Hospitality - Trek Travel

Intern Chronicles: Part 1, working for Trek Travel

Posted on January 15, 2014 - 9:25 am by keith_ritter

How did a 21-year-old college senior end up with a four-year summer internship at the world’s best cycling vacation company on her résumé? At 17-years-old I was a washed up soccer player, bored summer lifeguard, outdoor enthusiast and recent high school graduate. Over the years multiple broken legs have forced me take up a low-impact fitness alternative and as a decent athlete native to the cycling industry mecca of Madison, WI, cycling was the easy choice. I quickly took to the bicycle and after a few hours in the mailroom each week I had found my place at Trek Travel as well. The people, the mission, the product—it was all such a perfect fit. I was hooked.

Let’s start with the people. At Trek Travel we like to use the word ‘rock star’…a lot. But after many years of working alongside best in class employees I can honestly say that every person on the Trek Travel team is truly a rock star. That first summer I asked hundreds of questions each day. To be honest, I probably still do. Maybe I’d broken the postage machine, jammed the printer, or couldn’t navigate the online database. Pretty small problems in the grand scheme of things, but no matter what I threw their way it was always met with unwavering patience and a true desire to help.

Over time I’ve watched as this same attitude is applied day in and day out with guests. Four summers in a small office has given me opportunities I could not have imagined, the most unique of which is the ability to work with many different departments. Not ironically, this same benefit extends to guests as well. Each and every employee, from sales and customer service consultants to trip design and logistics specialists, work together seamlessly to provide guests with solutions to all their problems and answers to all their questions. Always with unwavering patience and a deep desire to help make yours the best vacation possible. There really is no better way to describe everyone who works at Trek Travel than ‘rock stars’, and there is no better place that I could have worked during the ‘best years of my life’.

Great Service in Zion

Posted on June 13, 2012 - 9:00 am by keith_ritter

Two cyclists ride through rock strata in the Utah canyonlands

This originally debuted on cycleutah’s blog after going on a Trek Travel Bryce and Zion bike tour in May. Thanks for sharing Bob!

BL-If you think about it, we are all in the service business. What ever you do for a living you are serving someone. Over the years I have kept a keen eye out for excellent service because it helps me get better.

Our three guides from Trek Travel exuded really great service these past 6 days. Dave, Lisa and Matt were the consummate professionals and their theme of fun and flexible worked to perfection! Every morning we had a pre-ride briefing of what to expect on the ride and also details about our stops, lunch and our final destination. All the little details from a proper bike fit, air in the tires, snacks for energy, water bottles filled and of course that big pull into the wind were all handled with great expertise. And the picnic lunches, the fabulous dinners and excellent hotels…all were first class!

The best part for me was that all three were really nice people with great stories (right Matt) about their adventures around the world. These three have worked all three major cycling tours (Tour de France, Giro d’Italia, Vuelta a Espana), New Zealand, Australia, Vietnam, Costa Rica and on and on. Their passion is travel and adventure and being of service to us amateur cyclist.

Good job guys…you are the best ever!

(–Bob)

Groucho Blogger & Trek Travel Guide Jon Vick: Once Upon a Time – A New Adventure

Posted on May 10, 2012 - 2:02 pm by keith_ritter

Originally published on Groucho Sports blog.

“I see you have me on the Tour de France. Does that mean I’m going to Europe?”

Those are the words that came out of my mouth when I called my manager after receiving my first ever schedule for Trek Travel. I wish I was joking about that. I was too excited to make sense.

I took a big gamble when I applied for a job with Trek Travel back in 2005. It wasn’t actually the first time I applied to be a guide. I’d applied one year earlier as well. At a time that it made a lot more sense for me to uproot and take off. A year earlier I was just a part time sales rat at Penn Cycle. I was living in an apartment that was both too big and too expensive for me to keep. My life was in flux.

Fast forward to 2005. I was fresh off a promotion. I was putting down offers to buy a house. Things were coming together. I was pretty content where I was. But the chance to travel, ride bikes, and have my paycheck say Trek Bicycle Corporation in the upper left corner seemed like too good of an opportunity not to take one more shot at it.

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Prague to Vienna: Breaking Down Borders

Posted on October 26, 2011 - 5:00 am by keith_ritter

Well, it used to be the main event – the differences between the Czech Republic and Austria are palpable but what truly punctuated the experience between the two was crossing the border by bicycle. A moment where passports were checked and stamped; people really felt like they were changing countries because they were! Well, no more. What was once an official checkpoint for our guests, following our “last” lunch in Nove Hrady en route to Weitra and all things Austrian, had become somewhat of a non-event a short time following the entry of the Czech Republic into the European Union and the end to controlled boundaries. Border patrol huts, a road with a line across it and approaching speed limits reducing down to 30 km/hour …and tumbleweeds.

