Sharon and Tim Bridgman, Okehampton Cycle Club
We had such a great time with you and have been spreading the 'vamos' word! We are definitely coming back next year and will be bringing some friends from our bike club. Hope things are good with you.
Mark Rushton and Leonora Wells
Just wanted to say a belated thank you for a wonderful holiday. Thank you for looking after us so well and making us feel so welcome. We really enjoyed the beautiful routes, the delicious food and your company!
Scott Kinnear
Thanks for a lovely holiday. Everything was great, could not be faulted. You clearly have given every aspect of it a lot of thought. Here are some of the things which spring to mind:
- good communication in the lead up, all queries quickly answered;
- web site description was accurate, however I think you could sell the evening meals more. The quality and quantity of your cooking, the free beer and wine, the lovely terrace views and good collection from the airport;
- great rides from Gary which he clearly tailored to our average ability, good pace setting on the climbs; good coffee and lunch stops, obviously well researched;
- house very clean, in a lovely setting and no tourists;
- local bars and restaurants with FREE tapas with drinks;
- good meals at local restaurants;
- friendly relaxed atmosphere in your house;
the list goes on.
We are all having a great time telling our other cycling pals how fantastic it was so you never know you might get some of them across.
Scott Bentley - Dulwich Paragon
We have just come back from a training holiday in southern Spain with Vamos Cycling.
I’ve never done anything like this before but I’ve got to say it was one of the best holidays I’ve ever had. We rode everyday and covered over 600kms with 9000m of climbing taking in some cat 1 climbs used on the Vuelta and great Sunday club run with his local club in Adra as well.
Very reasonable, very quiet roads, excellent food and very welcoming, Highly recommended if you don’t fancy the usual french haunts.
Christian Rudolph - De Laune CC
Thanks so much for making our holiday so much fun. The sportif was fantastic, it was well organised and a great way to see another part of the country. None of the climbs came anywhere close to the pain inflicted by the more strenuous climbs we did in the Sierra Nevada’s. The miles we did with Gary certainly helped. Anyhow, thanks for a great week. I really enjoyed it. I’m sure we’ll return.
Cathy Ross
I can’t thank you enough for how well you’ve looked after me this week in the Alpujarras... pampering me, showing me the area you live in, feeding me like a queen, sharing your home with me and most importantly helping me discover just what I can be capable of on my bike when I try!
John Heaton-Armstrong - Mosquito Bikes RT
Having just returned from a week with Vamos Cycling, I can say honestly, it has been the best training experience of my life. The locality provides some of the most beautiful scenery you are likely to encounter in Europe. The road surfaces are perfect, and there is a wide choice of agonisingly hard (Hors Categorie and Cat 1) climbs, climbs to above 2000m, and flatter riding on the coast to do. I also particularly enjoyed riding with a couple of local teams, though by the end of the week, wasn’t much competition. I have ridden across Europe, in France, Italy and other parts of Spain, but my experience of Andalucia and Cadiar shows the area to be one of the finest for road riding Europe has to offer.
Off the bike, Gary and Sarah’s lovely house was a welcome home I didn’t want to leave. Every day we were confronted with a fantastic selection of food, in a relaxing and comfortable atmosphere. Chilling out off the bike is one of the most important parts of a training camp, and I could not have been better able to unwind if I was at home.
Testament to both this and the quality of the roads are the 900km we rode during our stay, averaging 2500m of ascent each day, including 2 days on the relative flat of the coast road. Not only am I happy to recommend Vamos Cycling for a training base, for accessing races in Spain or for leisure riding, I am also planning to go back this year to take advantage of this wonderful location. Thank you Gary and Sarah, and anyone who is considering a visit – stop considering and start booking – you won’t regret it!
Matthew Hawcroft (from message posted on Tritalk.co.uk)
I have just come back from a great week of riding in Spain.
We stayed with Gary and Sarah who run Vamos from their really nice house in the village and I can thoroughly recommend it.
The whole week was amazing - brilliant rides with a real variety of scenery, Gary rode with us every day and showed us the routes and we usually stopped for a coffee or some lunch depending on how we felt. There is also some good trail running nearby, or flatter running along the riverbed of the valley they live in - if you considered going, I would focus on the biking though.
The roads in the area are almost entirely perfect blacktop - I think it is something to do with EU funding to try and repopulate the area, with the result that the surfaces are perfect, and there are few cars. Good for climbing and awesome for descending. Climbs varying from a few kilometres to 20k or so - a couple of Cat 1 and one which would be HC if it was classified, so enough for anyone. You can also roll (or be driven) down to the coast for a nice easy spin out on a couple of days. We rode with Gary's Spanish club on both Sundays which was good fun - some seriously keen lads there and really welcoming.
The food was also great - we either ate in or went to a local restaurant each night, plus porridge/lunch/cake/tea etc when we got back from riding each day, plus a big breakfast - whatever we wanted really.
We rode about 920k of mostly hills, so it was a solid week - but a lot easier to do in 20degree sun than in the cold drizzle of Surrey.
If you are thinking of early season warm weather riding this year or next, I would give this a really good look, there are also sportives out there as well. Having gone to Spain before to ride, both the area and Gary and Sarah made this a much better week than I had elsewhere and also a lot cheaper.
Ian Crabtree
Many thanks again for making our few days away so amazing. Great hospitality, spectacular rides Gary, as was your cooking Sarah. I only wish we could have stayed longer. I very much hope to see you again next year.
