riding in europe

Anonymous

so, im toying with the idea of riding abroad in the new year, i reckon it looks brill , dry sunny trails topped off with some beers in the sunshine.

im planning to plan a trip, perhaps in april kind of time and i fancy spain.

what i need to think about is this: will it be wasted on me as a pretty unskilled rider?

ive never ridden in scotland for example so should i ride at home before i travel further away?


the things which attract me is the idea of something new, a change is good for the soul and whatnot, and the idea of rding in the sunshine with some amazing scenery.

i would be interested in what i call general xc riding but what many might call trail or all mountain riding (even if all mountain and trail are ways of describing bikes, not riding)

so what say ye?

Radioactiveman

Go for it.

http://www.switch-backs.com/

I went and in my group were varied abilities and everyone enjoyed it, the guides were excellent as was the tapas and cold beer. Nice and cheap in the mountains. The euro wasnt great when I went but I still didnt spend a lot.

Best time to go is when it is sh1t weather here(why people go in summer I will never know,I went in October a couple of years back.

There were plenty of technical bits and challenging bits but everyone got round fine and you didnt have to ride anything you didnt want to,there was zero pressure from the guides.

Just enough riding each day for me tbh. Trails were very quiet and no other riders about bombing past you so you can go at your own pace. The climbs were assisted i.e dropped off in a van half way up mountain,spin up fireroad climbs then sweet singletrack descent for miles.

cooldad

You should stick to towpaths on a Halfords rigid until your skill levels improve to the point where you can win the world DH champs.

Otherwise you are just an overbiked numpty who will annoy all the really skilled, if somewhat overstressed anal heroes.

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... 4#16515424

popstar

I didn't go abroad but suppose it is a good idea if you sir like sunny weather. Scotland has got some fantastic riding but it's definately isn't an affair of couple of days to explore and ride the best bits as they are so far apart. There are so many options down there and the choice is endless. Weather wise is tricky too.

So trip abroad is the bestest idea. Are you gonna do it on HT or FS?

roger_merriman

if you have the dosh, why not sounds like a lovely holiday. I like cold wet MTBing so have little interest in hot dusty trails.

Anonymous

POPSTAR:

it will be on the enduro, riding ht bikes is for hippies and the poor.

blister pus

sheepsteeth wrote:

so, im toying with the idea of riding abroad in the new year, i reckon it looks brill , dry sunny trails topped off with some beers in the sunshine.

im planning to plan a trip, perhaps in april kind of time and i fancy spain.

That

sheepsteeth wrote:

what i need to think about is this: will it be wasted on me as a pretty unskilled rider?

ive never ridden in scotland for example so should i ride at home before i travel further away?

bollocks...

sheepsteeth wrote:

so, im toying with the idea of riding abroad in the new year, i reckon it looks brill , dry sunny trails topped off with some beers in the sunshine.

im planning to plan a trip, perhaps in april kind of time and i fancy spain.

That

sheepsteeth wrote:

the things which attract me is the idea of something new, a change is good for the soul and whatnot, and the idea of rding in the sunshine with some amazing scenery.

no brainer

sheepsteeth wrote:

i would be interested in what i call general xc riding but what many might call trail or all mountain riding (even if all mountain and trail are ways of describing bikes, not riding)

call it gerald if you like, do it.

sheepsteeth wrote:

so what say ye?

^ That

..is all

Anonymous

Just do it, man.

Anonymous

i think when easter leave comes round, should be april next year, i will book a wee trip then.

im quite excited!!

popstar

Going abroad in Winter to hit sunny mountains is ace. You may refuse to come back and be here with us on forums. So many places to choose, wonder if you were swayed by DougBasque pix ... they do corrupt my mind, even if I secretly like Iceland more.

Anonymous

those pics were very temptng but thats not who i am looking at booking with.

Mickey Eye

Come to Norway next September for the Fjøra singletrack camp. http://www.singletrack.no/index_eng.php

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K42F1O8qS0Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZH9adbD34mI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1mDPGKQvLU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjLDOLvVTBM

MountainMonster

Riding in Europe is prime man! Why pass up the chance if you've got the moolah to go ride somewhere else. It's always memories. What sounds better:

Dude: WHat did you do this summer?
You: I went to scroteland to ride for a few days, in the cold, the wet and arsey land.

Or:

Dude: What did you do this summer?
You: I went on an epic riding week in Spain, enjoying perfect weather, perfect trails, amazing people, good food and I now have memories for a lifetime.

I'll let you do the math here.

poppit

Whistler, July, nuff said.

Anonymous

poppit wrote:

Whistler, July, nuff said.

I wish. Unfortunately, it costs more money to go there than exists in the world.

Anonymous

yeehaamcgee wrote:

poppit wrote:

Whistler, July, nuff said.

I wish. Unfortunately, it costs more money to go there than exists in the world.

this.

spain is 450 euro plus flights which is plenty manageable, i havent even contemplated the whopping bill that a trip to canada would cost.

canada will have to wait until i go there for work.

