Volta ao Algarve10th – 14th June 2015Cyclist Information

Introduction

Itinerary…………………………………………………………………3 - 7

Accommodation.……………………………………………......8

Insurance…………………………………………………………......9 - 10

Groups ……………….…………………………………………………11 Kit List……………………………………………………………………12

Food and Nutrition……………………………………………….13

Pie Staff………………………………………………………………….14

Vehicles …………………………………………………………………15

Emergency Procedures………………………………………16 -18

Contact details…………………………………………………..…19

Welcome to the Badgers Volta ao Algarve cycle ride. The event is being managed by pie – a

bespoke cycling events company that specialises in delivering beautiful and challenging cycle rides in the UK and Europe. We are sure that you will

enjoy the challenge, and raise vital funds for Action Medical Research.

Please find below some information concerning your ride. Should you have any questions, or

require any additional information, please don’t hesitate to contact us: Tina@pieevents.co.uk

See you on the road!

pie Events Team

2015 Barking Badgers Badgers Singers

Distance Height Distance Height Distance Height

Day One 49k 660m 44k 556m 44k 556m

Day Two 143k 2400m 126k 2042m 92k 1300m

Day Three 150k 2147m 132k 1877m 102k 950m

Day Four 140k 2352m 120k 1855m 88k 1172m

Total 482k 7559m 422k 6330m 326k 3978m

This route has been fully recced by pie in October 2014 and again just before the event. However, itinerary changes are always possible for reasons beyond our control.

Wednesday 10th June 2015 – Warm up Loop

You will already have decided on which flight, below, you prefer to travel on (BA from Gatwick or Monarch from Luton) and told AMR. These flights have been paid for in full. If there are any changes please advise us asap. Each flight will be met individually with a coach transfer to the hotel in Sagres. If you are not on one of the below flights please advise us if you would like a transfer and which one.BA2694 10JUN LGWFAO 0900 1150 BA2695 14JUN FAOLGW 1235 1525 ZB 56 10JUN LTN/FAO 06.55/9.55ZB 58 14JUN FAO/LTN 1015/1305

Day 1 Sagres – Warm up loops. 49k/660m or 44k/556mWe transfer to our hotel in Sagres to set up the bikes. There will be plenty of guides around to help you if needed, as well as tool boxes and track pumps. Our warm up day is a chance for you to stretch your legs and take in some of the dramatic coastline and undulating roads that the west coast has to offer. Taking in the quaint towns of Vila do Bispo and Raposeira with their whitewashed buildings and surrounding lush countryside, and gives us a taste of the days to come as we stretch our legs on one of two warm up loops. Towards the end of the ride we head to the striking cliffs of Cabo de São Vicente and the famous lighthouse at Europe’s most south-westerly tip, before heading back via the coastal route to our hotel in Baleeira harbour . There will be one refreshment stop on the ride.Dinner and briefing in the hotel – 20.00.

Thursday 11th June – The Foia Climb

Barking: 143k / 2400mBadgers: 126k / 2042mSingers: 92k / 1300m

This morning the groups all head north on the Eucalyptus lined roads of the west coast before turning east into the quiet hills below Monchique. With the sun high at midday we loop around the beautiful turquoise waters of Odiaxere dam before heading north east into the cooler mountainous woodlands towards Monchique. This afternoon the Badgers and the Barking Badgers tackle the big climb of the tour, and the highest point in the Algarve; Foia. The Volta include this in their ride every year finishing it off with a time trial back down it! On a clear day you can see the entire coastline along the south and west from the summit, a great reward having conquered the 874m mountain. After taking in the views, the finish calls, and heading back down the mountain past cork trees and piles of beautifully laid out cork bark, we celebrate the day’s achievements in the fabulous Caldes Termal de Monchique, a spa resort nestled in the valley. There will be great food and wine on offer here and maybe a drop of the local hooch…There will be 3 refreshment stops during this ride including a buffet lunch.

Friday 12th June – the Coast & Vilamoura

Barking: 150k /2147mBadgers: 132k / 1877mSingers: 102k / 950m

Whether you are Barking or Singing, this morning will take us all on the amazing high roads of the beautiful landscape of the Serra de Monchique, before descending into the more rolling landscape of the Silves district. The fertile valleys host orange and almond trees amongst the hills. All being well - we'll enjoy lunch in the town square of Silves next to the church and the castle. This afternoon the groups continue to head south east, via São Bartolomeu de Missines and Paderne, villages dotted into the landscape that depict the charm of the Algarve’s towns, before once again meeting the coast in Vilamoura. Today finishes in a ride around the bustling marina before getting to our quieter hotel just a couple of minutes walk away. There’s the option to take a dip in the sea, or stretch our legs on the “private beach” of our lakeside hotel which hosts the only 'sand based' swimming pool in Europe. There will be 3 refreshment stops during this ride including the restaurant stop in Silves

