has a their own design team right here and we actually saw a few proto type bikes ( 29'er full suspension Methanol) that will come out in August , sorry no pictures I have to respect the company policy. The bike is designed , painted , stickered , tested and packed in Italy , but made in Taiwan. Not a bad thing , so is Giant - get the hint -;) A lot of bikes are made in the same place .

Bianchi has been around for a long time and there is a lot of history in this place . Coppi, Pantani, Absalon, Gimondi just to mention a few . Their bikes and pictures are displayed every where . Here in the US the brand was known back in the day , but not so much now anymore. Most guys think of steel bikes from 20-30 years ago and do not really know about the latest development and Oltre. Bianchi sponsors 3 pro teams , but they also have former pros working for them . I think that is a huge asset to a bike company , the former pros know what to look for in a bike and how it should ride . More important they know how to PR the brand. They have been around that part all their lives and we know them from racing , some of them were our idols when we were growing up.

We are just standing around and almost finished with our tour and in walks Giuseppe Guerini and Mirco Gualdi . Very friendly and out going guys , we chat and hump their legs for a bit , get some photos and autographs , by now Frederica pretty much have had enough of us , but in walks Bob Ippolito , the American CEO, there is an American running Bianchi in Italy. He knows we are from the US and immediately sparks are flying , he wants to know what we think about the bike and how he can market Bianchi better in the US . Next thing you know we are all sitting around a conference table with Bob in a heated discussion about bikes, racing and how to get the brand back into the US like it once was. Pretty funny stuff , we are just a bunch of guys riding around on our bikes , none of us rides Bianchi and now we are having a meeting with the CEO at Bianchi.

Joking aside , this is a very valuable connection to my future plans and one of them being my camps . Next camp we will have a Bianchi Oltre waiting for us and no need to bring your own bike. One suit case with clothing, pedals,shoes and helmet- a dream come through for traveling . Bianchi Oltre bikes all set up and ready to go. A great opportunity to test out a bike for a week and at the end of the week get a killer deal on one of these machines.

Bob's next question was ; how is your schedule this afternoon? Well it was still raining , so I guess pretty open -;) Ok then , let's join the Bianchi Team for lunch . Not bad , food was great and all the employees where there from the top guy, pros to the packaging guy.

Bob was hired to turn the company around and make Bianchi a top brand once again , from the looks of things -things are going very well here and Bob is a huge success in Italy. We spent 5 hours at the factory and made some very valuable connections and I hope we can promote them in the future on a great level as a thank you for their hospitality . I been to other bike companies , I can tell you we did not get the same warm feeling or connection from them - and no lunch with the CEO!!

Made it back , stopped at Salvi and then even got a great 2.5 hour ride in around Valle Imanga with some climbing of course.

Thanks for reading and I hope you can join us on one of these bike adventures one day .

FinKraft Italy/Giro Cycling Camp

Hi ,

Another camp under our belts or should I say Grand Tour. In AZ we ride every single day with the clients for 3 weeks straight about 30+ hours each week. This year we did 2 weeks on the road in Tucson and then moved up to Sedona for our last week in AZ and debuted our first Mountain Bike Camp . In Italy last year we managed to log 43 hours of riding in 9 days . I think that is pretty as much as anyone can handle , specially when we go uphill every day and the hills are no bumps in the road. The Italy camp is meant for people who race on a pretty competetive and high level ( a good cat 3-4 range), so you have to have good fitness going into this camp and hopefully it will not break you and you will come back home swinging .

Note , they even have pink snow on Stelvio!!

This experience is something I would never trade for a race , it is a feeling that is hard to describe . Cycling is a lifestyle to us and doing this camp is like going to Disney World for my daughter. We are there to ride our bikes and there is not much else scheduled each day and nobody even mentions or talks about doing anything besides what the ride plan is for the next day. It is a great feeling when you finish a 7 hour day over some spectacular mountain passes and sit down to a 3 hour Italian dinner with some unbelievable wine and food . Some people might think this camp is a tourist camp , ride a little and then wine and dine at night . Well we do see things while riding that most people would have to get on a bus for and yes we eat a lot , but how many tourists do you know that burn 7000 calories / day ?

The trip to Italy is not easy with the bike box and some extra luggage when the airlines rapes you for everything , but the trip goes pretty smooth though, key thing is to pack light and have a direct flight . We have a bus lined up for picking us up from the airport . It is important to coordinate our flights, so we all get there about the same time , which is key for things to go smooth . The Bus trip to the Hotel Cuscina Belveldi is about one hour without any traffic. It is understandable that we will be tired after an overnight flight , but very excited to be there and ready to go for a ride . It feels so different to jump on the bike and ride here than at home , small streets and switch back climbs right out the door from the hotel . Most of the time legs feels pretty good all considered on our first ride .After the ride we are just looking forward to our first Italian dinner . I am waiting for this moment since last year. If it is as amazing as I remembered and it will be hard to stop eating for sure . After a great first day we will needed some sleeeep though for sure!

The plan for Sunday is to ride about 4 hours , ease into the camp . We wake up and have breakfast , last year Gerard even got a chance to show the Italian cooks how to make some Country Choice Organic Oatmeal , not a common thing to eat for breakfast in Italy , but who can live without oatmeal ? We are ready to kit up and get on the road . There are so many routes and great roads to ride on right out of the hotel . The next 4 days will spend in the Brembo Valley and Lake Como area . The weather is obviously always a factor and we have to be flexible. The Giro has gone by here numerous times and we will be riding on those same roads as well as on the roads where the Giro di Lombardi goes in the fall. Last year we watched the stage go over Passo di Ganda right in the back yard of our hotel finishing only a few miles away by San Pellegrio Terme. One morning we will start the ride a little later and pay a visit at one of the local bike companies , Bianchi or Colnago.

The plan is to ride up to the Dolomites on Thursday morning over Passo san Marco into Valtalina Valley and spend the night in Terrano . This is in the valley of the legendary climbs like Mortirolo, Aprica, Gavia and Stelvio, etc. Saturday is the big stage up Stelvio and we do not want to miss that opportunity , so Saturday ( May 27th) morning a ride and end up on the slopes of Stelvio with the rest of the Tifosi is the plan.Spend the night in Bormio and then early Sunday morning start climbing up into Switzerland via St Moritz down back towards Lake Como and back to our base hotel in Bergamo . Long day , but I am sure a nice ending to our camp . On the last night in Italy we will enjoy a nice dinner again at the Cascina Belvedi. Pack up our bikes and get ready for departure back to the US on Monday morning.

This is the basic ride plan for the 2012 FinKraft/Giro Cycling Camp , as I said earlier the weather is a big factor and we have the be flexible . It will a lot of uphill, long miles and good times on the bike and when not riding soaking in the Italian culture as much as we can .

For more details on this years camp go to ;

http://sites.google.com/site/finkraftcoaching/services/cycling-training-camps/2011-italy-training-camp

Like I also said in the beginning this is a very select camp , but we have room for a few more riders at this point.

Ride on my friends .