Pyrenees (Huesca) Enduro riding

Strava heat map & Trailforks are your friend. Bielsa is a good base.

I think guides and uplift are available from Ainsa, the area has loads of trails and a dedicated app but be careful with the grading (their idea of a red trail is different from mine) are you on Ebikes or unassisted ? there is a lot of climbing to link trails together.

As above re: StuE's comment - Zona Zero trail grading is a bit weird. Did a few trails out the door from Ainsa a couple of years ago (red graded) and while the downs were sometimes edging towards manageable black, some of the linkup climbs between sections were brutal, even coming from an XC background. E-Bike would be a legit option as it's an amazing area with some memorable trails.

Z trails is the official app

Boltana isn’t far from Ainsa, ridden through, and around both 

They are definitely grades up from what we are used to.. blue there is our red  etc.

there’s definitely more to do in ainsa off the bike but i don’t know about camping.

its definitely a place i could spend a lot of time…!

Try pming Spekkie on here, he will be able to help as he lives in the area and knows the guys that run the campsite in Ainsa.

Writing from a hotel in Ainsa, with no riding because a pre trip knee injury has flared up(!). We’ve been on a load of Basque MTB trips over the years the whole area is wonderful for riding.

personally find the ZZroutes and grading a bit hopeless. A lot of the loops are ludicrously long given the terrain and heat but I like the loops out of Abizanda and  for moth terrain and length.  Quite a few of the trails nearest Ainsa have become really eroded and blown out in the last few years  

Trailforks has pretty much everything in it and more reliable grading, although the riding here is tough, everything is up a level but you can use it to stitch routes together. Off road climbs (esp on ZZ routes) are punishing and often highly technical  

July is likely to be very hot which makes it all harder again. 

Uplift and guiding does exist but try getting in touch now - when we tried a few years back in Ainsa we didn’t get a reply until we were leaving. There’s definitely no “ meet at the car park at 9am on the day” style uplift (and in Ainsa relatively few trails really work uplifted.)

e bikes if you have them  

https://www.basquemtb.com/5-best-mountain-bike-trails-in-the-pyrenees/

Gets proper hot in Huesca July and August, like mid 40s. Best bet is to set out very early and bring water. Uplifts can be arranged in Ainsa. And as others have said, an emtb would totally make sense that time of year.

Analogues bikes but looking for uplift or a guide for a Grand day out (with climbing...)

Just arrived back from a week with BasqueMTB and then a week in Ainsa with b33bk34 self-guiding. All trails in ZZ are really well marked and you don’t really need a guide -a mapping Garmin or equivalent will be fine. All the climbs to major descents are seriously long and those off-road challenging even on an eMTB in turbo and Summer temperatures will add to that. There’s a reason we spent a week with BasqueMTB as they brilliantly curate the trails to the conditions and rider abilities and their uplift makes it so much easier to get a good number of great descents in. 25km may take most of the day on an analogue bike around Ainsa for mere mortals.  Uplift would definitely be preferable but you may struggle to get anyone with just a couple of you. We’ve never successfully managed to secure uplift in Ainsa and also take eMTBs now and do loops from Ainsa or drive to other towns. EMTBs can be hired in Ainsa in the bike shop by the petrol station. 
The ZZ app is a good place to start although not ideal. Blue and Reds are basically all equivalent of blacks in the UK. It’s technical and physically demanding riding a lot of the time and 160+ bike both ends would be preferable - think Deep Navigation at BPW, but great fun with some big rock features, loads of rocky hairpins, drops etc.  I’d recommend ZZ007 to Oncins (have lunch when you finally get there at the bar as it’s excellent - you MUST have the crème brûlée as the caramelisation is spectacularly done on the table with a hot iron!) This trail has some great descents including the EWS coffin trail and badlands. Have ridden the loop on an analogue bike before but the ascent is tough. ZZ102, ZZ011 are also great but would be pretty tough on an analogue bike. A lot of the trails above Boltana including the EWS trails are not in great condition and getting up the road is a miserable chore on a mountain bike. Ainsa is a seriously lovely and friendly town and well worth visiting. Will definitely be back. 

