Len Caplan's "Europe-By-Bike" tour to the Tour de France last year was a disaster of a vacation.
There were approximately 180 people and actually had more people than seats on at least one of the coaches.
Our bikes were jammed in the back of a box truck with pieces of cardboard to separate them. While there were four coaches full of people, there were only 3 small trucks to carry the bikes. Mine was seriously damaged and I know of several other riders who had their bikes seriously damaged.
The non-riding group spent alot of their time in the coaches.
The rides had no support and were disorganized. There were no cue sheets or maps passed out and often we rode with no idea of where we were going. Some people got lost and had to take a taxi back to the hotel where we were staying. We rode up Mt Ventoux with a water stop at the very beginning and then nothing! The same for L'alp Duez, at each switch back, we passed the support vehicles from other tour groups, but Europe-by-bike was no where to be found.
Len told us repeatedly that we would stay in 3 and 4 star hotels, we stayed 3 nights ina 2 star hotel. We also did not stay in charming villages and towns. For 3 nights, we stayed off a motorway, a 40 Euro cab ride into the closest town with restaurants.
In short, we did not get to see and do things that were promised and Len, who hid for most of the trip to avoid being confronted, was unapologetic and downright rude when we finally did see him and expressed our displeasure with the trip. I got the feeling from talking to him that he had no intention of delivering on his promise. I have heard tour groups are bad for this sort of rip off.
It was a vacation I endured and did not enjoy. I would not recommend Europe-by-bike or Len to anyone.
Do not trust Len Caplan or his Europe-by Bike Tours. Go with a reputable company. Search for bike tour review sites on line.
0 comments