About
Rivendell Cycling, LLC is a company created to provide experiences of profound beauty and unspeakable joy to cyclists, and then offer riders a daily opportunity to consider the possibility that the source of our wonder and joy is a Person, the God described in the Bible, who created us and the world we marvel at, who can satisfy our deepest longings and greatest need.
Have you ever been to a place of such profound beauty that you were moved to unspeakable joy and longing? The founders of Rivendell Cycling have found such a place, the Lauterbrunnen valley of Switzerland. Whenever they visit, they are deeply moved and stand in awestruck silence as they gaze at the valley and the three mountain peaks that surround it, the Monch, the Eiger and the Jungfrau. So when they sought a name to describe a cycling company that is committed to giving guests experiences that create similar feelings, they chose the combination of two words that describe that deeply cleft valley: “riven”, meaning cloven or split, and “dell”, meaning valley.
Many philosophers and psychologists have often observed that mankind lives with a sense of exile, of alienation, of a longing for the perfect home, a place of true contentment. The writer C.S. Lewis believed that when we experience intense or profound moments of longing or unspeakable joy -- a desire for an indefinable numinous, cosmic something that is beyond our grasp -- it must be because we desire an object that our natural world cannot supply. The desire does not guarantee that we will achieve the other world, but it does suggest that we are creatures who are capable of achieving it and who were made to achieve it. And that is the strongest argument there is for God, and for the accuracy of the Biblical narrative. We once had the perfect home, the Garden of Eden, a place of joy and peace and fellowship with the God who created us, surrounded by His glory. But when we sought to live our lives on our own terms (which is what sin is – living a self-centered life instead of a God-centered life), when we sought our own glory, we lost our home, and we have been seeking it ever since. Because of our rebellion we are restless, homesick, and this world does not satisfy. We were made for a home, and our longing is evidence that it exists. As Lewis summarized in his book Mere Christianity, “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”
Christians believe that the way back to true contentment, where we can rest from our never-ending attempts to justify our existence and make our lives meaningful, is by acknowledging our offense and seeking the grace and mercy of the God who created us. God sent His son into our world, in the person of Jesus Christ, to rescue us from our self-absorption and endless efforts to prove ourselves, by becoming our righteousness and justification, providing the way back to a relationship with God, not by our works, but through faith in what He has done. And when we abandon our self-righteousness and trust in what Christ has done, our relationship with God is restored, and we can dwell with Him. Our homesickness is cured.
We live in a world surrounded by those who are seeking rest, but who have not yet found it. They experience a longing for home deep in their hearts, but they don’t yet understand that that longing is really for God, and the only way their restlessness will be satisfied is by faith in the work of Jesus Christ to restore our relationship with their Creator. So, Rivendell Cycling provides experiences to delight in the beauty of the world God has created for us to enjoy, together with an opportunity to get to know Him better.
Meet the Team
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Chuck Mancini
Trip Organizer and Cycling Guide
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Dave Bischoff
Trip Organizer and Cycling Guide
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Marc Porpilia
Trip Support and Devotional Leader
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Mateusz Calka
Support Leader and Lead Mechanic
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Michiel Van Ooteghem
Cycling Guide and Route Designer
FAQ’s
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We offer two types of trips. Our Experiences are based out of a single hotel for the entire trip and will generally be priced more affordably. Our Tours will typically move to a new town or village every day, or every few days. The cycling intensity of our trips can vary and should be considered carefully before booking: some Tours and Experiences will involve significant daily elevations and distances, and are designed for stronger riders, while others will be accessible to a much broader range of active cyclists. For instance, one Tour might be rated a 4.5 intensity, with daily rides of 60 miles (100 km) or more per day with significant climbing elevation, while another Tour might be rated a 1.5 intensity, with daily rides of 30 miles (50 km) per day, mostly in valleys surrounded by mountains. A Girona Road Experience might be rated a 3.5 intensity, while a Bormio Road Experience a 5 intensity.
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Once you arrive at our designated start location, virtually everything is included in the price you pay, from a high-end carbon road bike to your own room in the hotels we stay at, plus all meals and feed stops. Hotels are normally three-star, carefully selected for their location, authentic character, and quality of service. During the day, our support team will skillfully anticipate your needs, and overnight, they will clean and service your bike. When we move hotels during the day, you will typically find your luggage already in your room when you arrive.
On all our trips, our days begin before breakfast with an optional 15-minute devotional designed for athletes, considering a scripture passage from the Bible that engages both the mind and the heart in the context of our cycling experience. And when we gather as a group for meals, we pause to thank God for the good things he has provided for us to enjoy.
Before signing up for any of our trips you should carefully review the detailed information we provide on what you can expect each day and how a typical day will be structured.
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We provide an intensity level for each of our trips, so that you will have a good idea of what to expect, and you can evaluate whether you will be comfortable riding the daily distance and elevation. Our guidelines are provided below. In addition, for each of our trips we provide detail on our planned routes, including the length and steepness of the grades we will be cycling, to help you make the best judgment possible. Sometimes we will recommend a power-to-weight ratio that can be helpful in assessing a particular tour.
If this is your first multi-day cycling trip, we encourage you to factor in one other consideration. Many avid cyclists are used to fast paced training rides at home that are time limited, with no stops. We have found riders like that, who might ride 35 miles at a steady pace two times a week, plus a 50 mile ride on weekends, are typically capable of riding 50-60 miles a day for many consecutive days when the ride is spread over five hours with a couple of feed stops plus a coffee stop.
Finally, on some of our trips we offer a performance road e-bike option. We have found this a good option for fit individuals who might only be comfortable cycling 20-30 miles a day, and who are concerned about their ability to keep up with the group on our climbs. If you have any questions about your fitness level for a particular tour, or whether you should request a performance road e-bike if offered, please contact us.