I'm going next year with the family and I might get a couple of days to ride - any outfits that might let me tag along for a bit?
Thanks
Whereabouts?
AQR in Luchon are very good.
I've done a few DIY trips to Luchon. There's one big lift and lots of ways down so very easy for a day or two. Really good trails. Plenty more if you go exploring too.
I have been talking with AQR recently about a long weekend.
They seem very flexible, i.e. they are happy to provide bike hire (Cotic Rocket :-)), guiding and uplift (or any combination of the above) with or without accommodation.
Worth dropping them an email.
Interested in this too - who are AQR?
we have had several holidays
AQR are great and we did a couple of days with them but then rode around luchon....been to luchon a couple of times good base for riding off road and on.
Try area around Biaritz, basque mountain bikes, we had an okay time there we did not use any guides as i do not think there were any but this was 15 yrs ago so things will be more set up
Look at Prades area, we stayed there and it was great lots of riding and just a graet area.
So recommended luchon if you have family that are happy in the mountains.
For beach biaritz/hendayne small spanish town on the border really nice 15 years ago, cannot say now
Last summer we stayed for a couple of days in Foix and that was good then over to colliure for beach.....i would have a look in that area if my kids were small again
Ax les Thermes has a bike park with uplift to the top of the mountain. I'm thinking of taking the road bike and the trail bike down there for a week this summer and riding the area. There's a load of interesting trail riding too including one which looks like probably 60-90 mins of descending from the refuge (GREAT food there incidentally) to the town.
les angles is a good place, it has a bike park, a marked out trail network and loads of stuff to do with kids.
Oh, and the usual promo piece, my cousin rents out an apartment just outside Ax les Thermes. She speaks English and her feller will happily do hiking tours if you're of a mind to walk as well as ride.
We're going to try Andorra this year, maybe with Singletrack Safaris. BasqueMTB look good too, nearer the coast. Massive ferry journey to get there though...
If you dont mind riding by yourself you could try going to Ainsa. They have really good marked trails, I mean REALLY good, no the usual boring slogs that are the typical Spanish trail centre. I'm going again in a couple of weeks for a long weekend.
thanks ahw
How are you getting there Mackem?
I'm driving, but I live in the Basque country, so it's just a few hours. 😀
www.altitudeadventure.com
Fanblummintastic
http://www.altitudeadventure.comFanblummintastic
Yep. If the OP is around Font Romeu/ Les Angles, the ride down to Olette and uplift on the yellow train is on the [i]to do[/i] list. You even get to ride across firing ranges without annoying the squaddies on STW 😀
Luchon
Was there for a few days, quite chilly in July. Disappointing trails, straight from the cable car is just fire roads. We used the local MTB trailguide. We may have missed trails ?
Ax-Les_thermes
Excellent, been there twice and keeps getting better. Very quiet in July and brilliant technical XC and singletrack descending from the top. Tight and narrow trails, almost natural feeling. Lifts shut for lunch but excuse for a stop at the cafes. There is two main descent down from the resort (Ax 3 Domaines) one in the town that snakes down bermy natural roman trails and one that comes down much steeper to the town. Nice hot thermes in a sweet wee village/town.
Much quieter and peacful compared to the busy and sometimes modern developed Alpine resorts.
I compare Ax Les Thermes with - Alp DHuez 7/10, Les Deux Alpes 8/10, and Lake Garda 6/10.
Ax Les Thermes also has better weather than the Alps and is cheaper for camping etc.
We had a brilliant week with A Quick Release... Almost every ride was straight from the door of the gite in Luchon, and every one was fantastic. A lot were VTT trails but not all so it'd be hard to put together the best rides without local knowledge- would probably be worth speaking to AQR.
Nickscots, there are brilliant trails down from the chairlift at Luchon/Superbagneres, but we'd never have found any of them without guiding.
Northwind- that's what we thought. We only had two days and rock climbed as well. Still prfer the natural singletrack at Ax les Thermes though.
lmost every ride was straight from the door of the gite in Luchon, and every one was fantastic. A lot were VTT trails but not all
We've been riding with AQR for some years now and there is great riding around Luchon. The best trails are not the marked routes - well worth paying for guiding to get the best of the riding.
We're out on the Tour week this year. The tour ends one day and starts the next in Luchon so the plan is to ride off road to a good mountain side view spot then ride on after the tour passes. Should be great - can't wait (and I hear there are still a few places left for that week).
http://www.zapiks.com/ouverture-de-la-station-d-ar.html
this looks good if your into uplift DH runs 😀
About 45 minutes south of Pau / Lourdes