Off to France in a few weeks and I'm looking to find some good off-road riding. Planning to camp somewhere down in the south west but can be flexible. I live near the Surrey Hills so would love to find a French equivalent. I'll be looking for interesting XC stuff that all the teenage kids can cope with, Barry Knows Best etc. Something in woodland, possibly in a regional park area.What can you suggest?
was at barry knows best and yoghurt pots this morning! you'll probably have to look toward the edge of the alps before the hills get too big. the dordogne region may also be of interest but not sure what kind of trails might be there. probably just xc
somewhere like [url= http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=dordogne&hl=en&ll=45.213004,5.450592&spn=0.07014,0.175781&safe=off&t=p&z=13 ]here[/url]?
if you are going to South WEST france might be best to try pyrenees and their foot hills..
base from perpignan or carcassone - quite a few hire places that also sell routes if you look on the web
Thanks for the suggestions. I reckon inland from Bordeaux there are several regional parks shown on the map. Anyone else been down that way and have any recommendations. I don't need it to be too challenging, just want to see a bit of off-road France.
Try around Luchon, camped and ridden around there, they have the Milka cows, long descents, uplifts and plenty of scope for different types of riding and some ice cream shacks where you would not expect them.
I reckon inland from Bordeaux
Going South from there is the Landes, which is pretty well pan flat until you get towards Pau and the Pyrenees - which would be my choice.
I've got a week booked in a gite on the coast south of Bordeaux for some surfing. The week before, we'll drive down and camp somewhere. I suppose what I'm really after is some good trails or good scenery, somewhere between Calais and Bordeaux. Ideally nearer to Bordeaux than Calais where hopefully the weather will be a bit better.
Check out the Limousin. I've got family there and have done some fantastic MTB rides in the area. The Monts de Gueret have hundreds of km of marked track, much of it very wooded so similar to the North Downs with a few more rocks and hardly any people! there are the usual red, blue routes etc so there should be something for everyone including a couple of really fun DH tracks.
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here's a [url= http://www.whytebikes.com/wp-whyte/?p=2074 ]blog entry[/url] my sister has written.
Stratobiker off here lives near the Monts de Blond which also offer some fantastic XC rides.
The journey to Mimizan or wherever you're heading isn't bad either
I was looking into a France trip with the family. There are apparently several mountain bike marked trails in the Perigord-Limousin Park.
Here is a decent looking campsite on the edge of the park that looks good.
http://gorgesduchambon.fr/
The top part of the bike park at Ax les Thermes looked relatively okay last year. I reckon a good fast blast but nothing too scary. Can't say the same for the bottom part which looked a lot more technical (don't worry, you could just cablecar or ride down the road).
leggyblonde, what are the driving times like from the crossing to Limousin? Are there any lakes in the area?