[Closed] Where to go in France or Spain for more XC orientated trails?

Hi Pryenees, luchon or prades great areas. Corbiers/Durban looks worth expolring
vosages some stunning riding Kayersburg was good for us/jura similiar but we toured more
Dordogne good...Sarlat area...

Alps does have xc /trail stuff but I just do not like the vibe. Much better in the pryennes but do not tell everyone

[url= http://www.aquickrelease.com ]A Quick Release[/url] are based in Luchon (Pyrenees, fly to Toulouse) and run excellent guided riding with as much climbing as you want (there's the option of one ski lift), it's all great flowing XC just with bigger climbs and descents!

[url= http://www.freeridespain.com ]FreeRide Spain[/url] are based out of Lanjaron in the Alpujarras hills (fly to either Malaga or Granada) and in spite of the name they're predominantly XC although they'll often use the minibus to take you out to the start of a ride and gain a bit of height. Simon, the guide, is a former Elite XC racer!

[url= http://www.bikevillage.co.uk ]BikeVillage[/url] in Les Arcs is worth a look too for more excellent XC-orientated singletrack riding, it's a quieter corner of France the Morzine/Les Gets. There's a funicular railway and a few ski lifts as well but a lot of the riding is done from the front door - some amazing singletrack there!

As an aside, the guides at all the above places mostly use HT's, in fact Sam at BikeVillage used to guide on a spindly Ti HT with SID forks and V brakes on it. And he'd still outride all the guests on their 5" travel full sus! Just to prove that your 4" full sus will cope fine...

That all sounds good. Anyone else done any XC orientated trips around France or Spain?

Tick
I can't handle most of the stuff those companies deliver, I suffer from a bit of vertigo so the sort of ride where the choice is either get the line right or go home in a body bag doesn't suit me.
However I love to ride all day on fast flowing xc stuff.
You could book a room with a bike friendly B&B and do your own thing.
A holiday that looked right up my street was in Austria, and ran by someone who went under the name of Dizinaustria I think. ICR the companies name right now.

ive been with Ride Sierra Nevada a couple of times, and my mates between them have been more. Great riding. None of us are into gnarr, we like a mix of big days, flowy singletrack and nice technical descents. None of us wear pads and we like the climbing too. In the alsp anywhere that dosnt have a prominent uplift running through the summer has been good, there are plenty to choose from. I always fel outgunned on the uplift rides - the descents are for bikes you cant get uphill on without a lot of misery

We did a week in Chamonix where the riding was ace.

DizinAustria's company is [url= http://overtheedgebiking.com/ ]Over the Edge biking[/url]

You could come and see us: [url= http://www.whiteroomchalet.com ]The White Room[/url]

We're based in Sainte Foy (near Les Arcs). Our riding is definitely aimed at flowy, technical singletrack, not downhill courses. I ride a Heckler, but a 4-inch bike will cope just fine (had guests last week on Giant Anthems). We use our van + trailer to hit some of the more remote trails and ride the chairlifts when they're open too - we aim to keep the climbing to a minimum and spend more time riding singletrack.

Couple of photos from last week:

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Can you define me XC please. As for me it involves riding around a muddy field.
If your conception of XC if different more like moutain bike riding or "going hill walking with a bike" I am sure I'll be able to help then.

I also run an MTB holiday company

XC here in the maritime alps is what i would call All Mountain. As you ride up and down mountains and not rolling hills as in the UK.
People get a shock when tey see how big the mountains are, and climbing up them for a week is ehausting.

That is why skit lift and bus shuttle are used a lot to ease the 2-3 hr climbs.

*/mode willy waving/*
Only 2 or 3 hours climb hills from your side of the roya are smaller than hills in our side of the roya 😉
How are things doing for you anyway 😉

Hi Juan

Well i have just rode up from Molini to Cime Marta so thats 450m to 2135.......not bad really.....took me 5 hrs tho!!!

Things are really well and i have just rodered a lapierre Froggy.

A few guys over from Nice are coming back here, now they found out were doing uplifts.

A handul of them knew you...

ciao Juan

Well just spent 5 hrs climbing up to Cime Marta with Peo.... still lots of snow on your end.

Things are cool, a lot of guys from nice are coming over now, a couple of them know you...forgotten their names though!!

Eh what happened there....

thought i lost the first post.......

hijack over....

I ride around where my folks live in South east spain in an area called Zurgena, around a 2hr drive south of Alicante, 1hr north Almeria and half hour inland.

Great place for XC riding, as it is mainly desert you can ride on any hilltop and ridge as there is little vegitation. A light 120mm FS or any hardtail is perfect - I bought a cheap Gary Fisher HT and it is fine. There is virtually no MTBing (probably due to how hot it is!) so you can ride anywhere and have the paths to yourself. I have found some great XC trails and a few great flowing downhills that are not too extreme and you can just let go. There is also a bit of scope for some tougher lines with a bit of hikey bikey.

It is a brilliant and yet undiscovered place to ride. Nearest 'resort' is Mojacar and Murcia is about an hour north. You can also get to the seirra nevada in less than 3hrs.

Can you define me XC please. As for me it involves riding around a muddy field.
If your conception of XC if different more like moutain bike riding or "going hill walking with a bike" I am sure I'll be able to help then.

What is XC is just such a good question

I would never have thought riding round a field. I suppose that 1990's XC racing.

To me is XC is woody single track, rides in the peaks, lakes Yorkshire. Things like Malham to Settle. The Howgills ride in the current mag. Lougrigg terrace above Grasmere

Or am I wrong?

"I'm looking for stunning XC trails and don't mind them having man made features. A fairly decent town with a few good bars and restaurants wouldn't go amiss either!"

That sounds like us especially if you are after some Winter biking. Great singletrack rides during the day & lively night life on the coast at night.
Check us out on [url] http://www.sierracycling.com [/url].

I always recommend the Limousin/Creuse for great XC riding. Hills go up to about 800m and there are a plethora of trails and FFC sanctioned circuits. French national cup XC and DH races have been held by the town of Gueret so its a good place to base a holiday from.

Hi,

Sounds like you should check out www.basquemtb.com/. We were there last month, it's got the lot. Great trails, food, drink, a beach (you can surf too). If you want some shopping or culture, there's plenty of towns and cities within easy reach. Uplift is included to give you 500m of extra descending every ride, but I'm sure if you prefer the climbs that can be omitted 😉

We rode 6 days out of 7 and at the end of every day claimed that was the best trail yet! The trails are all natuaral but you'll swear that the trails were made for your bike.

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Although [url= http://www.endlessride.com ]endlessride[/url] are based at the bottom of the downhill course we are not "downhillers", none of us are. The lift is useful but I didn't go down the downhill course once last year and it finishes 200m from the chalet!