Saturday 13th June – Final Day

Barking: 140k / 2352mBadgers: 120k / 1855mSingers: 88k / 1172m

Our final day in the saddle, and the completion of the west to east traverse of the Algarve! This morning the Barking Badgers take a long route north in the direction of Rocha da Pena. Skirting around the outside of the dense woodland surrounding the limestone rocks, the route takes the Barking Badgers to the second big climb of the tour; Alto do Malhao. Don’t be fooled by the “average gradient” of 8.9% as this is seriously only for Barkers! The Singers and Badgers head towards the historic market town of Loulé with its Moorish architecture, and in the afternoon the Badgers meet up with the Barking route and head on the road to Cachopo, a lovely village situated on the amazing Caldeirão mountain where the Algarve’s products such as honey and cork are produced.The Singers take a more southern route east, but along the route of the Volta passing through extensive cork plantations leading into São Brás de Alportel before joining the Barking and Badgers in Tavira for the last leg of the journey. Tavira is an elegant fishing town, and after a short ride along the picturesque river front, we all head back inland to our finish at the exclusive Monte Rei Golf & Country Club where we have exclusive use of the accommodation to celebrate our week’s achievements with a BBQ around the swimming pool. Nestled between the dramatic Serra do Caldeirão mountains and the Atlantic Ocean this promises to be a special evening – bring a light jacket for enjoying a long al fresco dinner.There will be 3 refreshment stops during this ride including a buffet lunch. Please note this accommodation is in the middle of nowhere so if you need cash you will need to get it before your arrival.

Accommodation

Night 1- Memmo Baleeira Hotel SagresSítio da Baleeira, Sagres8650-357,www.memmohotels.com

Night 2- Villa Termal Das Caldas De MonchiqueRua de Caldas de Monchique8550-232 Monchiquewww.monchiquetermas.com

Night 3 - Blue And Green The Lake Spa ResortAvenida da Praia da Falésia8126-910 Vilamoura, Algarvehttp://www.thelakeresort.com/en/home.php

Night 4 - Monte Rei Golf & Country ClubSitio Do Pocinho - Sesmarias8901-907 Vila Nova de Cacelawww.monte-rei.com/

InsuranceWe consider it imperative that each Cyclist has insurance for the duration of the trip. Travel InsurancePassion in Events Ltd considers it imperative that you be insured whilst travelling abroad on one of our events. It is essential and your responsibility to ensure this insurance provides adequate cover for the challenge you are participating in in the event of an accident, and that it will also provide repatriation. If you have your own insurance policy already, please check it covers your challenge and give us the details required on the Registration form. If you do not provide these details, Passion in Events reserves the right to refuse you participation on the event with no return of monies paid to us, due back to you.If you are buying insurance, we cannot by law recommend an insurer to you. However, it is important that your insurer knows you are not in a race, as this is not a race; which country you are going to; what you are doing while you are there; and importantly, about any pre-existing medical issues. If you do not declare a pre-existing medical issue (e.g. diabetes), you may not be covered for any complications with that condition while you are away. In our experience the main use of insurance is not whilst on an event for an accident, but prior to going on an event, using the cancellation element. If you can prove that your cancellation prior to departing on an event was due to an insurable reason you may be able to claim back any monies paid to pie / Action Medical Research (subject to our terms and conditions). A small amount spent on your insurance can prevent you from losing a larger amount paid for an event you can’t attend.

Insurance

We recommend you take out an EHIC card (free) which will cover you for 3 years for emergency care you may need while travelling in Europe. Please note, an EHIC is not a replacement for insurance. It is a method of covering any medical fees you may incur while travelling in an EU country, more cheaply. It will not cover repatriation, loss of baggage, cancellation, etc.

http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/Healthcareabroad/EHIC/Pages/about-the-ehic.aspx

Whilst on the event, we require you to wear a helmet at all times while on your bike. If you forget yours, then we have them to sell.

Bike Insurance

The increase in value of a bike has far out-paced the increase in the single item limit value on a standard travel insurance policy. Whereas a standard single item limit might be £250, a bike will be vastly more. We therefore recommend that your insurance policy states your make and model of your bike, along with its estimated value, or you get it insured on your home contents insurance and notify them you are travelling.

pie will take all due precautions to look after your bike throughout the event. However, pie will not accept any liability for damage or theft of bikes while in its care and so suitable insurance will need to be arranged by the cyclists.