Northwind

We had a great week at A Quick Release but tbh you had to be in pretty good shape, no uplifts on the guided rides (I got one in with the boss on the day off), lots of riding up enormous bastard mountains til your legs unscrewed and fell off. Descents were awesome. And at the end of the day, it wasn't cheap but neither is driving to scotland and taking hotels or B&Bs for a week, it worked out not so terribly much more than a UK holiday. Er, I think, I stopped counting the costs

Anonymous

Scotland is great (Or North Wales, obviously) but combining a bit of guaranteed good weatehr with some biking seems like a win win to me.

Northwind

Ah, yeah, that's where we screwed up, sending 4 pasty scots to the south of france in august was always going to have some ill effects

Anonymous

I know what you mean, my Celtic brethren!
I thought September up in Peebles was positively toasty

jay12

go abroad to france, spain, italy

paul.skibum

I do the Alps every summer and it rocks - I am very tempted by these guided trips in Spain though - change of scene, bit more up more likely good weather and then I dont go in the height of summer!

Canada would be nice but I am not sure I'd chose Whistler (I didnt like it for skiing but I hear the summer is a more relaxed vibe) - maybe as part of a long road trip....

P-Jay

Get it done...

We've (my riding mates and I) have been talking about going to Scotland for a weekend / weeks riding, but the amount of time / money it takes to get from South Wales to say fort bill, it's easier to go into Europe.

Les Gets / Morzine is the obvious choice, but has it's drawbacks, chief of which for you is April wont work at all. Plus whilst a £100 flight (on BA) and c£400 for a catered / guided week sounds more than reasonable to cost of living there is insane.

We're actually off to Whistler next year. £500 flight and £350ish Holiday price does make it £350 more than we'd usually spend in Morzine, we fancy we'll make a lot of that back in saving on food / beer / spares.

Have you thought about Tenerife? Weather is good all year round and you must be able to get stupid cheap package holidays, April should mean you miss most of the pissheads and headbangers. Just stay away from Las Americas

poppit

P-Jay wrote:

Get it done...

We've (my riding mates and I) have been talking about going to Scotland for a weekend / weeks riding, but the amount of time / money it takes to get from South Wales to say fort bill, it's easier to go into Europe.

Les Gets / Morzine is the obvious choice, but has it's drawbacks, chief of which for you is April wont work at all. Plus whilst a £100 flight (on BA) and c£400 for a catered / guided week sounds more than reasonable to cost of living there is insane.

We're actually off to Whistler next year. £500 flight and £350ish Holiday price does make it £350 more than we'd usually spend in Morzine, we fancy we'll make a lot of that back in saving on food / beer / spares.

Have you thought about Tenerife? Weather is good all year round and you must be able to get stupid cheap package holidays, April should mean you miss most of the pissheads and headbangers. Just stay away from Las Americas

Yes, was lucky enough to go to Whistler this summer and aiming to go back next summer. The exchange rate is getting a bit better which is good, it's one of the few places I've been on holiday where you really, really wanted to stay.

Herbie The Dog

Nah...sod the trip abroad.

Spend the wonger on some anodized bits and peices, new chainset and some bling wheels.

What's the point in looking like a pikey on some dry and dusty trail Spanish trail when you can look like a biking super rad dude ankle deep in 2 feet of mud and cow piss?

Priorities man!

unixnerd

If it's Scotland you fancy the best way to get there is the Caledonian Sleeper. Hop on the train on Friday night, wake up in Fort William or the Cairngorms bright and early on Saturday. Another bonus is that you only need accomodation for the Saturday night, get the train back around 9pm on Sunday.

Last time I used it (going from Aviemore to London) it cost about 140 quid, it'd cost a good chunk of that in petrol alone to drive.

Northwind

The one thing i don't quite understand... For some reason we went to France in August, for a sort of "all mountain holiday". But it was nice here! Now it's going to go horrible here and we'll be here. We could have gone to Lavatrax in January or Sierra Cycling or something. We're knobs basically.

Fair play if you want alpine uplifts, it's got to be summer but loads of these holidays are all-season yet we go in the summer. Doh!

Anonymous

it is sierra im looking at going with.

Griselda

*****For the language skilled*****
Some great trails here http://www.trail.ch/

Good beer, good food, good everything.

mac_man

Me and my Mrs are going to the Sierra Nevada (Spain) over Christmas.

We've found a guy who does a weeks guided riding for £250, including accommodation.

The trails look fantastic in that area and the weather should be around 15C during the day with not much chance of rain.

We did look at the Canaries as an alternative but it was just way too expensive over Christmas. And I've been told that the riding in the Sierras is better :-)

With flights it'll be £450 for a week... which is pretty bloody reasonable. Just the fligts to Tenerife were £400 each!

Northwind

That's bloody good... Who are you going with?