FAQ

That depends on what experience you book! Please don’t assume Skycircuitvelo is only for accomplished high performance riders – just reach out for a chat.
For our predefined Full Carbon trips sold by the place, simply check out our Ride Challenge Rating page to understand where you need to be in your training and endurance journey in order to be able to participate and fully enjoy your experience.
If you book for a Private group, we pride ourselves in designing itineraries for all levels, above a safe minimum of endurance and skills, and up to serious endurance rides above 3000m climbing. For Private groups we can even skip all the big climbs and design itineraries more in the foothills and valleys and geared around views, tourism and food!

You need to be safe and independent. In practice that means you can:

• descend safely on gradients generally around 4% to 11% but can be up to 18% if you choose.
• brake safely in descents and turns
• ride out of the saddle for several minutes at a time
• drink while moving
• fix your own puncture if necessary
• upload and follow .gpx files on your own route guidance device
• know your body in terms of eating and drinking sufficiently during rides. We will prompt you at stops but you remain responsible for your nutrition and hydration.

• CLIMBING: If you’re coming to ride the famous cols, the climbs in our impressive sector come in units of about 500m or 1000m, across 5-15km length. We have routes that combine different climbs so you can imagine days of 500m, 1000m, 1500m, 2000m etc depending on what your group is looking for.
• DISTANCE: most of our major climbing routes range from 50km up to 130km – though more is always very easy to create!
• For those of you looking for cycling based tourism with minimal hills work, we can even skip all the big climbs and design itineraries more in the foothills and valleys and geared around views, tourism and food!

If your climbing speeds are significantly unbalanced, in our experience the fastest riders will face long (and potentially cold/wet) waits at the top, and the slowest riders will get very little rest at the top and probably try exceed their sustainable power in a bid to get up as fast as possible, making subsequent climbs increasingly difficult and not fun!
In all cases, for your safety and ours, we will limit your rides to 8 hours (that does NOT mean our rides last 7 hours – you choose your own routes from our proposals, based on your level!). Once we see that the return to basecamp is going to fall beyond 7 hours we reserve the authority to end the ride and return your group in the van. Based on what we see of your group’s real-world performance, we may need to adapt the following days’ itineraries in order to keep ride durations within safe and enjoyable limits.

The social and safety consequences of significantly unbalanced groups are very different for private groups and public groups sold by the place:

• Private groups: if your social bonds are strong then your faster riders are probably fine with waiting at the top for a long time! Our support van has no issue with long tea breaks… however we can’t simultaneously be at the top providing food and shelter, and 6km down the hill supporting the last riders. So with your understanding we’ll find an acceptable balance for your group. We still recommend you try to keep your climbing speeds reasonably similar for everybody’s safety and enjoyment. And remember: the big advantage of van support is that any exhausted rider can hitch a ride all or part way up a climb if they wish, and rejoin their group for the descent.
• Public groups: in order for individual clients to purchase with confidence places on a group experience, to avoid your disappointment during the experience, and to allow our van to support all members of the group safely and with minimum delay, we must limit the spreads in climbing/general riding speeds to an acceptable minimum. We do this by clearly specifying a difficulty level for our holidays and training camps, and asking you to sign up on the basis that you can definitely handle the specified level, having recently ridden similar ride profiles. It’s not a race! You’re all here to discover or push your limits and that’s a beautiful thing.
  If for any reason during the experience your ride performance is significantly below the minimum you signed up to, we’ll discuss with you the options for the remaining climbs of the day and for subsequent days to maximise your enjoyment and that of the other riders in the group. This can include taking advantage of the van support to skip entirely, or ride only part of, a given climb. Ultimately we reserve the right to insist on these alterations if necessary for everyone’s safety and enjoyment.

Yes. We offer a range of very different routes with different lengths, elevation profiles and maximum gradients. You decide what you want each day, during our collaborative itinerary design process.

• Private accommodation at Skycircuitvilla, our own basecamp dedicated to your group
• Full support van every riding day, equipped with a pro team rack that does not contact your frame – tyres only. This support enables one-way routes with van transport to the start or from the finish.
• Collaborative itinerary design to match your rides precisely to your level and goals
• .gpx route files, and daily route information to aid your safety decision making
• Transfers from Toulouse airport or equivalent train stations, including your bike boxes
• Breakfast basics plus bakery items each morning
• Organisation of other meals from either restaurants and/or caterers
• Bedding and towels
• Access to tools, workstand, and secure bike storage

You ride independently with .gpx files and close van support. The van follows your route, shuttles ahead and behind to deal with any issues or requests and meets you at scheduled stops.

In our base price no, you’ll be riding independently, following the .gpx file routes we supply. If you’d like guided rides for a private group, we can absolutely source a qualified local guide for you at additional cost.

