Hey!

I’ve just moved from Sydney to London, so I’m out of my depth on this kind of knowledge. Are there groups of riders (like mountain bike clubs or whatever, and don;t have to be based in London itself) that organise week trips to a bike park or trails.

I’ve got my own bike which I bought a couple of months ago and I’d rather take my bike with me, but it seems from what I’ve been able to research, that the options are to buy a bike bag and take the front and back wheels off the bike, stuff it in the bag and try get cheapest airfares to the destination.

Have any of you, gotten the ferry from dover to calais by ferry and ridden some of the section to a train station, or gotten the eurostar and then changed trains.

I guess what I’m asking is, what have you found with experience is the best way to get from the UK to the alps bike trails?

Considering that I dont have a car, or a bike bag, and looking for the chjeapest mode of travel possible 🙂 whether I meet up with other riders to share the cost of travel or whatever!

Cheers

Ryan

We usually drive but we are a group of around 10 friends who have a few vans between us which makes life a lot easier. Some of our group fly. There are lots of cheap flights available and some well located airports. You don’t need a bag, in fact I’d go as far to say you don’t want a bag. A cardboard box from a bike shop does a better job of protecting your bike. You have to pay a fair bit extra but its not that much on the cost of the holiday. Taking your bike on the ferry is a popular option but usually for road riding as its a long way to the good MTB stuff. Not sure about trains but they are generally good in france so probably an option

You’ll need a bike bag for the train or to fly. The Eurostar doesn’t have that much luggage space and training it to the Alps will probably cost more than flying. Best all round value IMO is to book a guided week to the Alps and fly. Many companies will collect you from the airport. I’ve done them as a single traveler and you share a room and meet people there.

There is plenty of riding in/around London you can access by train or renting a car isn’t too expensive if done in advance.

I hope you enjoy the UK and Europe

Pikey bikeshop box for me too if using air travel. A lot of airlines will take bikes for a (usually reasonable) fee.

Plenty of riding within UK too, with uplift options, so don’t necessarily need to travel further, although Alps and Pyrenees are well worth a visit IMHO.

Cost to get to the Alps & back in a car is around £500, depending on your fuel economy, which method you chose to cross the channel, strength of the £ to the € & the oil price (£160 chunnel, €190 tolls, ~£200 fuel last year)

Flying will cost around £200 with your bike, plus transfers to the resort (anywhere from £50-£200).

Eurostar doesn’t go direct to the Alps in summer, meaning a train & station (from the north to the south of the city iirc) change in Paris, with your bike.

FWIW I’m going twice this year; flying one time & being picked up by the guiding company and driving the second.

If you book well in advance, you can get some reasonable BA flights. These are usually a bit more expensive than Easyjet etc, but you can take a bike free.

I managed to get rtn to Geneva peak season for £120.

I would definitely join a guided holiday, as mentioned above. Good way to meet people, get the best riding and minimize hassle.

Guided holidays are a good way to do it, takes heaps of the stress out of it – http://www.whiteroomchalet.com/sumintro.htm used these guys.
Bag vs Box, I invested in an Evoc bag as I travel a lot with my bike and it’s much much better than a box and I’ve had zero damage to the bike in 20-30 flights. But I still make sure it’s insured.
Driving takes longer and by yourself it’s probably a massive pain, the only upside is you get some more spares and if you don’t go catered/booked you can head where the weather is good.

Compared to Aus there is a lot less organised clubs and stuff going on so you need to be a bit more proactive.

Cheers for the info guys! greatly appreciated!

digga – Member

Pikey bikeshop box for me too if using air travel. A lot of airlines will take bikes for a (usually reasonable) fee.

Plenty of riding within UK too, with uplift options, so don’t necessarily need to travel further, although Alps and Pyrenees are well worth a visit IMHO.

What riding in the UK has uplift? I went to Bike Park Wales a couple of weekends ago! lots of fun there!