With it approaching the half-way point for the winter season for those in the Alps, many business ski trips have been postponed and we have already started to see glimpses of spring alpine weather; naturally many people are inclined to start prepping for warmer weather activities; such as Road-cycling.
Corporate cycling trips allow participants to just turn up and ride
1. Firstly, tell us about what you do!
I work for a company called Buzz Performance. We are a team of instructors and bike guides that are based from the Hive in Morzine. The Hive is a gym, fitness centre , bike shop and cafe. We provide everything from personal training and gym classes to 5 day cycle tours all over the Alps.
2. How and why did you end up pursuing the road biking path?
Having spent a few years training hard for a number of cycling events I decided that I would love to share my experiences with others. Summer is all about being outside, wherever you are and I love riding my bike in the mountains.
3. Do you envisage any 2021 trends for this biking season?
As you know, It’s hard to plan anything largescale at the moment with all the sanitary restrictions in place, but we would hope that things will slowly and correctly get back to normal. I believe that this season, our longer tours will become very popular as tourists will want to discover new areas having been confined all winter!
4. Let‘s talk corporate (our favourite)! – Do you see a growing demand for business travellers- who want to combine biking challenges or introductions into their travel programmes?
I think it could be a very important part of corporate travel plans. When time is limited, getting the most out of your time off is really important. Corporate cycling trips allow participants to just turn up and ride, as you know from your own perspective, the organisation and planning is taken care of. Despite what many believe, biking isn’t about all being super fit; don’t get me wrong the fitter you are the faster you go, but it still hurts! With local guides available we can pick rides that will match everyone’s fitness levels. Making these types of business trips more accessible and achievable to all.
My main passion is roads bikes, but I am also a mountain bike instructor, and with the development of the e bike a whole new world of adventure has become accessible, you just need to learn a few basic skills…
5. What areas do you host your biking tours and what sort of programmes should guests expect?
We basically will take tours to anywhere there are mountains. Last year we took tours round Mont Blanc and did the Grande Route Routes des Alps ( Morzine to Nice via every mountain we could find. This year we have trips planned to Mount Ventoux as well as to the swiss alps and another one to the Dolomites in Italy. Following the success of last years’ tours we will be going back to Mt Blanc and Nice as well.
The two trips can be designed as follows:
• The long tours generally consist of around 100km a day with 2000 to 3000 m of climbing each day is slightly different.
• The local day trips can be designed around your needs. There are so many nice day rides on our back door step.
6. How extensive is the pre-trip training programme?
Buzz coaches can design pre trip training plans designed around your personal timetable. They focus on doing what you can when you can, so depending on the time one has to train reflects what scale the training program is like. We recommend 2-3 times a week to get most benefits from the break.
7. Ok so imagine, you are in lockdown, your bike is broken, you don’t have a stationary bike….. how can you keep those quads ready for action? Or are there completely different exercises you can recommend?
The Buzz training team work all year round offering different sessions to keep all those muscles working over the winter season.
Strength and stability training play a huge role in getting the body ready to ride. The idea is to use plenty of varied exercises to strengthen the core, activate stabilising muscles, work the prime mover muscles and improve and maintain mobility.
Cross country skiing is great to keep bike fitness over the winter, for those that have been able to get to the mountains over the winter period.
8. Lastly, for you what is the best thing about biking?
There is nothing better than the feeling of reaching the top of one of our local cols, but for me the best thing about biking is the coffee stops. Ha-ha ?