Raid Corsica :: Reviews
Last Updated on Monday, 04 June 2012 13:20
This holiday was run for the first time in 2012 and we had 3 groups take on the challenge of the Raid Corsica during May. As you can see, we had a huge amount of very positive feedback and everyone loved the island! We also had some feedback on ways we can improve our support during the trip, due to it being a new itinerary and an unexpectedly different 'beast' from the other Raid trips we run. These we have taken on board and for this reason are adding a 3rd member of staff and a 3rd vehicle to the support teams for our 2013 Raid Corsicas. I think 3 support vehicles on a holiday is almost unprecedented, but we refuse to accept any lowering in the standard of our holidays!!
Totally Top Trip. Loved the island, soooo beautiful. Loved the climbs, scenery, huge variety of spring flowers, the constant and every present fragrant warm breeze, scent of sun warmed pines, not to mention the abundance of wildlife, usually in the middle of the road! As ever the back up and support was great. There are a few tweaks needed, but we were able to give feedback as we went along. I'm sure this is going to be en extremely popular trip, certainly up there with my 'best ever...' trips. F. Grove May 2012
Many thanks to James, Mel and Alan for their phenomenal support, and for simply running a great trip. Attention to details on this logistically complicated adventure was second to none. During a week of cycling covering so many miles, inevitably stuff happens on the road. There was always backup somewhere nearby. Problem solved. Raid Corsica has been more than a pleasant surprise for me, and I truly look forward to having the opportunity for more challenges of this caliber. M. Faibisch May 2012
Now back in sunny Wymeswold (!) I would like to thank the Marmot team for a fantastic week of cycling in glorious surroundings. The organisation and backup support was excellent. Did exactly what it said on the tin. Brilliant. D. Rowley May 2012
The organisation was excellent. To have support in the right place at the right time all the time was fantastic. I thought you and Mel were very supportive in your own unique ways. Having the food organised for us was one of the key elements from my perspective as I was beyond foraging in the countryside by most evenings. The team was great, please thank Mel again for her hard work, I know I speak for the others in saying we think she made some of the tougher moments much more bearable with her words of encouragement. I am eternally grateful to Alan for controlling the excitable peloton into Aleria as my legs failed. Corsica is a fantastic place to visit and the trip has convinced me to return. I suspect it will be a little less full on next time! Many thanks for making it a fun week, the low points were entirely self generated. I hope your team go from success to success. D. Mitchell May 2012
The trip was perfect. Corsica is a great destination, organisation and support were flawless and the Marmot team wonderful. I will definitely want to join you again. Thank you for a fabulous trip with seemingly no teething problems and please pass on my thanks to Mel and Alan who were superb and hugely appreciated by everyone. That I am not worn out, despite a woeful lack of serious preparation, suggests to me that the week was organised very well with great support from James and Mel (and unofficially Alan). I would have been hard pressed to guess that this was only the second running of the trip. R. Price May 2012
I am really at a loss to think of anything significant that I would change about the week, which suggests I think it is great the way it is currently configured. The bits where one might quibble were outside of Marmot Tours' control (road surfaces being the main one). Like someone else responded, I am inspired enough to plan for a return to Corsica at some point. My flight home was spent poring over a map of the island, figuring out a way to do a mini-tour that is less demanding on the body (100km a day rides, but with some cols thrown in). Corsica does seem to be an area of Europe where, surprisingly, mass tourism appears to have been kept at bay, and this gives a great opportunity for "discovering" the island more fully.
Thanks again to you all for your support in achieving what I worried might be beyond me. No doubt you will hear from me in relation to another holiday booking in the future. W. Weir May 2012
Faultless service from Marmot – the Garmin preparation was fantastic and finding our bags in our hotel rooms at the end of the day was a really welcome touch. M. Brooke May 2012
Dear James and Cathy,Thank you for organising a great trip. Faultless support for the Raid Corsica as per the Raid Pyrennean in 2009. I wouldn't consider going with anyone else. Thanks also to Mel and Alan. J. Brown May 2012
Firstly many thanks for a most enjoyable (well almost!) Corsican raid, my only suggestion would be to advise riders to get fitter than I was before the come out and attempt something quite so hard.
My comments are overwhelmingly positive - I don't think you need to change anything. T. Read May 2012
Thank you very much for such excellent organisation and support in the initial Corsica Raid. I knew that it would be tough but if I can get around as a 65 year old bike commuter I think that nearly anybody can. What made the Raid trip so good was the organisation, a great group of fellow cyclists and a beautiful island. We all know that the best way to see a country is by bike and this did not disappoint. P. Wilkinson May 2012
It was an overall excellent trip and nice to have done a circuit of the island which gave a good sense satisfaction to look back from Bastia Etang and see the mountain chains in the background in knowledge that I had been along and over some of it :):) The variety of the island is amazing and the Raid gave a good taster to this area, somewhere I would put on my list to return to. Found it a very demanding trip , harder I felt than Raid Alpine, mostly due to the very long days and poor surfaces at times sapping energy and being slow road surfaces. I feel that for future years that this should be flagged up very clearly that this is NOT an introductory Raid to the big mountains and that there are a number of hazards that are common on Corsican roads and the exception on the continental roads (ie the rough surfaces, herds of animals and their droppings and the Corsican drivers !). I didn't mind the roads `under repair` aspect though at all and thought the Col de Sorba was a highlight classic epic of the entire week. J. Blair May 2012
James and Cathy, I just want to say thank you again for all the assistance, care and attention by both Mel and Alan during the recent Raid Corsica. This was my first trip with Marmot, who were recommended by my Foyle cycling colleagues, and I was certainly happy with all aspects of it. For my part, I enjoyed the Raid itself thoroughly, and the memories seem to be that much sweeter with each passing day ( easy to see why so many on the trip are returnees from other Raids!). The challenge it poses from a cycling perspective was certainly varried- from some poor roads, to roads with heavy traffic, but the Raid itself was never dull. Magestic climbs, stunning sceneries of strange rock formations, magnificent coastal roads, enchanting isolated villages, churches on cliff edges, are just a few of the many images of a stunning island. I found Marmot's scheduling of the timing of the Raid itself, in early summer, to be inspired- serving both the purpose of providing a nice early season challenge, as well as providing a good solid block of cycling miles. Y.Kuan May 2012
