I’m thinking of going abroad on a guided MTB holiday next year and would welcome suggestions of suitable trips to look at.

First off, although my fitness is ok, I’m no gnar-shredding ninja, so finding a holiday with appropriate terrain/trails is a very important consideration. I’ve a decent full-suss bike and don’t want to cycle on boring trails, but conversely it would be a waste of time going somewhere way beyond my abilities. I’m comfortable and have fun on mid-grade red trails in UK (think Whinlatter, Dalby, etc), but anything beyond that isn’t (not yet anyway) really for me.

I’m thinking;

– Have Fun
– In Europe, easyish to get to
– 4 or 5 days
– Somewhere with amazing landscape
– Nice weather
– Friendly and knowledgeable guide who will genuinely look after riders
– Trails that are great fun and a decent challenge at my riding ability, but nothing with drop-offs, jumps, etc.
– Plenty of riding
– uplifts would be nice
– decent accommodation, food, beers
– opportunity to learn better skills over the week
– In a group of riders with similar skills (won’t get left behind)
– Have Fun

recommendations?

I’m going with Switch-backs.com next week for the umpteenth time. They fall into most of those categories. Riding ranges from fast flowing stuff to really technical if you want it.

Uplifts included and your riding improves massively.

I’m sure alansierra from http://www.sierramtb.com/ will be along shortly to read this post… just outside malaga
very experienced company – check out the galleries for happy punters.

AQR holidays

We will be going back with Bike Verbier next year. Never ever been disappointed

Basque MTB – IMO ticks all those boxes. (Think it’s usually 6 nights though? I’m sure Doug will confirm.)

Thanks for the feedback, I’ll start looking into these (although some seem wayyyy above my ability level at first glance)

http://whiteroomchalet.com

Been four times and probably going back again next year. Amazing trails, chalet, food (this year was just unbelievable food), free beer, wine and cake. Can’t rate them highly enough.

You get this:

and this:

and this:

and… you get the idea.

Another wholehearted vote for http://www.bikeverbier.com here. Amazing holidays in every respect. Plus they split their groups so people get to ride the type of trails they like. And a very friendly and inclusive atmosphere, so great for solo travellers, too.

http://www.ridesierranevada.com/Welcome-Mountain-Biking-Sierra-Nevada.htm

About 2 hours drive from Malaga airport (they pick you up). We went for a week and they catered for all levels of bikers from crazy downhillers, XC racers to the adventurers just wanting to check out the landscapes.
The people running it were very friendly and knowledgeable but morning times were a bit frustrating and things seemed to be organised last minute – Spanish mentality I guess. Awesome once we got moving though.

Bikevillage, French side of the Alps.
AQR, great riding around the Pyrenees.
Pure Mountains do a great chalet deal in Les Gets.
Switchbacks were a bit disorganised, IMHO, the riding was good though.

These guy are excellent, did the Andorra trip with them this summer

Single Track Safari

You haven´t said which time of the year you want to go.
I would suggest Northern Europe in July and August, Southern Spain any other time of year for guarranteed sunshine and great trails.

+1 for Basque MTB. It was my first trip away with the bike, and I loved it. Doug’s great at looking after his riders – unlike some other guides I’ve ridden with – there’s a wealth of great singletrack on offer, and the food is AMAZING. It’s also varied enough that if it’s raining in one place, Doug just points the van in another direction til dry singletrack is found.

You need to go with Marco at Ciclo Montana. Going back for my 3rd visit in May next year.
Descent from the ski station at Veleta for us has been promised. 45 kms of trails back to the village of Fondales. This is mainly gravity assisted too.
Proper looking forward to this one.

I can recommend Bike Bulgaria, trail addiction and switchbacks, come the end of the week your fitness and skill levels have improved.

If its your first time, my recc is for AQR, french pyrenees.
beautiful spot, close to a proper town too.
great riding, no uplift other than 1 day on ski lifts sometimes, very organised and friendly company.
very knowledgeable and bring out the best of all skill levels.

Great value too- superb dinners included in the price- this can add a lot to the overall holiday otherwise. a few boxes of cheapo supermarket beer at other places doesn’t compare!

if more uplift needed I’d vote ciclomontana. beautiful trails, quite rocky and tech

the above are best trails-value in my view.

BasqueMTB also great trails, bit more tech, but worked out quite a bit more cash for me than the above.

Scotland

We have everything on your list 🙂

@skydragon Im surprised no-one else has mentioned this, but you do need to realise that riding on natural trails in the alps / spain is a whole new (much more challenging) ball-game compared to man made trail centres in the UK. That’s not to say you won’t have an amazing time abroad, you just need to be aware of this if you’ve not ventured much outside trail centres before now.

@Coogan – some nice pics of La Varda (Les Arcs) you’ve got there and they certainly inspire people as to why it would be worth making the trip over, but are you really suggesting that kind of trail (its ultra-exposed and very technical, by the way) is a good one for someone’s first trip to the Alps?!?

IMHO the most important thing will be getting in with a group of people who are on a similar wavelength / skill set to yourself. If not you are going to be pushed to far, to hard, too soon and either end up cheesed off, or worse, hurt and end-of-holiday before you’ve even started. So Id check that as a priority with whoever you book with: who else is booked on the same week as you are?

On the other hand, get it right and for sure your skills and confidence will improve leaps and bounds in one week. Throw in a bit of tuition too from a good guide and you’ll be right as rain.

I can’t speak for the others but I know that trailAddiction now offer dedicated Alpine Improver Groups on certain weeks of the year to make sure you don’t end up in a mixed ability group. We also have quite a large span of guides and guiding styles. Of course we have the young and enthusiastic shredder-types but at the other end of the scale, our oldest guide, Pat, just turned 50 this year and has 20 years ski and bike instructing under his belt – hes ‘s a master with coaching and confidence building for those that need it.

bikingandalucia, Sierra Nevada, Andalucia, southern Spain, you cannot go wrong!!