Meet Lauren Hefferon of Ciclismo Classico in Arlington

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lauren Hefferon.

Lauren, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
For as long as I can remember bicycling has been at the hub of my existence. I grew up in southern New Hampshire and as a teenager I loved nothing more than looking at a map and designing beautiful and interesting itineraries that would loop out from my home base in Keene, New Hampshire.

Long before it was popular, I would spend my Saturdays and Sundays cycling using the bicycle as the invigorating means of exploring, meeting local people and learning about the places that I visited. By the time I graduated from high school I knew every road in Southern New Hampshire and decided that no matter what I did in my life—it would involve cycling. I repeated the same bicycle explorer pattern when I went to college and studied anthropology at Cornell. While Cornell is a great school, its original appeal for me, much to my father’s concern, was that The Finger Lakes would be a gorgeous place to ride a bicycle. I immediately took it a step further and as freshman started leading bicycle trips for my fellow students in the Finger Lakes through Cornell Outdoor Education (COE).

During the summers I would work as a bicycle camping tour guide for Interlocken, a NH camp—my first gig was leading 14-year old boys from Boston to Cape Cod. I soon began imagining a career in outdoor education and adventure travel. After I did an intensive summer in the Wind Rivers with National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) I was completely hooked and discovered my life purpose: To share my favorite places and inspire pedaling wanderlusts of every age to discover and embrace their own interests and passions.

Upon graduating from Cornell, I won a Rotary scholarship to study Fine Arts in Florence, Italy. Prior to starting my studies in Florence, I landed in Pisa with only my bike and panniers and embarked upon an amazing solo bike camping journey–a three month bicycle tour throughout Europe which included a return to my grandmother’s village in Le Marche Region of central Italy. Here I met generations of cousins and more firmly planted my passion for my mother’s native country. It was nothing short of transformational.

Before signing up for my first Florentine art class, I joined an Italian bicycle club that was sponsored by one of the most wonderful bicycle shops in Italy owned my Mario Conti. His little shop with its continual flow of crazy Florentine cyclists, became my second home during my entire three-year stay in Florence. I continued to lead bicycle trips in the summer but when I returned to United States I realized it was time for me to go out on my own and start my own company. I founded Ciclismo Classico in 1989 with two trips to Tuscany and we were the first company to specialize in bicycle tours in Italy. My goal then and now is to create authentic, superior quality and highly personal bicycle vacations that are an educational and cross cultural experience.

Every year we continue to grow with more and more trips to the most amazing destinations in Italy and beyond. In the first 10 years of the company I led many of the trips but since then we have grown to have over 50 tours in Europe with 25 native guides, a full-time team of experts and fleet of bicycles all based outside of Florence.

The company remains a labor of love for myself and my entire staff. We continue to design award-winning and innovative itineraries that dive into the heart of the finest European bicycling. Our guests return ecstatic and transformed. One guest this year referred to our trips as “Christmas every day”. Our guides are bilingual and most are native to the destination we travel to. All are passionate cyclists, lifelong learners and expert travel professionals in every way

Our byline “Pedal your Passion” refers to the joy you feel when you renew a passion or discover a new one while pedaling. Whether it’s a passion for traveling with a loved one, enjoying amazing food, exploring architecture, or just diving into the landscape, we will for fill your deepest desires and passions on every tour.

After inspiring thousands of guests to follow their pedaling passion one simple principal remains at our Ciclismo Classico core: life should be active, fun, delicious, educational, energizing and deeply connected to beautiful places and people. On a bike you will discover that life itself is dream waiting to happen

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
As in life, running a business is never a smooth road. It’s much more like a long bicycle trip with smooth, bumpy, narrow, very rough roads, huge uphill’s and thrilling down hills. The European bicycle travel business has many challenges and risks such as the constantly changing exchange rate, outside forces beyond our control such as terrorism threats, plane & train strikes and lost luggage. The travel business, while romantic and exciting on the outside is nothing short of a being an event and logistics management company with thousands of details to be arranged, managed and in perfect alignment, running smoothly for every tour. One of the biggest challenges when 9/11 hit, in addition to grieving this awful event as a company, we, like every other travel company, had hundreds of cancellations in a matter of hours. We took the high road and came out stronger than every but it was a very stressful few months

Creating a strong group dynamic and making sure everyone has the most transformation experience possible is perhaps the most wonderful challenge of all–finding the perfect match between a person’s bicycle ability and trip difficulty then working on both sides of the ocean to make sure magic happens is extremely rewarding. People say “Oh what a great job you have! Well yes it is my passion and a labor of love however it is very hard work for everyone involved. I expect new obstacles every day and know that it’s part of the job. At Ciclismo Classico we have become the experts at problem solving and enjoy being as resourceful as possible. My mantra is there’s no such thing as a problem, only a solution.

