Marmot Tours - Raid Pyrenean

Wirral_paul

Morning all. Has anyone used Marmot Tours at all and if so would you recommend them?

Are there any other alternative companies that you would recommend who offer the Raid Pyrenean from East to West as well as the more usual Atlantic start and heading to the Med??

Cheers
Paul

random man

A few of us have booked the Raid Pyrenean with Marmot next August, a couple of the guys have used them before and said they were great, very well organised.

Wirral_paul

Thats very reassuring to know thanks - they have been very efficient in responding to email so far and come up with options for me. Basically i am looking to do the Raid from East to West over 4 days to June 6th (which is the only date they run that direction), have a rest day and then join the Raid from West to East on the 8th.

They offer a 5% discount if booking more than 6 months in advance - so i can save about £85 if booking in the next 2 weeks. Just unsure about taking the time off so soon after doing LEJOG (6th to 15th May)

FatTed

These guys are good. I'm sure they will do an East to West for you. Thats what they used to do
http://www.pyractif.com/index.html

milese

I did the Raid Alpine with Sports Tours International last year and thought it was great value and well organised.

Sports Tours always seem to be quite a bit cheaper than the competition, so I dont know what corners they cut, but for the money paid for the Alpine I thought it was excellent.

Wirral_paul

Thanks guys.
Just had a look at STI and they only do the one direction unfortunately - and while about £200 cheaper, this is closed down by the discounts offered by Marmot (5% for early booking and £100 more off for booking back to back Raids). I'm going alone as it stands (a mate may join me yet) so ideally looking to join an organised ride for the company / banter etc.

FatTed

Or these guys, I have no experience of them
http://www.pyreneesmultisport.com/

bigpikle

I did the W-E Raid with them in 2011 - absolutely briliant and couldnt fault even 1 thing. Going back to do the Alps N-S with them in Sept next year.

Our club has used them for the Raid Pyrenean, Alps and this year for the Dolomites. Everyone rates them very highly.

Only challenge might be availability as they get very booked up a long way in advance - that probably tells you all you need to know.

mrc1

We specialise in crossing the Pyrenees in all possible ways - from 100hr Raids to seven day C2Cs right down to an 80hr crossing. We generally run things from west to east, but have run an east to west version in the past and are always happy to do that again. Ping me an email through our site if you would like to discuss.

http://www.ledomestiquetours.co.uk

Thanks

Rob

Wirral_paul

Thanks again guys. With all the good reports and excellent reputation that Marmot have, I am now provisionally booked in with Marmot. Whilst I appreciate the offer Rob - i'm booking on my own and the security of knowing that others are along for both directions is a big influence on me. The dates also work very well with Marmot as I have a gentle training ride organised for May (LEJOG) with my club.

So its nigh on official:

May 9th to 19th is LEJOG
June 2nd to 6th is Raid Pyrenean E to W
June 9th to 13th is Raid Pyreanean W to E

Gives me a couple of days in Hendaye to chill / recover / recovery ride etc and only needs one extra night booking at the hotel which Marmot can sort for me.

FatTed

Good luck should be fun.

mrc1

Wirral_Paul wrote:

Thanks again guys. With all the good reports and excellent reputation that Marmot have, I am now provisionally booked in with Marmot. Whilst I appreciate the offer Rob - i'm booking on my own and the security of knowing that others are along for both directions is a big influence on me. The dates also work very well with Marmot as I have a gentle training ride organised for May (LEJOG) with my club.

So its nigh on official:

May 9th to 19th is LEJOG
June 2nd to 6th is Raid Pyrenean E to W
June 9th to 13th is Raid Pyreanean W to E

Gives me a couple of days in Hendaye to chill / recover / recovery ride etc and only needs one extra night booking at the hotel which Marmot can sort for me.

