Welcome to the October 2007 ExperiencePlus! Rambler E-Mail Newsletter

• Dear Folks...
• 2008 Catalogs & New Tours On the Way
• The First American Bicycle Tourists in Italy - in 1884?
• From Our Customers: Bob & Penny Fink
• Travels with Charley
• From Paola's Kitchen - Maccheroni alla Bersagliera (Pasta with Ham, Peas and Fontina Cheese)

Dear Folks,

Fall colors are in full splendor in Colorado! We hope you are enjoying the season where you are.

Things are busy, especially in Europe. We had over 300 bikes on the road last week. By the end of October they will all be returning to the barn in Italy for sorting, tagging and hanging for the winter. Most will be tagged with a red tag, ready for tune ups next spring. Those scheduled for repainting and rebuilding will head off to the painter and those scheduled for retirement will get a yellow tag and be put on the sale shelf. Let us know if you need a fleet of retired bikes -- you'd be surprised at the calls we get!

Paola's recipe this month links to my article on Joseph Pennell and Elizabeth Robins Pennell, the first American bicycle tourists in Italy. Just as we pioneered commercial bicycle tours in Italy in 1972, the Pennells pioneered self-contained bicycle touring in Italy in 1884. That's right, 1884! That was before bicycles as we know them (the 'safety bike') existed, before pneumatic tires, freewheels, or multi-speed gearing. Indeed, the Pennells bicycled from Florence to Rome on a single-speed, fixed-gear tandem tricycle in October of 1884, a hundred and twenty-three years ago this month.

We'll replicate the Pennell's bike ride (on modern racing and touring bikes) in June 2008. Paola and I will both be on that trip. We expect the tour to fill quickly; so if you'd like to join, give us a call now.

Our new Argentina tour seems to be attracting some attention as well. If you are interested in an April tour in South America, have a look. It is almost all on asphalt so you have your choice of road or hybrid bikes.

Book a tour soon and we'll take $150 (per person) off the cost of your trip! Simply submit your $500 deposit and reservation by Friday, October 19th, and authorize us to automatically deduct your final payment on November 20, 2007. (If you have already booked your 2008 tour, let us know if you'd like to take advantage of this offer.)

There's some fine print with a few restrictions on this special offer: the trip must depart after April 1, 2008; the discount is not available on ExpeditionPlus!, TourzPlus™ or tour extensions; and, you can't combine this offer with other discounts. Finally, the offer is limited to the first 120 bookings. To benefit from our offer, call sooner rather than later.

If you need some inspiration on where to travel this year, we're doing slide shows this fall in Colorado. This month I'll be featuring our 'historic' tours, photographically following the routes of the Pennells and Annie Londonderry, the first woman to pedal around the world alone in 1894-1895. For complete slide show information, click here. (And if you'd like slide shows in your town -- make me an offer I can't refuse!)

Take care and keep the rubber side down.

--Rick and Paola

Our 2008 tours catalog is hot of the press and on its way to you. This year's catalog features a healthy crop of new tours, some in new destinations and some exploring new corners of our favorite places. Here's a preview of some of our newest tours:

• Coasting Costa Rica
• Bicycling Germany's Romantic Road
• Bicycling St. Petersburg to Riga, Latvia
• Bicycling Faenza to Verona Across the Po Valley
• Cycling the Coast of Tuscany Plus! Vineyards & Olive Groves
• Discover Northern Argentina Plus! the Ruins of Quilmes

So as the weather cools this fall, curl up and start dreaming about where your next adventure will take you!

As Rick investigates the history of cycling's Golden Age, he has been finding some fascinating stories and characters. But the Pennells, who rode from Florence to Rome before the advent even of the safety bicycle, might just have the most interesting tale of all:

Not even our arrest for some infringement of cycling regulations, in the Piazza di Spagna (for "furious cycling" and refusing to dismount!) on the late afternoon we wheeled into Rome, could throw a shadow over the most beautiful, the most successful of the many beautiful, successful journeys we were to take together.

• Read more of Rick's article about the Pennells' travels here.
• Join us as we retrace their journey from Florence to Rome in 2008 .

Long-time customers Bob and Penny Fink provide this month's interview. Thanks, Bob & Penny!

What's the most exciting adventure you've had while traveling?
Nothing dramatic but my favorite adventure was what I call "The Great Sardinian Rug Hunt" conducted by Rick during our rest day at Su Gologone. A number of us piled into the van and Rick headed for a rug cooperative; but they mostly had sample rugs and not much for immediate sale, so he headed off into the villages, stopping to ask passersby where rugmakers lived. Then we went to their homes and knocked on the door! Great way to see inside peoples' houses, and some great rugs bought.

Read more from the Finks here.

Rich Young writes this month about one of John Steinbeck's most popular books, Travels with Charley. While it may be an account of a single journey, it's packed with universal travel wisdom:

The lessons he has for us - slow down, talk to the people, take time to feel the way life is lived in the places you visit - echo in my memories of the best trips I've been on.

Read the rest of Rich's review of Travels with Charley here.

This month's recipe comes right out of Elizabeth Robbins Pennell's account of their 1884 bicycle tour through Italy. It's a lunch they shared with a company of soldiers (the recipe's namesake Bersagliere) at a small restaurant in Umbria:

The recipe is thought to have originated during a pause in the Crimean War (1853-56), when General La Marmora made a bet with his officers about the best pasta sauce.

Click here to read the rest of this month's Maccheroni alla Bersagliera recipe.

If you would like additional recipes, visit our online recipe archive. You'll find recipes for European and Latin American specialties like Panzanella: a Tuscan Salad, Tapenade, Gallo Pinto, and more.

Happy Walking and Cycling until next month!

E-mail us at tours@ExperiencePlus.com with comments and questions. Or give us a call at 800-685-4565.

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