The collective...
Through work, I need to find an awesome place to ride road and gravel bikes in September that will be as close to deep winter as possible. It needs to be in Europe and any personal experience is welcome.
I know that even the Peaks can look bleak in september, but I'm willing to travel to test out some gear!
ta
B
Somewhere with high mountains I'd guess...
Northern Scandinavia or high mountain areas of Europe
The Hohe Tauern national park in Austria might fit the bill, it has some of the highest roads in Europe and lots of gravel too
The Cleethorpes branch of Icelands.
When you say deep winter do you mean lots of snow and temperatures well below zero or do you mean an English winter of rain, mud and winds?
Pretty deep winter ideally...
Somewhere in Iceland or Norway?
Winter is always coming here 😉
For snow and ice I'd suggest you need to be very far north, edge of the arctic circle type area.
For a more British winter (wind, rain, cold but not mega-cold) then head to the high alps. You may get some snow too but like in the UK, it's not guaranteed.
Finland FTW...
If it's anything like last year, about 10 miles north of Leeds on one of my few days off at home.
Retreating winter may work better...
NZ or Tierra del Diego then....
September will be difficult as it tends to be quite stable weather in most years although 2017 was crap in most of western and central Europe.
Hence "Go north or go high"
Iceland.
You'll need to go into high mountains if you want snow, probably a bit too early even for the arctic circle as it doesn't start freezing until October / November - average temperatures in are 5-10C. Iceland will just be very wet
Manchester?
Thurso?
Hobart
Surely the normal mountain areas won't be snowy by Sept. I'd be looking to the far north. Go north AND go high in fact.
Iceland will just be very wet
And windy.