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Looking for a holiday that'll please everyone! Wifey and daughters idea of a good holiday is to sit by a pool armed with a book or magazine,which I can stand for an hour or two before losing the will to live!! So I'm looking for somewhere I can go riding for a reasonable part of the day,come back and chill by a pool for a bit and have somewhere we can all go in the evening for a meal and a few beers.Any ideas?
Hull.
Any more?,was hoping for somewhere sunnier and well,more mountainy than Hull really !!
At the risk of starting a very long thread
have a look at sierracycling
Mallorca - stay in Soller and get in touch with Tramuntana bikes.
If you fancy going downhill switchbacksDH.com do uplifts for 50euro/day, although I discovered I much prefer XC/AM style riding. It wasnt that the tracks were too hard, they were probably on a par with or lightly above a trail center black run if you took the chicken lines arroud the big drops/gaps. But 10 5min runs = 1 hours riding, and I'd rather do a 5 hour XC ride even if whilst on the ride I hate the climbs.
Otherwise I'm quite tempted to suggest an all inclusive hotel anywhere sunny and just sneak my road bike in.
Argeles sur Mer, Frejus/st Raphael, St Remo/Finale, Malaga, there is stuff in the Algarve as well (have a look at the new wideopen mag)
Sort of depends what type of riding you want to do.
Lake garda? Cyprus?
plenty of fully catered chalet hotels with pools in the alps (which coincidentally has some very nice mountains upon which one can ride a bicycle).
Dave
The obvious answer is Morzine, as it has a pool (four in fact) in the centre and loads to do if you're not into biking. Obviously being France food and drink are good quality too.
Was in the same position myself 2 years ago went with sierra Cycling for 2 weeks and we had the poolside apartment to our selves for the 2nd week!
My partner bikes but was content to sit beside pool or go to the beach about 250 metres away she rode for three of the days.
Discounts apply for non biking people and renting out the apartment for yourselves was available out of biking season
Here are a few pics.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nzrich/sets/72157624297305931/with/4761208833/
[url= http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4077/4761848960_b7675d5386.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/nzrich/4761848960/ ]Poolside![/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/nzrich/ ]Richard Munro[/url], on Flickr
[url= http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4118/4761208833_14da975c3f.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/nzrich/4761208833/ ]Splashdown![/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/nzrich/ ]Richard Munro[/url], on Flickr
[url= http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4123/4761957134_349a4d250f.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/nzrich/4761957134/ ]Tiger sightseeing[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/nzrich/ ]Richard Munro[/url], on Flickr
The obvious answer is Morzine
If you were going to go somewhere in the mountain, I would suggest somewhere much further south like Orciere. Better/more predictable weather, beautiful scenary, lake and stuff within easy reach of the town, loads of hotels, top biking and aerobics every morning on the main square 🙂
www.basquemtb.com
Yes, I'm biased, but it's a lovely place, beaches, nightlife, restaurants, pool, San Sebastian and great mountain biking.
Does it have to be mountain biking? Nice is nice, great place and almost guaranteed good weather and the hills out of there are pretty amazing on a road bike. Not sure if there is a mountain biking scene out there as my mate who stays there is only into road biking.
Another option- wave to them on the beach whilst having a few afternoons surfing, winsurfing, diving, or sailing.
Lol @ Jota 180 he can google and see other opinions for himself! Depends on what activities your partner wants to do? Morzine is good, as pony trekking various other stuff for kids alongside the lovely 50m outdoor pool with kiddie play pool and slide at one end. Can do it cheap by renting apartment, lots of other riders you could easily tag along for a day with.
Another here for Sierra Cycling, as the photo shows above (postierich)
the pool (private) is right outside your door. The beach is approx 100mtrs from the back gate (locked for security, keeps little kids in & idiots out). There are plenty of Bars and Restaurants within easy walking distance but not too close to cause any noise late on. Lots to do for the family whilst you are out biking on some great tracks and because you are taken out in the Vans to start your ride it means you can be back early enough to spend time with wife & kids by the pool or beach.
Alan is a great host and will try his best to ensure all of you have a great time.
Highly recommended 😀
Oh yeah, forgot about Lake Garda. Amazing riding and maybe somewhere you wouldnt normally think to go (unlike Morzine.....yawn)
It isnt as expensive as you might think (cheaper than France I found), plus arguable better food and booze (if you consider German lager to be better than French). Loads to do for the family on the beaches and plenty of hotels.
Uplifts are more of an issue than the French resorts, but there are 1 or 2 bike companies that offer them by van.
Get's pretty hot though.
If you think Benidorm is a bit posh then you'll likve Fuengirola. Without going into it, for riding/hosting we wouldn't recommend Sierra Cycling, however it does have a beach for your wife.
Hotel La Mariposa in Gebas,Southern Spain.
Biking in the Espuna,Quad and Kayak trips.Swimming pool,hot tub,stunning location.Lots of interesting places to visit nearby and the area is SPANISH,which is a big plus in my view.
I have no financial interest in the hotel but know people who have gone on the quad and kayak trips and everyone raves about it.
Was sierra cycling the one with the epic thread a while back? I lose track of who has publicly committed business suicide on STW.
Dave
Thanks for the shout Mackem! We do a fair few holidays like this with riding and non riding people. It works well 'cos we're right on the beach and there's San Sebastian very close by which has plenty to keep people happy, as well as another 3 beaches! Bilbao and Biarritz are close-ish too. We can organise some stuff for non-riders as well, like city tours, surfing, walking routes and that sort of stuff. There's a wee pool in the accommodation too.
Thanks for your replies,defo given me something to think about! I should really of said that I was thinking more Spain/Pyrenees than the Alps! As for the type of riding I fancy,well I suppose technical singletrack/AM type stuff springs to mind,usually do the black graded stuff at trail centres,enjoy an uplift day.Don't fancy a DH type holiday,looks a bit full on,but some sort of shuttle/uplift would be good,don't object to a bit of climbing tho! Got an Alpine 160 BTW
Got to say BasqueMTB is ticking all the right boxes,been following their video blogs for a while,and looks like the type of riding I'm after just need to see if it appeals to Wifey and daughter 🙂
Techy singletrack is what i like 🙂 Bit of climbing, bit of uplift. Give's a shout if I can give you any information for your wife and daughter. It reminds me I need to get out and do another video 🙂
We are based on the beach, just 20 mins from Malaga airport.
Perfect for the biker with a non-biking family (large pool, gardens, on the beach, playground, excellent bars and restaurants etc.)
Check us out on [url] http://www.sierracycling.com [/url].
Check out www.bikingandalucia.com , we are based in Orgiva, 60 km south of Granada, in the Sierra Nevada, and 35 km from the coast. We have our own private swimming pool, featured on www.ownersdirect.co.uk/spain/s291.htm and
www.ownersdirect.co.uk/spain/s14923.htm
Ideal for non bikers too.