About Barolo Bikes
Barolo Bikes is the husband and wife team of Mark and Jen, who relocated from London to The Langhe in Piedmont during the summer of 2023.
We had originally bought a property here in 2019 as a holiday home, but soon realised that we far preferred life here to back in London. Our 3 children are all settled in schools in the area, and so we can turn our attention to two of the things we love most in life - cycling and wine!
Our tours aim to provide you with the very best experience of The Langhe, a beautiful hilly area famous for it’s world class Barolo and Barbaresco wines, white truffles, hazelnuts and the global HQ of the Slow Food movement, which strives to preserve traditional and regional cuisine and encourages the farming of plants, seeds and livestock characteristic of the local ecosystem.
We cater for all kinds of cyclists - from advanced road bike users keen to tick off a couple of “bucket list” climbs to newcomers who might prefer e-bikes to get around the hills before enjoying a long leisurely lunch amongst the vineyards savouring the stunning scenery.
Mark
Mark and our oldest son Louis are the cyclists. After buying a hybrid initially to commute to work, Mark rapidly fell in love with road cycling and brought together a whole community of cyclists at Louis’s primary school. He went on to organise a number of fund-raising challenges, such as London to Amsterdam and Paris to London (both in 24 hours) which ignited his passion to design and lead tours…in better weather with nicer roads and more wine stops!
On his point to point experiences, Mark reckons his biggest achievement was riding unsupported and weighed down with bike bags all the way from Barolo to London in 8 days – 1,300km and 15,000m climbing – in aid of Cancer Research. But he’s hungry for more as well as taking part in more sportives with Louis who completed Liege-Bastogne-Liege at 8 years old!
Mark is in his element creating plenty of good routes for all abilities to explore the Langhe, and loves nothing more than riding his bikes. He adores chatting about his routes, acting as a guide and happy to provide van support if you wanted to tick off a bucket list climb or two.
Jen
Jen loves nothing more than sharing a great bottle of wine with friends. She adores the whole experience, obsessing over the smells, musing over the different flavours and discovering how and where the wine was made.
Jen’s affection for wine stemmed from childhood, seeing the ritual of her parents indulge in a rather modest glass of wine with their Sunday dinner to being inspired by her older sister working in the wine industry. She soon realised that she much preferred sipping Burgundy and Bordeaux rather than knocking back vodka Red Bulls!
Nowadays, Jen relishes the nostalgia and hedonism around a glass of wine which became a weekend escapism from a high-pressured job in finance and occasionally, from her three children. Her curiosity led her into studying for the WSET exams and to share the love through hosting wine tastings for friends, corporates and charities. After completing the WSET Diploma, and winning the annual Hors Concour prize in 2018, she was absolutely hooked and has been plotting her pivot from a career in finance to a career in wine ever since!
Now living the dream, Jen is looking forward to introducing you to the delights of Barolo and the wines from its surrounding villages.
