@Boris it’s a very slick operation. They go and return once a week to the destination (they have a couple at least, I think Toulouse and Geneva). You book the shuttle which is everything except the flights (so bike transport, airport shuttle and hotels). You go to Easy-jet and book the flights. Then near to the time of travel you embark your bike, which is basically checking in, providing information such as V5 documentation copies, etc.
Then on the day you ride up to them, get greeted, shown what to do, which is basically get out of your bike gear in the changing rooms provided, get into your flight clothes, put your bike gear in their boxes, they board the bike onto the truck and then they shuttle you to a very nice local pub for lunch (filling the gap between the time the truck needs to depart and a reasonable time to get to the airport), then you get shuttled to the airport in a very nice private bus and then you fly.
Once you land they collect you from the airport in another very nice private bus, take you to the hotel. You sleep, wake up, have breakfast, get a text to say your bikes have arrived, then you go outside, get your bike from the little Bike Shuttle camp which has been set up in a special part of the hotel grounds, get into your bike gear, and go forth and have your adventure!
Then the same in reverse. It really is quite amazing. Their tagline is ride mountains, not motorways, and I couldn’t agree more. After years of slogging along motorways to get to the nice parts of Europe I’m so done with that. It’s not fun, it’s tiring, it’s unnecessarily dangerous, it’s wear and tear on your bike you don’t need. Why do it? There’s nothing to see and it’s mind-numbingly boring.
This way you have a very exciting experience, arrive on the doorstep of your adventure refreshed, in comfort and can then you can maximise your precious time by riding more of the most amazing roads, see the most amazing sights and meeting the most wonderful people. Bliss.
Honestly, after a decade of touring the long way there and back, I have to wonder why nobody has done this before. They might well have, but I’m pretty confident it wouldn’t have been done anywhere near as well as these guys do it.
Why would I want to spend four days or so of a trip doing motorways? That’s not fun, I’d rather be in work.