Looking to head off for a weeks biking holiday at the end of November in Spain. Will be going on my own so looking for a guided week where there will be some craic at the evenings, ideally over dinner. Anyone got any recommendations? Seen the usual suspects but looking for some personal recommendations.

Thanks.

Ciclo montana, been 4 times, last at the end of September can’t fault it.

Bolt

Ciclo Montana +1

Went on this trip

Ciclo are great. We’re going with Biking Andalucia first week in Dec. Long way south so hoping for some winter sun.

Pure Mountains, never been myself but great review from two mates.

http://www.puremountains.com/

Hotel Mariposa in Sierra Espuna – see if Mick is free for guiding. Not armoured downhill but Steve Wade territory with great single tracks etc

Ciclo Montana +1

Ciclo Montana + 1

Ok this is probably not exactly what your after, but my mate lives in the Bajo Maestrazgo national park a mountains, he’s spent the last 8 years restoring his house (he’s a builder/joiner by trade) and is now looking to rent it to cyclist road or MTB. I’ve been out there numerous times and i’ve not found anywhere in Europe like it. It’s amazing!! Last time I was there was in May on the road bike, we rode all day and saw only three cars, the roads are smooth as. Mountain biking is endless with a few local clubs out regular and miles upon miles of un-tapped trails. The local villages have all you need, but are not tourist spots so are a bit behind the times! But that’s their charm. Coast is 20 mins by car. Here’s a link to his web page or just PM me if your interested or would like more info.
http://www.sunnyrentals.com/en/europe/spain/valencian-community/castell%C3%B3n/canet-lo-roig/p209830

Thanks for the info guys. Will check them out.

Anybody else got any personal experiences?

ciclo montana 🙂 I went with them a couple weeks ago and I was the only one who hadn’t been before (everyone else having been >4 times) <edit> forgot to say, it was pretty damn awesome, some proper good trails out there, the descent back to the house (back of disco and back of bar) kicks the arse out of all my local trails.

I’ve also been to switchbacks (twice) a few years ago, same area so very similar riding and sometimes the same tracks.

I may be getting old and soft nowadays but I preferred the more pampered/relaxed ciclo experience. it is a holiday after all 🙂

Did a few days riding with Pure Mountains a few years ago. Run my Tim and Jenny who moved out from the UK a few years ago. They have a nice setup in an old converted farm house up in the mountains. It’s a fairly small group (7 in ours I think) and you have breakfast and dinner together, there’s a fridge full of beer and a lounge to hang out in the evenings. Was nice and sociable (though I guess that does depend somewhat on the other guests!)

Rode some really nice trails. There can be a lot of fire road climbing though (sometimes with an option of a ride in the land rover if needed.) More xc trail oriented than steep downhill stuff.

I think they tend to tailor weeks based on the abilities of the groups, so would be worth getting in touch with them and seeing what’s on. I went on one of their “tricky trails” weeks. I’d be happy to go again 🙂

Myself and some mates went with Basque MTB in may this year and i’d recommend that. Doug was a top fella and fitted the rides with our skills pretty well. We rode a good variety of terrain and it was only a bit of bad luck with weather that messed some days up (though we still rode and enjoyed it). It depends on what kind of riding you want to do.

It’s not uplifted in the traditional chair lift sense, there are some trails where you use a van to gain some height but a lot of it is down to pedal power to earn your descents.

I will happily be booking another trip out there again in the next few years.

+another for Ciclo. Though the last time I rode Back of the Disco it had landslid into the valley & the drain covers were spraying sewerage all over the place.

Tourettes & Elephant’s tail. WTF?

My mates are off there shortly but I can’t go this year. 🙁

I have secured the time for next year though 😀

We’re off to switchbacks in the sierra nevada mountains next weekend , we did a days guiding with them last year and it was pretty good, so hoping for more of the same next weekend.

I think they move their base from the sierra nevada mountains over to malaga and turn their attention to downhill biking after next weekend for the rest of winter, so possibly no good for you in November, depends on what type of riding you want to do I guess.

Doug @ basquemtb – proper mint, bring an empty stomach! Bit too close to france but still awesome.

I give high praise to Mike at switchbacks for organising a fantastic week a few months back. Great riding with a guy who knows all the local trails and is also an awesome rider himself!
Had a great laugh in the evenings and loved every minute of the guided rides during the 4 days we rode.

Another +1 for Ciclo Montana.

Yup, highly recommend Doug at BasqueMTB! Great guy and amazing holiday, he really gets what you’re after and goes to great effort to make sure the riding / food / everything is what you want 🙂

I would book again in a flash…

Have a look at these guys:

http://www.hikeandbikeholidays.com/hike-bike-weeks

They’ve got 29er hardtails to ride on.

+1000 ciclomontana.

Not sure basquemtb is open is open at end of November, weather can be a bit crap then.

Hi guys, thanks a lot for the recommendations everyone, I really appreciate you taking the time to do it. We aren´t open on the Basque Coast at the end of November but we run our Backcountry Pyrenees weeks, basically fairly uplifted riding, (+2500m. -10-15km), through the Pyrenees mountains. That runs up until the middle of November, on a normal year. I say that because there´s been a very new addition to the BasqueMTB family and that means that this year I´m not running many BCPyrenees trips. I´ll be back as normal next April through to November.

+1 for Siera Espuna.

Been a few years since I’ve been out there, but have done a few times. Made our own way there, stayed at El Berro campsite and rode with Mick (and Mr Wade)

Sierra Espuna Pan by ir_bandito, on Flickr