Early morning and the mercury is already nudging the high 80s. As we pedal along the road into town there is a soft hissing sound of tyres on melting tar.
The leading Lycra-clad cyclists are a dot on the horizon, while I and a few other dads grapple with gear shifts and wonder if it’s ok to get off and push uphill.
When the main group disappears into the distance, we do just that. Suddenly the decision to sign up to a 24-mile road trip across Sardinia’s rugged, mountainous landscape seems over-ambitious — there’s little shade and I haven’t even negotiated the first incline.
Wind in your sails: Find a host of activities on and off the water at Neilson’s recently opened Baia dei Mori Beachclub
It’s then that I remember the card on the pillow when we checked into the Baia dei Mori Beachclub just 24 hours earlier. ‘Relax as hard as you like,’ it says. It’s a motto that Neilson, which has 40 years’ experience running activity holidays, has made its own.
This club opened last year and it’s the first foray into Sardinia for Neilson. Fans who love the formula of kids’ clubs and buffet-style all-inclusive meals will be happy.
Neilson has clearly thrown a lot of money at the new destination on the island’s north-east coast, a 40-minute drive from Olbia airport.
The resort has 157 rooms — 21 of which are interconnecting — and is surrounded by lush gardens.
The morning-to-nightfall timetable includes lessons in sailing, windsurfing, kitesurfing, stand-up paddle-boarding (harder than it looks) and crewing a catamaran. If watersports don’t float your boat then boxercise classes, Zumba workouts and tennis coaching on the resort’s four courts might.
Throw in the table tennis challenge, beach volleyball and petanque tournaments, kayaking safaris and you can soon fill every waking moment. And that doesn’t include quiz night, musical charades and battle of the bands.
No, this is not your typical beach holiday where children bounce between endless activities while parents snooze by the pool. Whole families are up early. A few claim sun-loungers but most have other ideas.
Gorgeous views: From the north-east to the south-west Cala Domestica (pictured), Sardinia is perfect for sun-seekers
In the 25-metre pool the adults-only aqua-exercise class is under way; there’s high-intensity interval training on the fitness deck and yoga devotees are beginning their sun salutations.
Bikes are also a big part of the Baia dei Mori experience, which is why I find myself up before 8am for the cycle challenge along the fabled Giro d’Italia race circuit.
The organised rides range from 90 minutes to an epic four-and-a-half hours of climbs and challenging descents. Trek bikes, water bottles, sat-nav and first-aid kits are all provided.
After a blistering start, my fellow slow coaches and I decide it’s time for coffee. We find the Shardana beach bar where, hearing English voices, locals raise their cups of frothy latte in a generous toast to the Queen and Brexit — ‘bravissimo’, seems to be the consensus.
By the time I am back at base (downhill all the way) my wife has emerged from her stretch and relax class and the children — Arthur, 12, and Eliza, 15 — are at their clubs, Surf Squad for him and Wave Riders for her.
Although 40 miles south of the Costa Smeralda, the coastline developed by the Aga Khan, there’s still lots of glamour. Idling over sea food and white wine in the Caffe Nautilus on the Budoni marina is perfect for people-watching and yacht envy.
It is the activities, however, which fill the Neilson resorts year after year. Here, the kit, all spanking new, includes 137 mountain and road bikes, 47 dinghies, 29 kayaks and 46 windsurf boards, overseen by 65 cheery staff.
Enough for even the most energetic of holidaymakers.