About Cycling-Made in Italy

Email: info@bikeitaly.com
FAX: +1 206.312.0080

Phone:
Italy* +39 0424.98671,
Italy* +39 349.618.9836
US 1.810.629.6424
* Eastern Time + 6, Pacific + 9

During your stay you’ll have contact with many delightful individuals who are eager to be accommodating and consider themselves ambassadors. Discover the living, pulsating heart of Veneto that can’t be transmitted by reading a guidebook or trying to navigate with a map. Our friends and collaborators make your experience come alive through sharing experiences. By nature the Italians are proud of their heritage and want to share it with you, it’s a culture that will come to life with animated smiles, gestures and helpful insights that give you a glimpse what The Veneto is really like.

Liza Dolza

Liza is originally from Michigan, but has lived in Italy nearly two decades. Her intimate knowledge of the region as year-round resident allows us to bring you to places unknown to guidebooks and other bike tours. She also draws on her experience as winning triathlete and time-trial racer to coach you in improving your riding and racing skills.

If you can’t quite place her accent, it’s a blend of US Midwest and Veneto. Sometimes it’s also because her sentence construction is Italian, even though all the words are English! (She’s been immersed in Italian/Veneto culture that deeply.)

Factoid: Liza’s grandfather, John Dolza, was a prolific inventor who, among other things, designed and built the original fuel-injection system for the Chevrolet Corvette.

Quote that applies: My great religion is in the blood. The flesh, as being wiser than intellect. We can go wrong in our minds, but, what our blood feels and believes is always true. This is why I like to live in Italy; the people are so unconscious. —D.H. Lawrence

The Zortea family

The Zortea family, the innkeepers where you sojourn, will personally see to all of your needs. Their radiantly warm welcome and courteous assistance is surprising considering how hard they work! Lucio and Rosaria consistently provide sumptuous meals from the kitchen while their daughters tirelessly cater to restaurant diners and patrons at the inn. Their personality infuses your stay with genuine home-like hospitality so you don’t feel as though you’re just a tourist passing through but rather an honored guest.

Cheryl F. wrote to say: “I am torn about writing this letter - wanting to keep the word about cycling with you in the Veneto, staying at the beautiful Contarini, the food, the views, the magnificent countryside surrounding Campolongo- all to myself. And then wanting to share the information with the community of cyclists. The pictures we took couldn't capture our wonderful experience,the immense beauty and scale of the mountains, the beauty of the Brenta river, and the fun of cycling with you.”

The heart of Veneto

CMI is 40 miles northwest of Venice, near Bassano del Grappa, in a cyclist’s paradise at the base of the pre-Dolomite mountains. Here, is the heart of cycling where riders are commomplace. Not only is a bicycle the preferred pastime it's also a mode of transportation for all ages, so motorists are considerate of two-wheeled vehicles. The rich cultural heritage of the surrounding Veneto province and varied terrain provide endless possibilities for both casual and dedicated riders. Superb roads meander through the verdant countryside: cherry orchards, olive groves and vineyards make way for walled medieval towns, castles and palatial renaissance mansions. Every direction of the compass offers unique geography and an endless variety of itineraries.

To the north, travel along one of the region’s preferred bike trails, a scenic road running parallel to the banks of the Brenta river. Select from a multitude of climbs, or simply pedal up the river valley for more than 50 miles on the easy, rolling road. Nearby Mount Grappa rises austerely from 122m/400ft. above sea level to 1,775m (more than a mile high!) providing a spectacular backdrop and the ultimate challenge for climbers.

East takes you into the Asolean hills, seemingly untouched by time. For a more challenging, longer ride, continue to Valdobbiadene, the capital of Prosecco wine country. Our route takes you through terraced hillsides where you can practically reach out and sample the sweet grapes used to make Italy’s version of champagne.

West, travel to Marostica, a superbly maintained medieval walled city reachable via many varied side roads passing through quaint villages nestled in the foothills.

The Venetian plains lie to the south, where Antonio Palladio, the most acclaimed Renaissance architect, decorated the countryside with palatial neoclassical villas for Venetian nobility.

Bassano, a delightful blend of cosmopolitan and country, has a cycling track (velodrome) and is also a regional center for ceramics and the production of fine grappas. Getting here is no problem, as Bassano is easily accessible by train from Venice, only an hour away. It’s also possible to make connections from Milan as the public transportation system is well developed.