any epic holiday suggestions?

evade

Hey all,

It's been roughly a year since I started properly twatting about on an MTB and now I'm busting to get out for a full week or two next spring/summer. The thing is, my mate has thrown the Danube Trail into the ring. I have to admit, it sounds nice, it's 1000kms odd of great scenery, going through six countries, yadda yadda. But it's flat. It's sensible. And I fear might become a tad tedious after a week. I do like the idea, but I can't help but think there may be better options involving sweeping ST across ridges overlooking glorious alpine countryside, or something...

So I need a good counter suggestion that involves MTB. Ideally something with epicness in terms of distance covered. Something with a wow factor - I don't think a ski resort is going to cut it. So are there any huge linked trails that are doable? Routes that can be done over many days? Something with a real challenge, but still doable for intermediate riders?

Thanks all!

Evade

bomberesque

Trans-(insert name of mountain range here)

there are several organised ones so you can choose your level of involvement etc or you could do one by yourself I guess. I am still to do one but have 2 friends who do at least one each summer. They are a bunch fitter than me though :oops:

cat_with_no_tail

Need more info. Does it have to be the Alps? How much money have you got? What kind of accommodation would you want (i.e Hotels or camping?). Will you be taking anyone with you? Do you want guided or un-guided?

For around £1,500 (not including flights), there is this one

It's the one I'd do if I could justify spending the best part of £2.5k on a 2 week holiday without taking the wife and kids.

In short:

Itinerary
Day 1
Arrive Lima. Hotel.

Day 2
Fly Cusco. City tour.

Day 3
Bike to Pisac

Day 4
MTB to Colquepata

Day 5
Arrive Manu, Amazon

Day 6
MTB in cloudforest

Day 7
Sacred Valley cycle

Day 8
Maras and salt mines

Day 9
‘Avalanche’ descent

Day 10
40k downhill

Day 11
Lares Valley

Day 12
Urubamba

Day 13
Train to Machu Picchu

Day 14
Free day Cusco

Day 15
Fly Cusco-Lima

Utter Perfection

evade

Ummm, well, yep, that certainly sounds pretty damned epic... And so does £2.5k... Crikey... :shock:

So yeah, apologies, my bad, maybe I should put some notion of reality around it... :oops:

I think £1k is a reasonable amount to spend...

Doesn't have to be the Alps... Could be anywhere in the world, given the budget...??

Probably just me and my mate... Could be guided, but I guess that would add to the expense... I like the idea of doing it solo too... Ideally, I'm guessing, would stay in hostel accom so that we don't need to lug so much with us... But I kinda like the idea of tents too - is that doable??

Fridge-Seal

I don't quite know the details, but you can do an awesome one in Peru (which is probably the one that Cat with no tail is talking about) it was in AMB and sounded pretty cool!

What about finding some massive stage race, I know that there are quite a few going on sometime here in Australia (like the Terra Australis, multi day stage race, 500km's across Aussie alps, which aren't that big admittedly, but the race is still hard! ) or the BMC Mountains to Beach, but you'll probably have to wait 'till next year to enter that, it's early sometime.

But then there's the problem of getting to Australia, blah, blah, blah, but you might like some of those suggestions

paultrueman

What about Verbier for a week then catch a train over to chamonix or morzine.

Splottboy

Try this: Fly to Seattle, then hire a van. Do drive/ride to Vancouver, Whistler, Golden, Hungry Horse, Kookanee, Waterton National Park, come back via Montana, Idaho, Washington State.
Drop van off, covered in scratches, and run before hirer notices!

Did something similar in 1995, 1,000km of riding, about 5,000km driving.
Camping was dead cheap, motels a bit dearer but still inexpensive. You can buy a tent/ sleeping bag for about $100 in REI. Food is dead cheap, McD's or local deli's.
Late August/Sept so it's quieter and a bit cooler.

Took about 21 days, but could be cut shorter, and you'll still be seeing the best terrain in the Western World and riding places Ride Guide show every week!!
A trip to remember FOREVER...

anjs

Ridinig at altitude in Peru is a real killer. Even on the flat its hard going, any kind of incline is a nightmare.

v23

http://biking.skedaddle.co.uk/holiday/Spain_-_Trans_Pyrenees_Challenge_-_Mountain_Bike_Holiday/136/view.rails

Easily do this yourself for a lot less money. If you're willing to spend the time researching/booking, something that I think is as much a part of a big trip as the big trip itself.

.blitz

evade wrote:

Ideally something with epicness in terms of distance covered. Something with a wow factor - I don't think a ski resort is going to cut it. So are there any huge linked trails that are doable? Routes that can be done over many days? Something with a real challenge, but still doable for intermediate riders?

Scotland. Proper mountains, a perfect balance of civilisation/wilderness and whiskey.

x-isle

Fly to BC, then hire a car and drive all the way to Toronoto via the North Shore route, taking all the trails on the way.......!

