Most Inspirational Moment
There were quite a few inspirational moments, but perhaps the most stunning was the visit to the artist Giotto's Chapel de Scrovegni in Padua. I was in awe of the scope and quality of this marvellous work of art and I really appreciated Michele offering us the opportunity to see this wonder and organising it for us
Thoughts on Group Leader
I find it difficult to fault Michele for whom I formed a great personal liking. He combined being very businesslike about the organisation of the trip and ensuring that we kept to a reasonable schedule with being a very warm, friendly and often witty person who strived to ensure that everyone had a good time, even if the cycling stretched them a bit. He really thought about what might make people happy. Knowing I had a lifelong interest in cycle racing he introduced us and me in particular to a friend who had been a top roadman sprinter in the 1960s and 70s and won the World Road Championship in 1972. It was a great thrill! He managed well the considerable differences in ability and fitness between different members of the group, ensuring both that they were given encouragement and waited for. For the biggest climb of the tour he arranged for a van as a fall back for the weakest member and she was pleased to take advantage of it. Where we had to encounter heavy traffic at intersections with main road, he was very good at protecting us from harm and shepherding us through safely. Socially Michele was really great and a pleasure to be with. We also greatly enjoyed meeting his lovely family in Vicenza. Michele must surely be in the running for tour leader of the year.
Advice for Potential Travellers
The advice in the trip notes is about right and certainly be prepared for cooler temperatures and rain. We had some, but not too much. I took my own drop handlebar touring bike, which is a contrast with the high handlebars of the rented bikes everyone else rode. Although it was a hassle packing up my own bike in a bike bag, I still think it just beat riding the unfamiliar rented bikes, although I cannot say there was anything seriously wrong with them. They had a good range of gears. If you take your own bike, you need to be prepared to reassemble it quite late at night at Bolzano, unless you travel there independently. It is a long trek from Venice airport. The alternative is to get up very early on the first cycling day, which has an early start.
Suggestions
As we arrived late and left early, we only had a superficial look at Bolzano. I really liked Trento, where we spent our first night, and Verona, Vicenza and Padua were wonderful. It was my first visit to Venice for 50 years and although it is still special and I enjoyed it, some things I saw and heard made me a bit sad for the old city. Quite a lot of the buildings are in a bad state or repair and look rather shabby. I understand that it suffers from a serious de-population problem that contributes to this and a recent article in an English newspaper said that that Venice was going through something of a crisis, partly through the great number of tourists coming off cruise ships. I hope something can be done.