Can a bike tour create lifelong friendships? Can a group of strangers really ride together in perfect harmony? Is the key to lasting relationships found at a big table laden with a hefty post-ride recovery meal?
As a bit of an introvert and someone who didn’t play a lot of team sports, the concept of a bike tour makes me a little nervous. I deeply love cycling—my life and career essentially revolve around it—but that doesn’t make my innate shyness and nervousness around other people disappear. Still, a tour of the best roads to be found in the Tuscan countryside (and seeing photos of the meals served at Borgolecchi!) was enough to convince me that even if I was nervous around the other cyclists, the trip would be worth it.
I know I’m not the only cyclist who wonders if they’ll fit in with the group on a bike tour. Whether it’s primarily a question of shyness, as in my case, or a question of fitness—which admittedly, I also worried about, and I know is a common question/limiter for people considering a bike trip, we often let fear get in the way of life-changing experiences.
From the moment that Giorgio, one of inGamba’s most popular guides, rolled up in the inGamba van under a large arch in Florence, merrily honking the horn before hopping out to greet us, I realized I had nothing to worry about. In the van on the short drive to the Borgolecchi B&B, myself, my husband—a much stronger cyclist than I—and the other cyclist who had been picked up at the same location chatted happily with each other and Giorgio about the area, as well as other places we had ridden over the years. By the time we arrived in a tiny town outside of Borgolecchi for a quick espresso and scenic overlook, it felt like we’d all been friends for years.
Dinner felt the same: With all of the riders and guides seated around the one big farm-style table in Borgolecchi, conversation flowed as freely as the wine. My fear of not having much in common other than bikes was unfounded, as every topic under the sun was brought up and unpacked, from deep philosophical musings (‘what is the meaning of life, in a single word?’ was one of the topics that kept us going for hours) to lighthearted jabs at favorite movies (one of the cyclists at the table who shall remain nameless was an extreme Star Wars fan).
By the time we hit the road in the morning for the first ride, we were already a groupetto. The conversations kept going—at least, until the climbing started—and good-natured teasing felt natural. My shyness had been erased after the first hour at Borgolecchi, I now felt like I was riding with friends I’d known for decades.
Even though we all had different cycling backgrounds and different fitness levels, it didn’t seem to matter. Stronger riders were able to go off the front and attack the climbs while those of us who wanted to ride up a bit less intensely enjoyed the views. The riders who were stronger stuck to the front while I happily tucked myself in the draft and enjoyed the sensation. As someone who’s a capable rider but didn’t necessarily want the tour to feel like a hammer-fest that left me exhausted, I was able to dial in my effort to hover right where I wanted it to be. The sweet spot of working hard enough to feel excited to spot the finish line and enjoy the recovery meals and massages to their full benefit, but not so hard that I was falling asleep during dinner or waking up with sore, stiff legs. The beauty of inGamba is that the guides seem to almost spookily understand what the group needs, and are able to make it happen. Even in a group where the age span was easily 20 years between the oldest and youngest rider, we managed to find a pace that made everyone feel good.
By the end of the trip, follow-up plans were made, from grand aspirations of celebrating a 50th birthday doing a private bike tour with inGamba in Scotland doing scotch tasting to simply stopping by and visiting each other should any of us find ourselves in each other’s hometowns to, of course, informing one another of any upcoming inGamba trip plans.
How does this happen? How can shy people from different age brackets, different countries, different backgrounds and different lifestyles all so seamlessly blend together into a pack of friends?
Something about a shared travel experience, especially one with elements of adventure and a need to work together (as you do in a peloton) seems to create the secret sauce to creating instant bonds. According to one survey, 77 percent of Americans have made lifelong friendships when traveling, while 71 percent also agreed that traveling together strengthens friendships.
So whether you want to take a bike tour with a spouse or a friend to deepen those bonds of friendship and simply have a great time, or you want to create a new friendship, signing up for an inGamba tour might be exactly what you need.