Steve Tompkin and Anita Cavell (Christmas 2008)
Thanks again for making us feel so welcome in your home. I am sure we will be back. You did a grand job looking after us, we really did appreciate your hard work and efforts.
Kevin & Carolyn Olivier
Just a note to say thank you for a great weekend. We had a really enjoyable time with comfortable accommodation, excellent riding and plenty of sunshine.
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Andrew Smith and the crew from the Regent’s Park Rouleurs
Just wanted to send a follow up email to say thanks for everything !
Having been on many dedicated cycling trips (most of which were great). We are happy to say that yours was the best !
A few areas where you really differentiate yourselves are
(1) very personalised service
(2) fantastic food (thanks Sarah, BBQ especially was amazing)
(3) great climbs and roads (thanks EU funding !)
(4) the accommodation (which was your house) and
(5) your lovely dogs Chispa and Chica (please give them a pat from the RPR crew).
Thanks again !
Stewart Starkin Regent's Park Rouleurs
I would like to second that. The whole trip was superb. The rides, your food, hospitality, service. Absolutely second to none.
And Chica and Chispa, what characters!
I wish you luck with all + I look forward to coming again.
Michael Keighrey
Jersey Velosport CC
I just want to pass on a big thank you from myself and all the gang for a wonderful stay in Cadiar.
We had the best of times and we are all still on a high even though the temperature has dropped about 30 degrees.
I hope Vamos Cycling continues to go from strength to strength and that we will see you both again in the not so distant future.
Una muy grande gracias.
Richard Eastman
Thanks so much for a brilliant week at Vamos, everything was perfect, all 5 of us had such a good time. I hope we will be back again to do some of those lovely rides again
Mark Payne
Thanks for a fantastic stay. We really enjoyed it - both the hospitality and the cycling. We’ll be back before too long.
Jim Morris - a3crg Cycling Club
I had a great time. I enjoyed being with you a lot, Your company
was great, your house is lovely and – very importantly!! –
the food was great. And the cycling is wonderful. It is very wet
at home and all I want to do is come straight back.
Adam and Lesley Fitzpatrick - Mid Devon CC
Thought you should both know that Les and I had an absolutely fantastic ‘holiday’ and thoroughly appreciated all your efforts in the hills, in the shops and in the kitchen – wonderful…
We were made so welcome … thank you
Peter & Katy Ferguson
Thank you for looking after us so well. We had a great week with
you.
Chris and Sue Kewley
We had planned to have a gentle week pottering around south west France but dismayed at the last minute by the weather forecast pitched up in Southern Spain at Vamos Cycling with little notice and no idea of what to expect. It was with the benefit of hindsight a decision of genius and we had a wonderful time.
It is not really fair to describe Vamos as a B&B, but much more a case of staying as a guest with an unusually accommodating and hospitable couple who share your passion for cycling. Like you or loathe you, and I daresay at times they do both, they are unfailingly courteous, seemingly unflappable and nothing is ever too much trouble. Sarah is an excellent cook. Evening meals are taken en famille with copious quantities of wine and preceded by leisurely drinks on the terrace watching the sun go down. The atmosphere is invariably relaxed and convivial and the perfect end to a strenuous day on the saddle.
Which brings me to the biking.
This for us, enthusiastic but utterly non competitive cyclists was a revelation tinged at times with a touch of apprehension. It is undeniably hard, but like many things very much a case of what you choose to make of it. The majority of the rides involve long climbs and even to do them slowly, as we did, requires a good basic level of fitness. However the road surfaces are excellent, far better consistently than anything I have ever been on before and once you get into your stride the going up becomes an exhilarating if occasionally masochistic challenge while the going down is as thrilling as your aching hands clutching the brakes dare to let it be. Add to that breathtakingly beautiful scenery, snowcapped mountains and sunlit roadside bars offering tostada, jamon, olives, cocida, sopa and coffee (and mostly for a song) and you have, if two narrow wheels and a smooth road is your thing, a recipe for a kind of paradise.
I loved it and I would certainly go back.
Adrian & Shona Pottinger
Thank you very much for your hospitality during xmas week, Shona
and I really enjoyed ourselves, much more than we could express.
Dr Shelley Farrar & Ian Wilson
We all had a wonderful time with you over Christmas and your hospitality
was beyond the call of duty.
Amanda Seddon
I just wanted to say a big thanks to you for making our stay with you such a pleasant and enjoyable one.
The food was fantastic and certainly what we needed after a day out in the saddle. The standard of the accommodation was also superb - we couldn't have asked for anything more. Add to that the friendly reception we got, it felt like a home from home. Foggy and Meg were great company too.
We really enjoyed the routes we rode - I always thought the Alpujarras on road would be good after several trips of off road riding - this trip certainly confirmed that the roads were great.
Andrew & Jill Sellars
We are missing the sunshine, doggies and Sarah’s cooking already. We really enjoyed the holiday, the accommodation, food and bike routes were great and we particularly liked the traditional feel to the house and location.
The high small village to village bike routes were our favourite rides as you have spectacular routes all around. On the down side we found the cycling quite hard as the hills are strenuous but we were expecting that because you had put the profiles on the website and for fit real cyclists the hills will be what they are after. The food was great also with lots of it and a good variety, so we have no complaints at all. I think the holiday was what it promised on the website, our only regret was that we were not fitter to go further afield but maybe next time.
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