I had planned to do this but fell in love with someone! Fair trade though!

v23

The North Shore isn't really on the way to Toronto from BC is it?

x-isle

Sorry, North Shore as in North Shore of Lake Superior and Lake Huron and not the North Shore Mountains, however, there was also a trip to the mountains in the plan

will1984

the province of aude in the pyrenees is good, i like it because there is a lot of variety and plenty of marked trails with good quality os maps at about 8 euros each or free maps of just the marked trails from the tourist offices. you can get pretty much any where in the region with little use of roads most of the trails link on to others. the sentier cathar might be worth a look. also the neighbouring province of ariege is good, there are also ski resorts with lift access so you can start high up in the mountains and end up on the beach which is nice. a big bonus is that ryanair fly very cheap to the area carcasonne,tolouse,perpignan and girona just over the border in spain, also hotels are cheaper than in the alps as is food and drink.

http://raid-vtt-cathare.skyrock.com/
http://www.aude-en-pyrenees.fr/vtt/vtt_evenements.html
http://www.ville-quillan.fr/loisirvtt.html
http://www.utagawavtt.com/randonnee-vtt-gps
http://www.utagawavtt.com/randonnee-vtt-gps?topo=2434

counterculture

l ook into one o the trips run by Mcmillan Cancer, you need to raise sponsorship, might be a few quid but you just sponsor yourself with your holiday budget, they do about 6 a year to places like Chile, Central America, Cuba, a few in Europe, Great Wall of China. And becuase its for a good cause people will sponsor you to do it and you get an ace holiday out of it.

i was considering doing one but im going to Whistler in July so thats where my cash focus is going

Wooliferkins

http://www.tourdafrique.com/epictours

myopic

.blitz wrote:

Scotland. Proper mountains, a perfect balance of civilisation/wilderness and whiskey.

It was such a good plug until the end - whiskey is found in Ireland - whisky is scottish. sorry for the pedantry, it's one of my bugbears!

welshkev

my mate started a holiday company this year in the swiss alps, check it out here :-)

www.trail-hunters.com

Edward Teach

If you fancy Switzerland. Have a look at the following link http://www.mountainbikeland.ch/en/welcome.cfm

It is the national routes in Switzerland, you can link the day rides together, so make it as long as you like. I have done a couple of the day rides. The trails most consist of forest track, single track and small roads (where there is no tracks) I wouldn't what to do the the routes with luggage, but you can get your luggage sent from hotel to hotel by train. http://www.sbb.ch

another link http://www.swisstrails.ch/swisstrails_engl/default.html

CycloRos

.blitz wrote:

evade wrote:

Ideally something with epicness in terms of distance covered. Something with a wow factor - I don't think a ski resort is going to cut it. So are there any huge linked trails that are doable? Routes that can be done over many days? Something with a real challenge, but still doable for intermediate riders?

Scotland. Proper mountains, a perfect balance of civilisation/wilderness and whiskey.

+1, The West Highland Way springs to mind. should cover what you're after and the trip won't break the bank either. It's on my list of ride todo's... one day...

The Northern Monkey

Whistler.

evade

Thanks for all your suggestions, guys...

I think at the moment, I'm seriously considering between:

@Splottboy's Seattle/Canada extravaganza - which also covers @x-isle and @bigbenj_08

If I can do the first for under £1k, that seems to be the winner...

or if not, then it's the

@v23 and @will1984's Pyrenees DIY adventure

(thanks for the Swiss suggestions too, but I went to Zermatt last year and am off again in January, I'm going to be all Swissed out - would like to see the Eiger tho...)

@.blitz and @CycloRos - you've both inspired me to start locally, so I'm going to do the Pennine Bridleway next month, then, weather permitting, see if I can fit the The West Highland Way in before Christmas. Bit more research required there tho...

Cheers again all for your suggestions.

Evade

counterculture

your gonna be struggling to do the WHW before xmas unless you get up and do it now, once the snow comes its pretty treacherous on foot let alone on a bike, i wouldnt fancy doing the devils staircase in the snow.

evade

Ah, right, that was going to be my next post... So, at the risk of asking you to be a weather man, when is the last window generally? Is November out too dyareckon? Cheers.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

How about exploring one of the Canary Islands by bike? I believe the destination is very popular with roadies, not sure about off-roadies.

Cracking scenery
Comfortable temps Dec-Mar
Usually sunny

I've done Tenerife and Gran Canaria as normal all-inclusive holidays a few times, its where I go for my mid-winter sun fix to relieve the symptons of my Seasonal Affective Disorder.

The one island that I would love to go to for its unique environment in the Canaries is La Gomera, off the south west cost of Tenerife I think. It is blessed with a tropical rain forest, looked stunning when featured on "wish you were here?" a few years back.

Now I'm not condoning "off-piste" rides through the rain forest, but it is quite possible that there might be some officially sanctioned routes through the undergrowth that you could explore by bike... well worth a bit of research!

homers_double

http://ukmb.net/forum/index.php?topic=40094.0