In order to ensure flexibility for very different eating preferences, our base price only includes breakfast. In our experience we’ve seen:

• groups who prefer to ride through lunch with only basic nutrition snacks in ride
• others who like to stop in classic French brasseries for a hearty lunch before continuing
• others who love picnics on the high ground surrounded by views
• restaurant buffs who love to sample a different spot each night
• nutrition gurus who craft precise meals with our amazing caterers, to eat at basecamp
• home cookers who use basecamp’s 4* facilities to knock up their own great value meals thanks to the supermarket one minute from the villa!

Yes. We’ll discuss this in advance as part of the booking process. We’ll adjust the breakfast supplies to match and ensure restaurants and/or caterers can adapt to your needs.

We speak fluently both English and French, and all communication and documents are available in both.

Skycircuitvilla can comfortably host up to 15 people, sharing 8 bedrooms (7 double, one single). At the 360m2 and with very high ceilings, the villa feels super spacious and luxuriant.

Yes. With our deep local knowledge we can arrange almost anything for you, including custom duration trips, combined activities (like paraglide-and-ride), catering, parties at the villa, merchandise etc.

We can source e-bike rentals on your behalf, though you will have to settle the bill directly with the provider.

Yes. We can source road bike rentals on your behalf, though you will have to settle the bill directly with the provider. However there’s nothing better than riding your own bike especially on the descents where control is king, so remember we have the facilities to carry and store your bike boxes at no extra cost!

We always try to be close at hand in the support van and we carry tools and your spares. However you must be capable of repairing a puncture yourself if that becomes necessary: for example if your group has multiple issues at once in different locations, or a localised mobile network dead spot prevents you from contacting the van. If a more complex repair is needed, we’ll transport you and your bike back to base.

We will provide close support throughout the entire ride with our pro team rack equipped van. We’ll agree with each unique group when and where you wish to have nutrition/meal stops. We carry ample water to provide as many refills as you wish on long climbs.

We’ll assess the next day’s weather each day and discuss options in our afternoon debrief. Given our knowledge of the local micro-climates we might suggest alternative routes in different sectors, or recommend starting the ride earlier/later in order to dodge the worst of it. On unsuitable days, there’s still plenty to do off the bike.

Mountains are famously fickle beasts, and weather can change fast and dramatically on unstable days. The van is always available for clothing changes and extra layers packed in your own crate. Ultimately it’s your holiday: if you wish to abort or wait out a passing shower in the van, that’s what we’re here for. We have no authority to instruct you to stop riding in extreme conditions, but we will share our opinion on safety so that you can make an informed decision.

We use the Google ecosystem at Skycircuitvelo – for our Apple friends we’ll need you to have a Google account during the holiday in order to share your maps location with us. If you’re unable to contact us but we notice you haven’t moved for a while, the van will check in on you!

If your climbing speeds are significantly unbalanced, in our experience the fastest riders will face long (and potentially cold/wet) waits at the top, and the slowest riders will get very little rest at the top and probably try exceed their sustainable power in a bid to get up as fast as possible, making subsequent climbs increasingly difficult and not fun!
In all cases, for your safety and ours, we will limit your rides to 8 hours (that does NOT mean our rides last 7 hours – you choose your own routes from our proposals, based on your level!). Once we see that the return to basecamp is going to fall beyond 7 hours we reserve the authority to end the ride and return your group in the van. Based on what we see of your group’s real-world performance, we may need to adapt the following days’ itineraries in order to keep ride durations within safe and enjoyable limits.

The social and safety consequences of significantly unbalanced groups are very different for private groups and public groups sold by the place:

• Private groups: if your social bonds are strong then your faster riders are probably fine with waiting at the top for a long time! Our support van has no issue with long tea breaks… however we can’t simultaneously be at the top providing food and shelter, and 6km down the hill supporting the last riders. So with your understanding we’ll find an acceptable balance for your group. We still recommend you try to keep your climbing speeds reasonably similar for everybody’s safety and enjoyment. And remember: the big advantage of van support is that any exhausted rider can hitch a ride all or part way up a climb if they wish, and rejoin their group for the descent.
• Public groups: in order for individual clients to purchase with confidence places on a group experience, to avoid your disappointment during the experience, and to allow our van to support all members of the group safely and with minimum delay, we must limit the spreads in climbing/general riding speeds to an acceptable minimum. We do this by clearly specifying a difficulty level for our holidays and training camps, and asking you to sign up on the basis that you can definitely handle the specified level, having recently ridden similar ride profiles. It’s not a race! You’re all here to discover or push your limits and that’s a beautiful thing.
  If for any reason during the experience your ride performance is significantly below the minimum you signed up to, we’ll discuss with you the options for the remaining climbs of the day and for subsequent days to maximise your enjoyment and that of the other riders in the group. This can include taking advantage of the van support to skip entirely, or ride only part of, a given climb. Ultimately we reserve the right to insist on these alterations if necessary for everyone’s safety and enjoyment.

