Hi all,
I’ve been asked to help with an exped this summer, mountain biking from the Atlantic coast, to the med coast, the entire length of the Pyrenees on the French side,(don’t forget the chamois cream!!).

The guy running the show has a route in mind, and I have ordered a load of maps to start a thorough map recce, I would be very keen to hear from anyone who has done a similar ride, and who has any recommendations ref routes etc.

Ideally, not overly technical singletrack – there are some less experienced riders in the group attending.

cheers
Mark

How long are you planning on doing that over, that’s a long way off road?

There’s a book in Spanish with a route on the Spanish side. If I remember what it’s called I’ll post it up. I haven’t done it and wouldn’t after the comments of my adventure race team mate who did. A lot of slog. I’m doing the roadie version the week after next though.

I did a similar route by foot! ,but maybe a little deeper into the mountains..? (GR10)

Heard rumour that mtbing is very controlled in the Pyrenees – something you may want to check up on? Certainly hardly saw any while I was out there.

Amazing mountains though 🙂

Should just man up and do the Haute Route.

Should just man up and do the Haute Route.

You can mountain bike the Haute Route?
SweetMotherOfJesus!! Tell me more!

Well, if you’ve got da skillz maybe 🙂

The HRP is one if those things on my long term agenda, can’t imagine trying to bike it successfully though.

I’d imagine some sections to be pretty damned epic. Some spandex wearing Spanish geezer holds the record http://youtu.be/05jh4hEl3rY ! I think.

With global warming you might not even need crampons anymore. There was only a couple of ropes bits anyway, probably a doodle.

Thanks for the input, we have 12 days in which to cover the distance, and yes, I can foresee a lot of slog !!

If at all possible I’ll avoid the rope and crampon scenario…..

I don’t think I’d want to do the HRP on a bike. There’s a few fairly worrying sections just on foot. Amazing walking.

Do a search on wikiloc for “Transpyr” you have the map and GPS route for the Spanish side.