General Guidelines
Our tours are designed to satisfy experienced riders, and people just starting to ride. All cyclists were once beginners, and we enjoy the enthusiasm of people discovering themselves on rides. Two-pig tours are enjoyable for early season riding, and less fit or newer riders. Three-pig tours are for fit or experienced cyclists comfortable with riding hilly terrain, and appreciate our rhythm of a long day followed by a shorter day. Four-pig tours are for very experienced riders who are comfortable riding mountain passes and demanding descents.
We want everyone to come on a tour that is right for their abilities and we do our best to steer you toward one we think will work well for you. We cannot, however, determine your riding fitness without your help, which is why we encourage you to read the following information and answer our questions fully on the booking form. We ask you about your past riding experiences and make it obvious how hard our tours are. During our 20+ years of enjoying riding in Italy with thousands of guests, we have seen youths in their 70’s ride within their limits, and we have suffered the spectacle of people half that age on fancy racing bikes feeling very uncomfortable and disappointed about their physical condition. In general we can refer to three factors that indicate how a guest will enjoy the physical demands of the rides we offer:
- Cycling fitness going into the trip (Got miles?)
- Past cycling experience (Have you been riding consistently for over 3 years?)
- Present physical condition (How’s your power to weight ratio?)
If anyone lacks one of these elements they should be aware. One of our favorite guests was 67, never stopped smiling, was missing a lung, lived on the flats, and would be one of the last riders on the hills, but was never uncomfortable due to good riding fitness. Not to mention his attitude.
Age doesn’t seem to matter much to cyclists. Weight does on all the hills we will ride. Some of our happiest guests weigh more than they’d like, but they ride regularly, and have a good time. We like to hear from our clients, if you still aren’t sure what tour is best for you ask us!
Beginners
Beginners should go on our 2-pig tours. If you are a beginner and you want to do all the rides BUT have never cycled on hilly terrain, we suggest the training program guidelines below. We will also ask for your cooperation in knowing when to hop in our follow van so that our tour may run as smoothly as possible for all. We aren’t looking for heroes on our rides and deeply appreciate cooperative people with great attitudes.
Training Guide
To participate in a Cinghiale tour, please ride for a MINIMUM of:
- 6-10 weeks consistently before your tour
- 100+ miles per week. More for a 3 pig trip
- At least one hilly ride per week, or as many hills as you can find
- At least one ride per week with other people to get used to riding in a group
- Again, this is a MINIMUM training guide in order to not feel overwhelmed by the terrain. If you follow this guide you should be just fine on a 2-pig tour. Any riding you do above and beyond this will give you that much more leeway to enjoy the hills comfortably.
Racers
If you are a racer we welcome you on our tours, however, let us know if you are hoping to “race” this tour, as we tend to stop and smell the espresso on our trips. We love strong riders and provide oodles of challenging miles, but we run courteous trips and take care of everyone. Our 4 pig tours take care of fit riders with extra loops available, however on warm up rides we ask for a social pace.
Ride Policy
Cinghiale Tours operates with care and consideration for every cyclist. We are not a race-to-the-next-town, leave-em-in-the-dust kind of tour company, but make sure everyone is accounted for, supported and having a good time.