Select GFNY races offer an additional option to enhance your cycling-travel experience: GFNY Camp. The GFNY Camp experience offers VIP benefits at the race, and in addition includes guided and supported group riding at the race’s host venue in the week leading up to race day.

 

Taking part in a week-long GFNY Camp will transform your cycling. The Camp will make you a stronger, more confident cyclist. Each day’s ride covers parts of the course or similar terrain as the race course, building your familiarity, skills, endurance and strength to have a successful race day. 

 

GFNY Camps are usually 7 days of group riding, with the GFNY race being the 8th day. There is also a 2-day Camp option with the VIP-Camp ticket for those of you who want the supported group riding experience but cannot make the full week.

 

The GFNY Camp group is usually 20-50 cyclists. Same as GFNY races, GFNY Camps have an international peloton of like-minded individuals. GFNY Camps offer two social activities in addition to the daily cycling: the Welcome Dinner and Welcome Social. After the day’s cycling, many campers go for lunch together, make plans for tourism activities together or visit the local bike shop.

 

GFNY sets up a WhatsApp group and/or email group (with each athlete’s permission) making planning and communication easy and fun.

 

Many GFNY Campers end up making long-lasting friendships and reconnect at other GFNYs.

At the camp, you can expect 40km-80km of cycling each day, with varied topography. In addition, there are brief skill instruction sessions to complement the day’s cycling route. 

 

 

GFNY Camps are not “epic camps”. If you are looking for doing massive volume days, GFNY Camp rides will not be long enough for you. Some Campers opt to extend select rides individually or as a group after the scheduled group ride ends.

 

GFNY Camps require already having a base fitness. If you are coming into a camp with little training, the camp will be too demanding. While a shorter day may be 40km, there will be multiple days where the cycling will last over 3 hours and include challenging climbs. You will not be able to take full advantage of the camp if you haven’t put in some moderate training in advance. 

- The Camp leaders may suggest you an alternate shorter ride in place of the scheduled ride, or 

- You may be driven in the camp support car through more challenging sections of a ride to rejoin when the route gets easier, or

- You may opt to take a rest day. 

You have a race at the end of the week, so in theory you should have been training for the past several weeks or months to prepare for the race and arrive at the camp with a good base fitness.

 

GFNY Camp is meant to prepare you for race day, not wear you out. By race day, you will be comfortable with taking on challenging climbs and should be in peak condition to finish your GFNY strong.

Before the camp, you can contact the race organizer with any camp questions. Review the Hotel page on the race website that may recommend accommodation for Camp participants, or contact the race organizer.

 

In the days before the camp is scheduled to begin, you will get your Welcome email, usually the organizer asks you to provide the name of your accommodation, your WhatsApp number, your approval to add you to the WhatsApp group, and whether you have family or friends who joined you on the trip.

 

During Camp week, you will receive daily communications about the schedule, the route, weather and other important camp information.

 

During each group ride, there are at minimum two group leaders, sometimes up to six group leaders, who speak multiple languages and are cycling in the peloton aside you. The group leaders are experienced in offering mechanical support, as well as knowing the day’s route. The leaders split their peloton location, with one being always at the front of the peloton, and one at the back of the peloton to support the entire peloton.

 

During each group ride, there is at minimum one support vehicle. The support vehicle meets the peloton at the meeting point and carries basic mechanical tools and supplies, as well as supplementary sports nutrition, water and snacks. (You can pump your tires every morning with the vehicle’s pump). Once the ride begins, the vehicle travels with the peloton. In case of varying weather, you can drop off any jackets with the vehicle at the start of a ride or at the base of a climb, and pick up your jacket when weather changes or for a major descent. If you have any mechanical, you can contact the support car by calling or by WhatsApp with your location to pick you up. 

 

You will be introduced to the Camp leaders and support drivers during the Welcome Dinner and you will have everyone’s phone numbers. You won’t be left alone during a camp, group leaders always keep their attention on the safety and well-being of each athlete.

 

You should be arriving at your Camp accommodation on Saturday, the day before Day 1 of group rides.

 

On that arrival day, Saturday, you should be checking into your accommodation, make any grocery shopping as you need it, unpack your bike and at minimum do basic 5-min on-the-bike check that your bike is working for Day 1 of group riding. If you find any post-travel mechanical problems, contact your Camp organizer to try to get you mechanical assistance either from a local shop or from one of the Camp leaders.

 

That Saturday evening, the Welcome Dinner is held, where all the Campers and Support Team meet in a social setting to meet each other and talk through the week. If you have any apparel, technical, equipment, weather or other questions, the Welcome Dinner is a great time to ask because surely other Campers have the same question as you.

 

The Camp starts out with an easier Day 1 on Sunday to shake out the legs after travel, for some easing into a different time zone, or get adjusted to different altitude and weather and get used to the new surroundings and terrain.

 

Days 2-6 will feature longer routes and significant climbs (whatever the host destination has to offer).

 

Day 6 and 7 (Friday and Saturday) rides have the VIP ticket holders join the peloton.

 

There is Welcome Aperitif held on the Friday evening (Day 6).

 

Day 7 is a lighter day, about 2 hours, to give you time to relax and prepare for race day.

GFNY Camps are organized to make your cycling and the days at the destination stress-free and enjoyable.

 

The daily meeting time is 9:30am (unless communicated otherwise by your Camp Leaders). We meet at a café, so you can get a coffee or use the restroom before the ride. We often take pre-ride group photos and videos. The daily briefing is at 9:45am. The group rides depart promptly at 10am each day.

The meeting point and the ridewithgps.com route map will be emailed / sent to the WhatsApp chat to you each evening before the next day’s ride. 

We prepare routes for each day of the camp in advance, however we adjust the rides based on weather. If rain is in the forecast in a location of our ride, we will swap days and ride elsewhere that day. In case of general bad weather, we may shorten that day's ride or may be unable to offer a ride that day (we recommend swapping a bad weather day for a spa day!). Since you are at the camp to ride and have the support vehicle at your disposal, you should bring all possible clothing options for the week.

We won’t do lunch stops during the rides but we will absolutely do coffee stops! Some Campers go for lunch together after the day’s ride is done.

 

You will be back from cycling in the early afternoon to also enjoy non-cycling tourism activities. Check out the Activities page of the race website to know all the tourism options available at the destination. Families are most welcome at GFNY Camps, we are working with the destination to provide tourism activities and family entertainment options, whether an Italian cooking class, a cable car & hike in the French Alps or Pyrenees, or a historical architectural site visit in the Peruvian Andes.