MEET THE HEROeS

the series

andreas tonelli

Grew up among the mountains, he reached many peaks on the saddle and have a clear idea of many others to be achieved. Let’s meet Andreas Tonelli and get inspired by a wave of energy, discovery attitude and curiosity towards the world.

Heroes belong to the extraordinary and to everyday life too. The motivation to ride can be triggered on the streets you already know and on new paths to be explored. Meet the Heroes is a new deep-focus series based on Ride Your Way, released to feed your dreams with stories of cyclists who made the ordinary extraordinary.

“My father taught me the love for the mountains and the bike when I was a little child. We used to spend every summer weekend hiking, climbing Vie Ferratas or biking in the Dolomites. It was him who bought me my first mountain bike when I was 7 years old and he transmitted me the passion for it, which is still equally present today after so many years”.

Rosengarten is the name of a massif towering over the city of Bolzano, Italy’s northernmost province. Rosengarten is also the view from the desk of Andreas.

It’s 2003 and Andreas Tonelli is used to spend the working days doing a terrible office job. But his office’s window reminds him, with the peak of Rosengarten looming over his boredom, what really counts for him.

This story starts with the expected, conventional elements of everyday-life but unfolds, as it develops, to the unexpected and life-changing moment when one’s realizes that he’s meant to something different.

Andreas Tonelli is the hero we want to know more about on this episode. 45 years old but seems he already lived so many lives. He actually did, considering how many places he crossed by with his bike, how many valleys he whizzed down and above all the radical change he did to his life. He managed to turn his big passion into a profession.

The change however, has been gradual and managed with patience and mindful attention. He started back in 2003 offering easy going and culinary bike tours around Italy then proposing more challenging tours all over Europe until finalizing a more selective offer of very demanding mountain bike/enduro tours worldwide.

The small community of riders around Andreas grew over the years making clear that combining two jobs was quite difficult. In 2014 Andreas finally decides to quit the boring office job with the beautiful view to… embrace that view and plunge into the absolute sense of freedom and fun that mountain bike gives him.

“Since then the bike is my only office, and that makes me smile inside”.

from the office desk

Riding the way to Discovery

Andreas has now time to dedicate to himself and the passions that moves him, organizing bike tours in new countries, sharing this experience with new people, getting in touch with new places and cultures that nurture his soul.

Let’s know with him the best 5 tour he has done so far:

The Dolomites Traverse Tour

The Dolomites Traverse Tour is a 4 days Enduro trip during which the group crosses the whole Dolomites mountains range from west to east. Supported by cable-cars and shuttles the ride counts approx. 15.000 downhill meters along mind-blowing trails, in the middle of the world's most beautiful mountains.

The Lofoten Enduro Tour

A 10 days trip high above the artic circle in Norway, during which the group explores one of the world's most stunning archipelagos. “In July we ride under the midnight sun, while starting from September we can already experience the Northern Lights. A trip of a lifetime!”

The Morocco Enduro Trip

On this tour the scenery is the High Atlas Mountains and its epic trails on the south of Marrakech, the incredible hospitality of the Berber people will make this travel unforgettable. The ride includes the magic carpet trail, the mint tea, Tajine and Couscous tasting moments, the use of mule-shuttles to carry the bikes to the top of the mountains and a deep dive inside the culture of Morocco.

The Patagonia Enduro Tour

The trip at the discovery of the deep south of Chile includes riding the amazing trails around Torres del Paine National Park but also in some very remote areas like Baguales or Peninsula Antonio Varas. A unique bike experience at the end of the world!

The Uganda Enduro Tour

A trip of discovery of the eastern region of the central African country with a 2 days expedition to climb and ride down Mount Elgon at 4.321m asl. What makes it a unique experience? Exploring the area of Moroto with its Karamojong people, a warrior tribe of nomadic pastoralists, and join a safari tour in the incredible Murchison Falls National Park.

ride to the peak

Have a piece of the world disclosed

You’ll not be surprised to know that more peaks to be achieved are on the plans of Andreas. These are just some of the ones already done

“I'm currently planning a new bike trip in the Upper Dolpo area / the Kingdom of Mustang in Nepal and dreaming of a bike descent from the top of Aconcagua, the highest peak of the American continent. The world is so vast and there are still so many beautiful places and people to discover!”

If you crave for adventure and are interested in exploring these amazing places with Andreas, clic to know more about his tours offer.

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