Far and Away


......your passport to adventure
Auction Results, Tour Spotlight and Store Sale

July, 2009

Wobblin' Sprocket

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Who's Going

Dear Robert,

The on-line auction for NYOF raised $13,000.  Thanks to all the sponsors and bidders who offered such great support for it.

Croatia is our next tour, followed by India and Laos.  There are a few spots left for India.  The Laos tour is full, but we have scheduled a second Lao tour that will travel the opposite direction (from South to North) immediately following the first.  After that it is Tour d' Indochine in February.  Indochine combines the best parts of Vietnam and Laos and is our longest tour at 18 nites.

We do not schedule any tours in the summer.  We prefer the Spring and Fall shoulder seasons when the weather is better for cycling and it is less crowded.

It's not too early to start thinking about next Spring when we have Corsica, Slovenia and Croatia scheduled.  If you sign up early and we subsequently offer a discount, you will automatically get the lower price.

I hope you have a great summer.

Ride safe!  All the best,
 
 
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Spotlight on Vrbnik

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Vrbnik is one of our favorite stops on the Croatia Tour.  It's a small seaside village perched on a cliff on the Island of Krk.   It's midieval fortified walls and very narrow passageways give the town a very intimate feel.  The only way to get through the old part of town is to walk. There is a bell tower in the middle (built in 1527) and, if you ascend the rickety stairs, it provides a tremendous view of the mainland.

We stay at Hotel Argentum.  It's very small with about a dozen rooms.  It's on a cliff and most rooms have balconies overlooking the bay.   We always walk down to the clear blue Adriatic for a swim. 

Hotel Argentum has great food and, if you like, you can order the local dry white wine, called Zlatina. It is made from grapes of the same name and comes only from this area.

The following morning we ride our bikes to the town of Silo where we catch the "Superfast Croatian Speedboat", a hydrofoil, for a quick lift back to the mainland.
 
Tour de France coming to you soon!
Tour de France


The Tour de France is coming up quick.  It starts on July 4 at 10am (EDT) with a prologue in Monaco on the Southern Coast.  The Tour promises to be an interesting race as there are many contenders and the penultimate stage ends with the tortuous climb up Mt. Ventoux (1613 meters of climbing in 22 kilometers).  Time trial specialists will need a substantial lead to have a realistic chance of finishing ahead of the climbers in the race for the yellow jersey.

The race will also feature a couple stages where race radios are banned.  That will be a throwback.  I like the idea.  Technology does not necessarily make for better competition.

More TV coverage is scheduled this year than ever before.  Versus will have daily live coverage from 9:30am  to 2:00pm with replays at 2:00pm, 5:00pm, 8:00pm and 12pm.

Now, pick the winner!  We have a poll on the Far and Away site. 


 
Tin Donkey on "The Heron"

Our friend Leslie Reissner is an avid cyclist.  He maintains a cycling blog (The Tin Donkey), organizes tours for friends, restores vintage bikes, races, and also writes articles for Pez Cycling.

Leslie's most recent piece is a review of William Fotheringham's "The Heron and the Icon", a recently released book on the life of Fausto Coppi. 

Fausto's nickname was "The Heron" since he had exceptionally long legs and was initially an awkward rider.  Click on the Fausto's picture to read more.

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Far and Away Cycling
571-275-2814
travel@farandawaycycling.com
 
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Store Sale
Time to clear things out so we can do some renovations to our store.  Everything is at cost.  Limited to on hand inventory so E-mail me to make sure I still have it (bob@farandawaycycling.com) before you make any payment.
Offer Expires: July 8, 2009