Guided GroupsThe pie guides are responsible for your safety throughout the ride. They navigation from one stop to the next, offer mechanical help, first aid assistance if required, etc. Each group will be made up of about 8 Badgers with their own pie guide. Cyclists will not be provided with maps or gpx files for the ride. Our guides will have maps and GPS.You should have already received a self assessment sheet from AMR. This is to help us split the whole group into 6 smaller groups of equal standard and experience cyclists. There will also be 4 Tour Leaders, driving vehicles, and 2 Medics in the support vehicles, so you will always be cared for from a bike and from a support vehicle. There will be an opportunity throughout the ride to swap groups – you just need to check with your guide if this is possible. There will be a choice of 3 different routes available for you each day. The Barking route is the hardest and 2-3 guides will lead Barking Routes; Badgers routes provide a good demanding challenge each day and 2-3 pie guides will lead Badger routes each day; the Singing route is achievable by all even if you are not a very experienced cyclist. It is likely there will be one Singers group a day.From our experience, the average cycling speed will be about between 16 and 30 kph, and you should be prepared for 92k-150k in the saddle per day, equivalent to 6 to 10 hours cycling (including breaks).

Kit ListOn arrival in Sagres, you will be given your 2 Tour cycle jerseys. The one with green sleeves is to be worn on the 1 st day – with black shorts please. If you are new to Badgers tours you will also receive a jacket. If not, please bring yours from previous years. You will also receive 2 pie water bottles. You will be cycling for 4 days, and the weather in the Algarve in June is likely to be warm and very sunny. You should however make sure that you have something like a gilet for the descents and the end of the day. You will need casual clothes for the evenings and a light jacket especially for the last night which is an alfresco meal.Don’t forget your passport, €, insurance documents, EHIC and mobile phone, chargers and adaptors (standard European adaptor applies).

Bike BoxesThe Badgers Tour of the Algarve is very kindly supported by Stobart hauliers once again. All bikes must be left in the storage called the HUB at Tesco Cheshunt offices between 8am – 4pm, May 23rd – June 2nd. We ask that all bikes being transported in the Stobart lorry are packed into bike bags or boxes to avoid any damage to the bike on the drive down to the Algarve or on the way back. More information on this to follow from Action.AMR will contact you re your preferred times to drop off your bike as we need to ensure there is someone to take your bike from you. Your bike will be available for collection from the Hub from Wednesday 17th June until 28th. Each day you should carry everything you want for your day’s cycling with you, as you will not have access to any of your luggage during the day. Your tour cycle jerseys have back pockets and you should be able to fit the majority of things that you will need with you for the day in these. In addition, we also recommend using a saddle bag where you can store spare inner-tubes, tyre levers, etc. Bikes will be stored safely overnight in the hotels.Bike toolsWe will provide a tool-box in each van with enough equipment to fix most mechanical issues, a spare bike, and a spare front and rear wheel set, track pumps, etc. Should your bike have any ‘non-standard’ parts, or need any specialist equipment, eg electric gears, please bring these with you. If you are travelling with your bike tools or spares in your bike box/bag you will need to take these out of your bike bag and keep them in another separate and labelled bag as all bike bags will be unaccessable for the duration of the ride.

Food and Nutrition

Nutrition and cycling go together. We aim, to give you the energy you need to complete your chosen challenge.• Before the ride you will always get an excellent breakfast in the hotel • During the ride you will get a morning stop and an afternoon stop each day with hot and cold drinks, sweet

and savoury foods, fruit and of course drinking water• On the day of arrival there will be a packed lunch which will be given to you on the coach before you set off. Of

the 3 other lunches there will be one restaurant lunch (Silves), and 2 buffet lunches• Gels - You will also receive some energy gels which will be available at the start of the day and at each of the

stops. • Post ride – at the end of each ride there will be snacks to keep you going until dinner and some post ride

recovery shakes.• Wrigleys have very kindly sponsored the jerseys on this year’s tour. There will be plenty of Wrigley product at

the stops and after the ride – please help yourself. They have also kindly donated Skittles - Enjoy!

pie Staff

You will be joined by 12 pie staff throughout the ride:

• Event Manger – Tina

• Tour Leaders – Paul Rayfield, Katie Voutt, Nicky Brown

• Bike Guides – Barrie Clarke, James Ouchterloney, Jim McConnel, Mikey Waterjohns, Joe Ayres, James Tansley,

• Medics – Nix Burwood, and Laura Nicol

In addition, we thank Stobart for lending their support on the Badgers tour once again with a truck and driver.

Tipping for pie staff:

• Our staff don’t expect tips on our rides – we all genuinely love to be out and about, making sure you have the best time on your event. If however, you feel like giving a tip, may we request that it is passed directly to the Event Manager rather than to the individual staff. They will ensure the whole team benefits from your generosity. You’ll spend most of your time with our fabulous guides, but they (and you) are supported behind the scenes by our incredibly hard working tour leaders and medics, and it’s only fair that every team member is recognised.