The villa has 8 bedrooms, 3000m2 of private grounds with mature trees, a gorgeous covered terrace, a private pool, games room, garage, fully equipped kitchen, and social space. It’s a beautiful self-managed house – more like staying in a friend’s well-set-up holiday home than a hotel. Sheets and towels are provided. There’s no daily cleaning or laundry service during the week – you look after the property yourselves in complete privacy.

Yes. The villa has a washing machine, laundry rack, and basic cleaning supplies. You’re free to do laundry yourself during your stay.

Yes. The villa is spacious, and the area has markets, trails, viewpoints, and places to relax. If you’re booking a private week, it’s easy to mix cyclists and non-cyclists. We’ll charge a little less for non cyclists too.

We have extensive links with other close by high quality accommodation providers, be that private rental homes or hotels. With enough notice we can definitely organise bigger groups, and our discounts will rise accordingly.

See our dedicated page on enquiries and booking.

Yes. For PRIVATE groups of 10 or more, we’ll reduce the cost per person, with bigger groups getting bigger discounts. For PUBLIC groups, we will initially publish a price but subsequently reduce it for every participant once the group is over 10 riders. Details will be published for each holiday we offer.

Yes. Skycircuitvilla can host up to 15 people, sharing 8 bedrooms. If you would prefer to be alone in a room, this utilises a place we could have sold, so we will ask for a supplement, with details published for each specific holiday.

Yes. You can book a place during one of our scheduled public ride weeks and share the villa with other riders. If you want to come as a group, you can reserve the entire place.

We have extensive links with other close by high quality accommodation providers, be that private rental homes or hotels. With enough notice we can definitely organise bigger groups, and our discounts will rise accordingly.

If you cancel (directly, or indirectly by failing to make payments on time), the amount we will refund is based on how close it is to your start date. In the very unlikely event we have to cancel, you’ll get a full refund, or a suitable alternative if available. Full details are in our Terms of Service.

Yes. You’ll need travel insurance that covers road cycling and emergency medical care. Full details are in our Terms of Service.

Yes, and plenty of our clients do exactly that! We can even carry spare battery packs in the support van if you supply them. Our only requirements are that:

• The tyres are 32mm maximum (we can handle a bit bigger by deflating the tyres for transport!) in order to fit in our pro road cycling rack.
• Your performance and skills are within the agreed level for the trip in question (see other FAQs under “Your Fitness and Skills”)

We can source e-bike rentals on your behalf, though you will have to settle the bill directly with the provider.

We recommend a ratio of 1:1 or easier for your lowest gear (for example 32 front, 32 or 34 back). Even if you’re strong enough to ride 7-11% climbs on a tougher gear, you’ll appreciate it on the last climb of the day, and you’ll have a much more enjoyable time on the very steep climbs if you choose to try them ( for example Peguere features a couple km at 18%!).

You need to be safe and independent. In practice that means:

• Phone/charge block that can hold charge for up to 10 hours
• Clothing
• .gpx file based route guidance device that can hold charge for up to 7 hours
• Electronic gear change systems must hold charge for at least a day – remember we can carry spare battery packs
• Bike box/bag if bringing your own bike
• Spares especially niche parts – we can carry these in the support van, even a spare entire wheel!
• Saddle bag
• At least two large capacity bidons – you wouldn’t believe how much water you get through on hot days even in between van stop refills. You’ll appreciate insulated bidons if possible.
• Bike specific sunglasses that can handle sharp changes from sunlight to shade
• An undamaged helmet
• Airlines won’t permit you to carry CO2 refills for your inflation device but we will supply these to you at no extra charge.
• Any hard to find food if you have specific dietary requirements or allergies.

It’s up to you, but personally we run 4 season type tyres to cater for fast changing weather and gravelly sections following cheap road repairs!

All of it! One of the major advantages of all day van support is that we can carry layers and extreme weather options in your crate in the van. The high cols can be significantly colder than the valleys; it can be dry on the climb and wet on the descent, and you will greatly value full finger wind stop gloves on long descents outside the high summer months.
A compact puffa type layer can be great for picnics, or long waits for the peloton on the Grand Tour Special week (or the later arrivers in your group)!
We’ll provide a detailed prompt list as part of the booking documentation.

We provide transfers from Toulouse or Tarbes airport, or equivalent distance train stations. That’s included in the price of your booking. If you’re driving, we’ll send directions – we can park 6 cars comfortably and securely on site.