As above July will be hotter then hell, shuttles are available from TT Aventura, it's on the left hand side of the road as you drive in from Labuerda, (there's also a campsite at Labuerda, camping Pena Montenesa, we stay there every year). It can be a bit hit and miss though as it largely depends on whether they have any other riders booked on, they hire ebikes too.

Popular uplifts are to maxivalanche/costa double (Boltana, technically there are 3 routes down, but the uplift is for 2 times up, then you ride back to Ainsa.) Last year they were only uplifting part of the way up the maxi, due to the condition of the access road, the balance is a scrabbly loose fire road, it will be hateful in the july heat so check that out before you commit.

You can also get uplifted to Morcat, 3/4 rides down from here but all with elements of climbing and some quite technical descending, my favourite is Zona Zero Pirineos - ZZ-009 "Country of wolves"

If you get a cooler few days you might want to try Broto, 40 mins down the road, you won't get uplifted though and it's 1000m+ climb but the descents are stunning.

You could also try these guys, they do trips up to Bielsa, some great riding there too, but again you will need to split with other riders Trailhunters – Enduro & All Mountain

I've been going to ainsa every year for the past 6 years, so much to ride, the above is only a small part, if there's anything you want to know just drop me a line 🙂

You can rough camp very cheaply in the old town car park on top of the hill - but that will be a furnace as there is no shade at that time of year.

Also, it may not be your thing but.... if you feel like pushing the boat out, there is an exceptional Michellin star restaurant called Callizo and a very nice real ale bar in the old town.

Campsite (Ainsa) and eMTBs (Aventura TT) booked.

Trails selected (pending your approval ;): ZZ001, ZZ004, ZZ007, ZZ010 and ZZ020

Riding from Ainsa

Preliminary plan:

• post travel half day ride (Ruta Pumariello y Las Cambras?)
• full day - first Ruta Miradores de Ainsa y Morillo then Ruta Bajo Peñas
• full day - Ruta La Coasta Doble and Ruta Viaje al Coño del Mundo

Is the ride from Ainsa to Margudgued/Boltana doable via road?

If setting off early (0700) can we come back to camp for siesta / eMtb recharge and ride in the evening?

Any other suggestions?

Many thanks for all the info

We've been to Ainsa a few times, generally Spring or Autumn. We've done most of the ZZ routes, all on Lapierre Zestys, if you're fit and take your time a muscular MTB is fine though I see you've hired e-MTBs. Most of the climbs can be ridden if you do them the right way around, not all of the descents can be ridden unless you're good and/or on a big bike with a full face and a full set of protection. There's a descent north of the Partarra express I had no shame in walking (sliding) down with the Zesty. In the Partarra area, as in many of the areas, there are many variants in addition to the main signed routes.

I liked ZZ-009 as a challenging but do-able and above all enjoyable route on an X-C bike. If we'd had e-bikes we'd have finished ZZ-003 but ran out of water and enthusiasm on the return leg (those on e-bikes ran out of leccy too) - technically not hard but a splendid day out.

You can mix and match routes. The V1 variant of ZZ-13 which is a nice descent can be added to bits of ZZ-001 and ZZ-007. Make sure you do the Badlands as a descent on at least one ride. You'll probably want to ride back up the road or the GR to do the Badlands variants and I bet you go back for an evening session.

And get out early, first light, cooler and less chance of being caught in the afternoon thunderstorm. Take it easy till you get used to the terrain, a couple of our club members have provided custom for the local hospital. As for the grading it strikes me it's a bit like the UK climbing grading. It gives an idea of overall difficulty and dates from before e-MTBs so a technically easy route can get black just because it's exhausting. However, some of the reds have sections that are best approached at low speed and with caution because if you arrive too fast it's gonna hurt.