A few years of tossing some ideas around (with little more than photo moments at the country signs being the result) have come and gone with my co-guides and myself. Until this year when Lacey Bartels, my fresh-faced co-guide with a fresh perspective decided that we were going to resurrect the crossing! No sooner had the decision been made then we found ourselves in an army surplus shop in Cesky Krumlov. Who knew? After 4 years working here I had never noticed this shop until this day. For a surprisingly nominal amount we were able to piece together a fairly convincing border guard outfit [from the waist up, at any rate]. Well, it was a Czech army jacket and we were playing an Austrian guard…but these are minor details, right?

Plan in place: the guide driving the van that day feigning necessary logistics. We must go ahead and prepare the border patrol for our group crossing. Instructions: everyone must have their passport ready and travel as a group to expedite the process.

I was first to experiment with our Customs and Immigration Theatre. I drove like a demon to the then unpopulated border. The original structure still in place, I quickly changed into the ‘official’ outfit and waited. In the meantime, outsiders had gathered. I must admit at this point I am feeling a tad foolish, having realized that I am making a mockery of their now defunct system. However, here come the riders…and every theatre needs an audience, I suppose.

As instructed, and led in by Lacey, they arrive as a group. I jump out from my hiding spot and yell ‘Halt’ with arm raised. I actually had them fooled for a moment. Just a moment but it was fun while it lasted. Hiding behind the aviator sunglasses provided by Lacey certainly helped. I demanded to see passports, and asked a few questions in a way that would have made my public school drama teacher proud, if not the Austrian national guard. The group tuned in quickly and, while laughing, played along. Same time next week, our roles were reversed and Lacey fine-tuned the experience. She was certainly far stricter–not everyone was allowed to cross. They would be forever enjoying beer for breakfast and would not be allowed to cycle to those hills so very much alive with the sound of music…. Well, not really. But it was fun to pretend.

And so, success! A border crossing to remember!
–Leanne

A Moment in Italy, by Bob Joy

Posted on May 19, 2011 - 9:56 am by keith_ritter

Trek Travel president Tania Burke recently explained why she thinks Tuscany is the best place to take an Italy bike tour. I couldn’t agree more. Tuscany combines amazing scenery, outstanding food and wine, and some of the world’s friendliest people. One can tour Tuscany by bus, or see it in a car, but the only way to really experience it is on a bike.

Let’s start with scenery. On a bike, you don’t just view the landscape, you feel it. In your calves and thighs, of course, but you also become aware of the breezes, can savor the aromas of flowers in bloom or bread just coming out of the oven in the village paneterria, and can hear the laughter of children kicking a soccer ball or the peal of a church bell in the distance. You aren’t just an observer of the landscape, you are connected to it in a way that the typical tourist never is.

Maybe it’s the effort that cycling takes that makes the food and wine taste so much better. Or maybe it’s the guilt-free knowledge that you are burning off the calories just as fast as you are taking them on. How wonderful it is to indulge in pasta and wine for a week and not put on any weight!

Traveling by bike is a great way to connect with people, too. On a 2009 trip with Trek Travel our group started the day at Lido di Camaiore on the coast just north of Pisa. We climbed up a series of hills as we headed east and were rewarded by ever more dramatic views of the Ligurian Sea. We stopped in a little village at the crest of a ridge to check our maps and regroup. I noticed that the older gentleman sitting on a stone bench seemed to be eyeing us curiously. He motioned for me to join him, but as I did he saw the sweat pouring off my body and made a big deal about shifting to the far end of the bench, clearly conveying the notion that I was untouchable. On impulse, I slid right next to him. His reaction was captured in this photo. Despite the differences in culture, age, and language, we made a human connection that afternoon. It was just another Trek Travel moment, but the memory will last a lifetime.

Jon Vick’s Favorite Rides

Posted on April 10, 2011 - 12:49 pm by keith_ritter

Thoughtfully written by one of our guides on his own blog, Jon Vick let us tell you all his favorite rides.

As part of Trek Travel’s Ride Camp in Solvang, we rode one of my all time favorite road rides last week. It got me thinking about where my all time favorite road rides are. This is the list I’ve come up with:

1 – Sella Ronda. In my opinion there isn’t a more beautiful road ride in the world. Made up of four passes; it’s the perfect balance of awesome climbing, awesome descending, and amazing scenery. With awesome spots to stop for lunch and great Italian espresso along the route, it really doesn’t get better than this.

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Newer posts

Category Archives: Hospitality

Intern Chronicles: Part 1, working for Trek Travel

Great Service in Zion

Groucho Blogger & Trek Travel Guide Jon Vick: Once Upon a Time – A New Adventure

Prague to Vienna: Breaking Down Borders

A Moment in Italy, by Bob Joy

Jon Vick’s Favorite Rides

Private

Classic Bike:

Gravel:

Cross Country:

Pro Race:

Hiking & Walking:

Ride Camp:

Self-Guided:

Single Occupancy

Private

What is the Difference?

Luxury:

Explorer:

Combined:

Activity Levels

Level 1:

Level 2:

Level 3:

Level 4:

What are your trip styles?