This summer, after a few days at Lake Garda we’ve got about 3 weeks to spend in the above.

I like big technical days out in the big hills and the good lady likes easy mountain biking and big road bike days.

Any recommendations for where we can do both?

Cheers.

If you want lift assisted then Leogang/Saalbach/Hinterglemm is a good start. You could do the Big 5 challenge, play on the freeride courses and do some big rides in the area.
See plenty of roadies around too doing the road from Bischofschofen to Saalfelden and also near the Gross Glockner.

I know a very nice apartment for rent in the area with free use of a Bones bike rack and tools. 8)

Apartment Amade

La thurible is well worth a look if you like single track forest downhills

can def recommend torbole for a few days of that, plenty of easier mtb, roadrides and you can get the mrs to uplift you to the skull and other tech/DH for a run or two back into town in the evenings

Personally, I’d recommend you spend more than a few days in Garda before you move on.
You’ll need to do a full week at least to do it justice, based on typically two uplifts per day.

Moving North, there is a freeride trail at Kronplatz (Bruneck) that sounds like it’s worth a visit according to this PinkBike article
I’ve skied that area many many times but never been up there on a bike. Very steep terrain and super-fast gondola up, so should be ideal.

I know a very nice apartment for rent in the area with free use of a Bones bike rack and tools.

Apartment Amade

Your link isn’t working but I’m guessing it’s this one? http://www.apartmentamade.com

What’s the STW discount like on that apartment? 😀

That’s the one, I’m sure a good discount could be arranged!

You could do worse than head to Vinschgau in South Tirrol. This vid was made by a friend of mine and he really rates the area.[video]http://vimeo.com/28788083[/video]

as Roter Stern says….. Vinschgau. not only does it have super weather thanks to its own mini micro climate, but it has miles after miles of trails.

i was in Vinschgau last weekend and although it wasn’t super sunny it wasn’t raining like the rest of the northern alps area.

in fact i rode that very trail that RS has posted. nice easy 500m climb at a ~7° gradient and there is a beer keller at the end! brill!

i used to frequent Lake Garda (Riva/Torbole area) almost every week for the last few summers. visually it is very nice, but the riding there is a little too samey, and by samey i mean rocky. the general trend is very rocky which is fine if you’ve got a big bike, but it does get a little tiresome after a week. there is some good stuff on the west side above and around Pregesina.
for a beginner i certainly wouldn’t recommend the Lake. there doesn’t seem to be much seperating the easy fire roads and the tight, rocky, lose trails. the road riding is nice, mind, but be careful where you ride as traffic on and around the lake can get silly busy.

Saalbach is also quite a trek from the Lake and although the riding is good it gets very busy with lots of park rats and stormtroopers. my GF found it a little intimidating at first but soon found it quite amusing that she was passing lads on their 180mm big bikes with her ickle Boardman FS. the trails can get clogged and after a week or so feel a little samey/motorway-like.

Vinschgau on the other hand has such a massive variety of trails that you will not get bored. mate with me last week was blown away by the amount of riding there. every thing from slow and techy to fast, flowy ear-to-ear grin inducing stuff to fast-tech-fast-tech.
the GF has been there twice and always finds something to ride (Roter Sterns vid, for example, or #5 trail, the Bierkeller Trail, Montani trail).

then of course there is Stilfser Joch for a big day out road ride:

there is also Madrijscthjoch and a few other big road climbs that go over the border into Switzerland and then come back down into Vinschgau.

the valley itself is long, about 80km from Meran to Reschen Lake/Pass. if you have two weeks there base yourself around Latsch/Naturns for a week and then head up the valley to Mals/Glurns to make the most of the riding there.

lots of the trails are marked out. although they are not specifically bike trails the locals are very accepting of bikes so long as you don’t act like a dick, which is fair enough. just take heed of the “not for bike” signs. although the trails may not be very hard they are probably heavily frequented by walkers and it helps to avoid any conflict.

not sure if this link works to facebook but here are a few pics from last weekend:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=313259678807529&set=a.313259645474199.1073741824.100003704998795&type=1&theater

Good stuff.

Cheers

do it… if you want some maps of the area (and the Garda for that matter) give me an email… i can scan them for you…

I would recommend spending a day or two at Seiseralm – one of my favourite trips in that area. We caught the cable car up with our bikes, cycled towards Plattkofelhütte (hid the bikes in the trees when pushing got to steep), hiked up to the summit of Plattkofel, spent the night in Plattkofelhütte then had a great ride all the way down the next day.

Alpin, great post, thanks for the info, Vinschgau looks amazing, definitely worth a trip down there in summer.

I’d def agree with Alpin on Lake Garda, I got fed up with it after a week, as many routes are the same style and terrain. However, it’s a great location for a few days riding certain trails, Pregesina, Arco area for easier XC. The Skull, Serpent, 601 etc for tougher stuff (hence me recommending it for a few days stop off as that’s were you’re starting out).

going to garda on sat morning ..whoo hoo

any fav trails around the vehicular
nice n easy as her in doors is going also