No problem and best of luck with the plans - sounds like a great few weeks. Just to confirm for anybody else reading, we would open the reverse Raid I mentioned up to other bookings, so you wouldn't have been riding solo!

gsk82

I did the raid with Pyrenees cycling in June at the same time marmot were running a trip. We did it over 6 days compared to their 5 but we still ran into them a few times. My impression was that Pyrenees Cycling was a lot more personal and the extra day made it more relaxed. The owner rob rode with the group so we didn't have to worry about navigation and his dad drove the van and prepared lunch mid route each day. Both are great guys to. I got the impression that with Marmot the riders were almost left to get from A to B by themselves, one night that we saw them they were rolling in in ones and twos looking like death, some after 10pm.

Id definitely recommend 6 days over 5 if you're doing it for enjoyment.

mrc1

As gsk82 says, the 100 hour Raid is certainly a tough challenge timing wise, with four 100 mile days and a 3-4 hour blast on the final morning, so the C2C option is definitely less time pressured (though still a big challenge).

As a general comment on supported rides such as the Raid, it is definitely worth asking the tour company you are looking at doing the tour with what sort of "support" you can expect.

Some companies offer more of a luggage transfer service which largely leaves you to your own devices during the day, whereas we for instance offer a pro level supported service that means you are never more than a K or so from one of at least 2 support vans (we have 2 vans on the road for groups of 8+ and 3 for 13+) throughout the tour. We mark out turns, provide riders with constant opportunities to top up bottles/grab an extra layer/grab a gel etc etc, assist with mechanical issues and generally try and make the riding as stress free as possible.

Which you prefer is of course a personal decision, but ensure that the service you are offered is commensurate with the prices being charged!

pbraun

I did the Raid Alpine S to N with Marmot in 2012 and it was great. Excellent leaders, terrific support and an overall memorable and fun experience. I wouldn't hesitate to use them again, though I'm sure there are a number of other very qualified outfits.

bigpikle

I think the comments above about Marmot are unfair...

My comment to many many people after riding the Raid with them was that every moment you might ever have wanted, or needed, the support team or van, they were there to give it. You do ride on your own during the day but I struggle to see how 1 guide on the road can possibly stay with a group of riders of different abilities anyway? The support vans are there at the bottom of climbs so you can grab water or ditch unwanted items and there at the top again in case you need to grab a jacket or some refreshments etc. I lost count of the number of times we rode past them at key spots on the the route, to cheers, waves or to grab water etc and frankly I cant imagine how we could have had more personal attention? Sure, the 100 hours option is more of a challenge than taking an extra day or so, but thats a route choice rather than tour operator issue. Doing it in 100 hours isnt that hard even with lesser levels of fitness, but it might mean longer days in the saddle if you're climbing at slower speeds.

I'm sure other companies offer a good service and I certainly had a great experience riding the QBH with Train In Spain last summer, but Marmot will be my first choice for the Raids and hopefully the Picos in 2015

Wirral_paul

Well to be fair, I wanted something a bit different to this year's trip - and Marmot's slightly more "hands off" approach suits me perfectly really.

I did 750 miles from Paris to Nice in September with Polocini including Mt Ventoux and that had a couple of extremely hard days, and no rest days at all. We were a group of 7 plus Al from Polocini on his motorbike and his good mate Chris in the van, and generally stuck pretty tight as a group with some long relaxing coffee stops. Sometimes the stops were too relaxed, when you want to crack on but with varying abilities it worked out for the best overall and meant anyone struggling generally wasnt left alone struggling to keep up. The group was very much "a group" - and for the size of the party that was great. Any punctures and we all waited / helped out. We also knew beforehand the format and atmosphere that Al wanted to create - and he did a brilliant job. (I want to do it again next year).

With maybe 20 on a Marmot trip however, i'm hoping to find at least a couple of others at the same level as me so that we can form our own little group and ride at our own pace. I'd be quite happy to only see them at the start and finish, plus maybe a couple of water stops and at the top of the big climbs with spare clothes before the chilly descents really - but knowing they are there to support if needed is great.

I'm doing the 100 hr option going West to East, but this will be doing this just a couple of days after doing the East to West trip in something like 80 hours - so i expect it to be HARD!! All this will be 12 days after returning from doing a 940 miles LEJOG.