Summer biking holiday - suggestions please

downtime

OK, the nights are getting shorter, the sap is rising and I need a big carrot to get me out riding in these cold Scottish hills.
Its time to plan a summer holiday, the question is where to go?

We have been to the alps for the last 4/5 years and have enjoyed the trails in Chamonix, Les Arcs, Les Deux Alpes, Alp D, done the PPDS and now I am looking for something new.

I tried booking North west Italy last year for a week in various locations Montgenevre, Bardonnechia and Sauze d'Oulx but failed as couldn't find accomadation for 10 people for the week, we like a bit of luxury to soak the old aching bones as most of us are the elder side of 30 - ie camping is behind us!

So over to you - where is the best place to go ???? (EXCLUDING MORZINE doest really appeal) I love the tight technical challenges of Chamonix but know all the trails there.
Rocky, Rooty fast flowy single track and lots of it. Suggestions please.

UH DH

Do you like spiders?

If yes, try Aosta/Pila

The trail back down from pila to Aosta is long, and the forest is infested with dinnerplate sized spiders that eat into the trees and kill them. The trails are meant to be pretty good too. Should be tight, twisty trails, fairly quiet and loads of fucking great big spiders to avoid.

downtime

Have you ever thought of a job with the tourist board?
Apart from fk off big spiders on 1 run. Is there anything else there worth riding. A week to 10 days riding to fill.

UH DH

downtime wrote:

Have you ever thought of a job with the tourist board?
Apart from fk off big spiders on 1 run. Is there anything else there worth riding. A week to 10 days riding to fill.

It's not just 1 run, it's the big one from the resort to the town. It's something like a 45 minute descent, apparently.

Anyway, I've only ever skied there, but what I saw of the summer stuff was interesting, and I've heard nothing but positive stuff about the place for biking.

andmac

Have you ever considered Canada? Cape Breton, Nova Scotia is quite a challeng and beautiful. There Is a lovely place to stay at the one end "Ingnish" more of the scottish side. The other side has places to stay as well considered the " French side" The hospitality is fantastic here. My family camped here and we hit a moose that decided to bolt across the road where we happened to be driving. The park ranger drove us back to our campsite 45 minutes away, the employee at the national park gave us their car to drive and get groceries... who does that these days! Any ways we saw many bikers in groups and my sons both rode their bikes on the trail and they loved it.

K2pro

How about Bansko in Bulgaria. We spent a week there last summer doing XC biking and it was amazing, so much so that we are going back again this year for 10 days. We met a guy called Nigel from MTBBansko.com and basically he was the man to know. He is mad keen on biking and has more or less mapped the whole area on his GPS, he knows the area like the back of his hand. This summer when we go back we are going in a larger group of 8 people and will be staying at their chalet, we stayed in apartments last year.

The trails we done last year were brilliant, they ranged from low meadow type (but still not easy) to climbs up the sides of mountains on old cart tracks that wind their way through the vast forests. I must admit when we chose Bansko it was a bit of a gamble (cant actually remember who even came up with the idea), but hand on heart I can honestly say that the gamble well and truly paid off for us. Im probably (actually I am) the weakest link in the group, but we were well looked after and I was given so much encouragement that I never felt out of my depth.

trailhunter

Rocky/Rooty Singletrack? Verbier has to be your destination