Vehicles

On the event there will be the following support vehicles:

• 3 x minibuses

• 1 x Stobart truck

The minibuses will provide you with support on your ride:

• Bike tool kits

• Bike spares

• Spare bike

• water

• all your refreshment stops

• Medics

The Stobart truck will take your luggage each day from one hotel to the next as well as drive your bikes down to the start of the ride in the Algarve and back from the finish.

Emergency Procedures

Introduction

Thank you for registering to participate in a Passion in Events (pie) organised trip. We have over 20 years experience in organising and developing activity based challenges throughout the world, and are confident that you will find your event rewarding and memorable for all the right reasons. Accidents do happen however, and so we would appreciate it if you could take a few moments of your time to read through the information below and familiarise yourself with our emergency procedures.

All pie trips will be run by an Event Manager and will have a minimum of one suitably qualified medic for the duration of your event. The Event Manager will have overall responsibility for the event, and we would be grateful if you could respect his decisions throughout the event. We will always endeavour to keep you and your fellow cyclists as safe as possible, however this does require a commitment from you to observe any instructions given to you by a pie member of staff, whether that be the Event Manager, guides, medics or tour leaders.

General

All participants are required to wear a helmet for cycling at all times. All cyclists are asked to carry a mobile phone with them for the duration of the event, and to inform pie of their correct contact details (mobile phone number) in good time before the event. The mobile phone should be charged to a reasonable level (enough to make and receive any emergency calls). Should a cyclist not have a mobile phone, they should carry enough local currency to enable them to make calls from a payphone should an emergency occur.

Emergency Procedures

All cyclists will be provided with an emergency card that provides the contact details of the Event Manager and trip medic as a minimum. Should a cyclist not receive an emergency contact card, they should request one from a pie member of staff. All cyclists are required to reduce the risk of an accident occurring as far as possible for the duration of the event.

In the event of an emergencyIn the event of an emergency, our staff will instruct you as to the appropriate actions they would like you to take. It is important you follow these instructions; however if you feel that these instructions put you in more danger than acceptable, then you are entitled to discuss this with our staff member and agree on a course of action.

Once all cyclists are safe, the pie staff member will call the Event Manager, who will then decide on the best course of action. This may involve a re-organisation of the logistics of the event, and in extreme cases, may mean that the event is temporarily stopped, or terminated entirely. If the emergency involves a member of pie staff, and there are no other pie staff in the immediate vicinity, you should adhere to the following course of action:

1. Ensure that you, your fellow cyclists and members of the general public are as safe and as comfortable as possible.

2. If necessary, call the emergency services.3. Call the pie Event Manager to tell them the nature of the incident and your location – the contact

details can be found on your emergency card.4. If it is safe to do so, you must stay where you are. If not, you should move to a safe location.5. Please follow the instructions given to you by the pie Event Manager on their arrival or the emergency

services.

Emergency Procedures

If the emergency involves you or a fellow cyclist on the event, and there is no pie member of staff in the immediate vicinity you should follow to the following course of action:

1. Ensure that you, your fellow cyclist, and members of the general public are as safe and as comfortable as possible.

2. If necessary, call the emergency services.3. Call the pie Event Manager to tell them the nature of the incident and your location – the contact

details can be found on your emergency card.4. If it is safe to do so, you must stay where you are. If not, you should move to a safe location.5. Please follow the instructions given to you by the pie Event Manager, pie member of staff on their

arrival, or the emergency services. After the incidentAfter the incident, the Event Manager may ask to meet you to note down the details of the incident. This is for the purposes of our own records, and for use in improving our emergency procedures. We would be grateful if you could comply with this request, and provide a full, honest account of the incident. Depending on the severity of the event, this information may also be released to the police or other government authorities. General procedures – group activitiesWhen undertaking an activity as part of a group, it is vital unless instructed to do so, that all members of the group stay together. This makes things easier for us to co-ordinate a plan of action should an incident occur, and is safer for you and your fellow cyclists. Should you not stay with your group, we cannot be responsible for you and we reserve the right to remove you from the event entirely.

Contact Details

piecyclingevents

@pieevents

Pre Event Contact: Tina Makin• Email: Tina@pieevents.co.uk• Mobile: +44 (0)7970 963 040

Event Manager: Tina Makin• Mobile: +44 (0)7970 963 040

Event Coordinator: Harriet Martin• Office contact for the duration of the event• Email: harriet@pieevents.co.uk• Office: +44 (0)1932 460 090

AMR Contact on event: Louise Stone and Sarah StevensonLouise Mobile: 0772 029 7572Sarah Mobile: 0796 743 2750

* Emergency procedure precedes any contact with the Event Manager or office.

Please send us lots of photos/videos to upload to Facebook/Twitter.