March 2010

Our Jersey and Kit are on Sale !

We plan on shipping on May 21st, but we suggest everyone does a pre-order because we are making a very small number (300 jerseys, 200 shirts, 100 bibs, 55 jackets ! Hurry !)

PLUS we’re offering free shipping to anyone ordering 200 Swiss Francs or more of anything. So, buy the jersey, bib and a t-shirt and it’ll ship to you for FREE…whether or not you live in Switzerland, Italy, the United States or Australia !

We’re not going to get rich, we’re going to get the word out about biking in Switzerland !

Be an ambassador ! Click here to pre-order.

New Bike Switzerland Blog

We wanted to communicate with everyone more often than through monthly newsletters, so we created a “blog” on our site which we try to update a few times a week. The blog page also gives easy access to all of our other Bike Switzerland family sites and pages. You can go to the blog by clicking here.

Short sleeves in February….our Canary islands tour.

It all went off superbly…thanks Ray ! However, our riders did keep saying, ” I didn’t know it was going to be this hard.” No, it’s not a tour as much as it is a Spring Training Camp and that’s how we we’ll market our 2011 trips. It’s warm, beautiful and Spain…but rides are tough and it’s a wake-up call to legs that haven’t been on the road since late October. Fortunately, this is exactly what the doctor ordered for our crew: they loved it and most of them are planning on coming back for our 2011 tour !

We’re planning to announce a late January or early February tour for 201, and are open to your suggestions, so send them in. A few of our riders mentioned that a November Canary Islands camp would be good since the legs would have had an entire season to train for those climbs. Again, let us know what you think.

See all pictures of the Canary Islands Tour here.

New Items…

We’ve just ordered a new set of Garmin Legend HCX GPS for our summer tours.  

Our BIONX electric bike system will be functioning by June. If you’re renting, you’ll be able to add the BIONX battery to your rental for 25 CHF per day, or if you’re doing one of our rides, you can get the BIONX for a 300 Chf supplement. Again, perfect for couples who want to ride together, but are at different levels.

Our fleet of new Streetfires SSX are coming in tomorrow. Watch our blog for pictures.

Registrations are looking good !

All of our guided tours are healthy and ready and rearing to go. There are still 3 to 6 spaces left on each tour depending on the date, so there is room…but those spaces are definately going to go. Hope you’re on one of them ! Check out dates and prices here.

November/December Newsletter

Bicicleta Suiza !

Our new Spanish website is finally up and working. Our editors are going to be improving upon the text within the next couple of weeks, but all the pages have now been professionally translated and are accessible at www.bicicletasuiza.es

We’d appreciate it if you could forward this link to your Spanish-speaking biking buddies. Our next project is www.bikeswitzerland.ru which will be our Russian language site. It will be up in running within the next week.

The goal behind these translations is to attract a truly international group of riders for future tours. Of course, English will continue to be the common language of our tours, but we believe that potential riders need to be introduced to the concept of “Bike Switzerland” in their native language.

BMC in Grand Canary with us.

BMC liked our Grand Canary idea so much, that they’ve decided to join us. The BMC staff will be coming to the island to launch their 2010 product line and will be sharing our facilities in Las Tirajanas. Ray Leddy (Bike Switzerland’s man on the ground) is taking care of all the logistics. Our Canary Island riders will be able to try out the new BMC 2010 road bikes and have the chance to pick the minds of the best road bike designers in the world . Yet another reason to get on board: 8 spaces left, so hurry !

New Movie Page on Bike Switzerland World:

We’ve added a “movie” page to showcase our Grand Canaria Discovery tour. Follow this link and watch our host Ray Leddy biking our itineraries, see the hotels we’ll be staying at, or simply enjoy the scenery of this far-flung paradise that is Europe’s most southern island.

New Facebook Fan Page:

On the right-hand side of this page, you will see our Facebook “Fan Page Feed”. If you have a Facebook account, then please click on the link to go to our FAN PAGE and then “become a fan”. You’ll be able to see pictures of past tours, get the latest Bike Switzerland information in our status updates and be invited to participate in surveys and contests throughout the year. Please oh please, be our friend !

Bike Switzerland Shop:

We will be opening a Bike Switzerland on-line shop in the next 2 to 3 weeks. The shop will carry BMC gear, Swiss bicycle maps, Bike Switzerland clothing and the Klickfix baggage that we use on our bikes.

New Prices January 1st

Remember to pay your deposit before January 1st to reserve your 2009 tour price for our 2010 tours. Our web-designer has set up everything to switch over to Swiss francs beginning at midnight on December 31st (New York Time) and prices will be going up around 12%, so it definately pays to get your deposit in. Choose a date and sign up today.

Big news ahead…

We’ve got lots of things to announce in the weeks ahead, so be expecting another newsletter in your mailbox in the next ten days or so.

My best,

JOHN

May/June Newsletter

Swiss quality and design at a fair price.

Yes, I’m planning to deck myself out with the full kit ! I’ve spent the last few days circling items with my red pen, choosing colors and wondering if I’m still a size “large”. I was going to post a list of American stores selling the new clothing line, but BMC has told me that their American distributor hasn’t yet put in an order, which means that these items will only be available for the European market… and primarily the Swiss market, at that. Too bad because their line-up is class : simple patterns, dark colors and classic fit. Definately something that a “retro-grouch” like myself can wear. Take a look yourself, I’ve put the catalog on-line here.

I’d be happy to put in an order for any present or past riders.

We’re in our new diggs.

Our mechanic (Roger) has set up his own workshop and Bike Switzerland is sharing around 1/2 the space to display bicycles, store our accessories and to give ourselves some room to maneuver when riders come in for bike fittings. Indeed, things are much easier now. Gone are the days when we would schlep truckloads of bikes back and forth from Carouge. The store is just a 5-minute walk from the train station. Click here for a map.

Bike Switzerland Bed and Breakfast.

In spite of the economy, our “Budget Tours”  (overnights in youth hostels) have not been doing very well. I understand…as much as we enjoyed our youth, there are certain things we prefer to leave behind. Recently, a client asked me to organize an independent trip using local Bed and Breakfasts, and after doing a bit of research, I was surprised by the large number of BnBs dotting the Lite Route and Challenge Route. So, for 2010 we’re going to axe the “Budget Tours” and create a lower cost “BnB option”. Stay tuned.

Registrations are up.

This is why I wasn’t able to get out a proper May Newsletter. This year we’ve already signed up more riders than any year previously. Last year was a record and we’re ahead of those numbers by 12% at the moment. That said, our guided tours are about the same as last year, but we’ve had a double in the number of independent tours.

We’re at the gates.

Our first guided tour is June 28th. We’ll post pictures as they’re taken.

My best,

JOHN