Does it compare to the alps ? I’m sure it’s different but will I get as many smiles for miles ?

Hoping for endless, swoopy, techy descents with a side order of comfortable, well catered accomodation.

Experiences please.

I enjoyed every minute of my stay with them very good riders and fantastic little bars and accomodation

could you compare it with other trips ?

+1

Had a great time with them earlier this year. Dropping down twisty turny singletrack and then popping out in tiny little white-washed Spanish villages; sitting in the sun drinking coffee and then off again. Brilliant!

I’m going to have to go again…

If you want real mountains and variety you need to be looking at the north of spain.

Been out with them twice. Two great trips. Accomodation good, food good, guiding good, very friendly, great service.
When I turned up and one of my brakes didn’t work despite having paid for them to be bled by Evans a week earlier, they delved into their spares box and found a spare for me and helped me fit it.
Very good IMO

Was my first mtb trip abroad, a good few years ago now. Had a brilliant time. From what I remember food was basic but plentiful, accomodation comfortable and the riding ace. Good bars in town too.

Terrain wise, I thought it was drier, rockier, looser and less tree cover generally than the Alps (Alp D’Huez and Les Arcs as comparison). Some uplifts in the van, but no chairlifts so expect a (fair) bit more climbing than the Alps.

Have also been to the same area with Switchbacks but I’d rate Freeridespain more highly.

As oldnpastit says

i deffo got to get out to spain with my lot soon. i hear such good things

The descents are technical but I would struggle to describe them as long or swoopy espcially in comparison to the fire road climbs to the top.

*lunchtime bump*

will I get as many smiles for miles

Not sure what you’re asking, but you’ll probably ride less distance in one day than in the Alps but be more knackered (due to much more of it being uphill).

Really great trails and we had a very nice guide, but when I go to ride in Andalucia again it’ll probably be with a different outfit.

Maybe not Sierra Cycling though.

We did one ride that started in the mountains and finished at the sea it was fantastic, but as said above its not very swoopy but it is technical and fun. Just talking about this makes me wanna book up again

Been out with them several times both MTBing and road. Really nice area, very laid back feel to it all but top quality riding.

Shame that Oscar the Trail Dog is a bit old and past it now. Unfortunately Simon (the main guide) is still fighting fit and capable of out-riding most people!

I’m looking at going out there again in April next year.

When i went it was a good holiday for fitness training, lots of big long climbs on Fireroad, followed by technical descents. If i went back i’d go with Ciclo Montana.

A few people have been with us who have also ridden with Freeride. They have nothing but good things to say about them and the trails.

I know someone who went on 7 MTB trips with Freeride Spain & learnt nothing. She didn’t realise this until she went with another holiday company and became a much better rider within a few days.

I couldn’t believe she was crying because she was so happy to have been coached over a 3 foot drop.

She is now a repeat customer of the other company.

There are a couple in the same area that are poss a bit more what the OP is looking for as they are a bit more descent orientated and don’t delight in never-ending climbs.

Although you will still have to climb 🙂

Sorry to disagree, but I went for a long weekend a couple of years ago and found the trails a bit too technical to have fun in places and the accomodation and food fairly poor (if plentiful)For the price I was disappointed. The village bars were nice, though.

i deffo got to get out to spain with my lot soon. i hear such good things

jedi, let us know when you want to come over and we´ll look after you.
(or more likely, try to keep up while you mash through the trails here)

keep up?? my lot are of varying ability and we ride together. never in a hurry esp uphill! 🙂

Been out twice with them. Prepare for it to seem a little disorganised (i.e. ‘relaxed’), basic food/accommodation, and for looooooooong climbs (I think we did 2 x 11km climbs both times I went) up landy tracks in the midday sun. Descents are technical and loose, and I really liked Lanjaron and a daytrip to Granada.

