Rêve – The Ultimate Grand Tour Experience (and Tracked by Strava!)

As Strava has developed and grown over the past couple years, we’ve found that it also serves as a great application for cycling camps, team training camps, and other destination cycling trips which appeal to the truly addicted (ya know, those of us who use a nice vacation as an excuse to ride even more instead of taking a break). Usually, organizations contact us and we work out a solution where Strava can help them log and generate official leaderboards for their routes through Italy, France, Colorado, Massachusetts, etc. And through this process we have found and partnered with some amazing programs! On rare occasions, however, we stumble upon something that is so ideal for Strava, and so epic, that we reach out and offer our services proactively. Such is the case with Rêve (which, fittingly, is French for “dream”).

The fundamental idea behind the Rêve Cycling Tour is not far from any other Tour de France cycling trip – you travel to France to ride your bike, and the Tour follows a day behind you. It’s truly the dream scenario. But where Michael Robertson, one of the main organizers behind Rêve, completely changes the game is in presenting the ultimate cycling challenge: riding the ENTIRE Tour de France. That means every km of every stage, every TT, and every meter of climbing that the professionals tackle the following day (and for the Tour we only use metrics). His banner pretty well sums up the premise: 3,471km, 21 stages, in 23 days! Logistics, trail cars, hotels, and amazing photo-documentation of the trip come with the deal (Michael is also a phenomenal cycling photographer, and runs a beautiful photo blog containing photos of Rêve 2010, among other cycling events).

Strava will be powering Rêve 2011, so riders can see their times up the famous cols in the Tour, and possibly compare them with professional riders the following day (hint hint, wink wink). The daunting task of riding a full Tour de France is certainly not for everyone. But for those cyclists who choose to take part in the challenge – the teamwork, the battle, and the profound sense of pride on the Champs-Elysees are experiences that can never be matched.