Ciclismo Classico – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Since 1989 Ciclismo Classico has specialized in fully supported Italian bicycle vacations for all ages and abilities. In addition to Italy we also offer unique bicycle tours throughout Europe. At Ciclismo Classico we pride ourselves in making a difference in people’s lives one pedal stroke at a time while making the world a better place. What is the Ciclismo difference? We strive to create a magical connection between our cycling guests, the landscape and the local culture; we don’t just hand out an itinerary and a bicycle, we set the stage for an extraordinary once-in-a-lifetime experience. We take this to “Ciclismo Difference” born and perfected in Italy, the land of cycling, to wherever we spin. At Ciclismo Classico creating the perfect bicycle tour is our passion and our mission like chefs who intuitively know, love, and seek out delicious flavors to blend into a succulent dish, our entire Ciclismo Classico team combines an insatiable love of bicycling, travel and culture with a rich imagination for creating unforgettable two-wheeled tours.

This love of bicycle travel inspires us to discover new roads, distill the essence of a place, and roll them together with a handful of key itinerary ingredients, the “Ciclismo Classico Menu” to create once-in-a-lifetime, award-winning tours that will forever win a warm place in your heart.

What stands us apart from the others? A Ciclismo Classico bicycle tour is not your average active vacation. We continually strive to provide the most authentic, unique and exciting tours in adventure travel. Our mission is to offer high-quality educational and dreamy itineraries that celebrate the diversity of the Italian landscape, art, language, music, folklore and course Italy’s beloved cuisine. By combining legendary service and intangible cultural experiences, our Ciclismo Magic philosophy continues to energize and transform our loyal guests.

We were the very first bicycle tour founded by a woman and the first bicycle tour company to specialize in bicycle tours in Italy. We have the world’s most beloved tour leaders who are native to the places in which they lead tours. We are committed to cross-cultural education by daily immersing you in the local culture, traditions and culinary specialties. Our bicycles are top-of-the-line Bianchi bicycles (one of the world’s oldest bicycle companies) and every tour there is one-on-one bicycle coaching and clinics. Each year our company gives back to the local community through many events including The Farm To Fork Fondo, our annual Jingle Ride and The world’s only Bicycle Travel Film Festival which all raise money and awareness for local charities and non-profits.

Then there is the Ciclismo Magic–sometimes we make the magic with a special event or a detour to a family winery or ancient village.

Finally your fellow travelers will be some of the nicest and most fun people you’ll ever meet! Perhaps one of the best testimonials came this past spring when one of my guests said “A bicycle tour with Ciclismo Classico is Christmas every day.”

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
After almost 30 years after launching my first bicycle tour in Tuscany, I define success by looking back at the thousands of guests we have hosted and the many transformational experiences they have had—some have gone back to their Italian roots and discovered long lost cousins, others have embraced cycling as a way of life and have become fitter and more connected to themselves, their friends and families and the simple joy of experiencing life on two wheels. Every traveler has their own unique, joyful and fulfilling experience that they take back home spread to others. To read guest’s post tour evaluations that consistently score us very high in every category is extremely rewarding

For me success means that life flows– when my work, creative projects, play, family and community are all interconnected fueling each other life is good. Bicycling helps me achieve that flow by keeping me centered, healthy, grounded and positive. The bicycle as a way of life is metaphor of what the world needs more of now –simple, sustainable and joyful ways for humans to connect with the world around them. Regularly riding a bicycle ( the most efficient and healthy form of transportation) any distance is one simple and small way that we all can make the planet a better place and that is a very successful outcome of a simple activity. Participating in this cycling lifestyle and spreading this passion to others gives me enormous pleasure, pride and a sense of connection to the world around me. There is no such thing as a bad bike ride, it is always a “success.” A bike ride keeps me in tune with my core values and how life should be: active, fun, heathy, energizing, educational, multi-sensory, inspiring and deeply connected to beautiful places and people. Success is a process like a long and challenging bike ride–stay the course, keep moving forward, take the high road, keep pedals moving steadily on the ups and enjoy the downhills as much as possible!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ciclismoclassico.com
• Phone: 8008667314
• Email: lauren@ciclismoclassico.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ciclismoclassico/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CiclismoClassico
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ciclismotours?lang=en

Image Credit:
Lauren Hefferon, Frank Yantorno

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