Also Simon can be pretty sarcastic, and you can see new guests take the hump with him pretty quickly, but he’s actually a really nice guy 🙂

Some photos of my second trip:

DSC00045 by Ginger F0x, on Flickr

DSC00130 by Ginger F0x, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gingerfox/sets/72157600196596751/with/492824212/

can’t say that anyone’s really convinced me that it is on a par with the alps yet 😥

some pic/video evidence might help 8)

EDIT – right on que Kit

As with my Hominidae friend, can’t say I’m being convinced here either, yet I know Spain is full of superb trails ‘cos I’ve seen them but not ridden ’em.

I’ve ridden with Switchbacks (same area) and ridden a lot in the Alps.

Spain’s just different – as said above, drier, looser rocks, far fewer trees. Feels far more remote, and some of the trails are a bit like riding on the surface of the moon.

I’ve ridden boulder fields in Spain that I thought would destroy the bike, but it survived well. Never ridden anything *that* rocky in the Alps.

Overall: I keep going back to the Alps, haven’t been back to Sapin (though I liked it a great deal).

It ain’t posh but the bars are great accomodation good enough, and as for learning something there not coaches there guides which Simon was very good at

Maybe try switcbacks downhill or freeride portugal if you are looking for mostly descending. Both uplifted and loads of really good riding: no roots but plenty of rock and dust.

Was in portugal last easter and it was a revelation. Rocky, techy downhills, excellent accommodation (self catered though) and great guides.

Its just different, not better or worse, but different.

Whilst people are plugging other destinations….

It you want different and better, in my opinion, then I’d recommend Rivierabike.co.uk in Italy. Been there twice now. More varied terrain, descents are longer than chair lift descent in the Alps and if you want minimal climbing then they will uplift you in the van all you want. Plus hot sunny weather like Southern Spain, tasty food and friendly guiding, with a few comments and tips if you want it. Ace.

I think I can speak for both of us by saying that we ain’t frightened of a climb. We like to earn our descents to some extent, but we’d rather do a long involving technical climb than endlessly going up chairlifts or slogging up fireroads. Most of our recent Alps experience involves getting a bit of uplift height gain before continuing on with a couple of full on epics thrown in during a week.
Long road or fireroad climbs to get shortish descents in just don’t float my boat, ideally the reward should match the effort. We love a technical descent, but 2hrs climbing for a 10min down doesn’t equate.
We know all this is there in Spain, but where?

Been out with switch-backs in bubion 7 times and twice to their dh place in Malaga, back out again in nov, trails especially around bubion are superb and mike is a great host, couple of good bars and restaurants around bubion , would recommend giving them a go, prefer sierra Nevada area to alps.

We love a technical descent, but 2hrs climbing for a 10min down doesn’t equate.

We went out to the Costa del Honnca with Burocyclismo the other year, it was awful from the start to finish. It started badly when their minibus went to the wrong airport to collect us, no apologies when they did turn up, just ongoing surliness.

The accommodation was awful, a filthy, fly-blown hole with cockroaches in the kitchen and no secure bike accommodation. Ed, the guy who runs Burocyclismo was consistently rude and unpleasant. The minibus broke down on day two, to be honest, I think it was more that he didn’t want to drive anywhere, and we ended up climbing for five hours on tarmac in blistering heat. When we reached the top, the so-called guide, who didn’t speak any English realised we’d gone up the wrong freakin’ road, so we had to descend the same way we’d come, on tarmac.

The rest of the week was slightly better – it couldn’t really have been any worse, but when I read your comment, it all came flooding back.I would still go back there, the local bars were nice, but I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.

Freeride Spain, on the other hand, was really quite good.

We love a technical descent, but 2hrs climbing for a 10min down doesn’t equate.

Freeride Spain (or indeed any decent guiding/holiday company) should be able to adjust the routes for your preference. Every guided MTB holiday I’ve done the guides have offered options, uplifts and route descriptions.

trailmonkey – Member
can’t say that anyone’s really convinced me that it is on a par with the alps yet

some pic/video evidence might help

Never MTBed the alps but here is some video from Spain. Not Sierra Nevada but further west.

http://www.pinkbike.com/video/212521/