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MTBing Holiday Ideas
Right all need some ideas for holidays, I dont want to head back to the UK this year, so basically looking at maybe going riding for a week or 2 somewhere on holiday.
So basically I figure I could go to a couple of places for riding at some point this year, I dont have any set dates in mind so am fairly flexible about when I go away. I have ridden in the Alps before and enjoyed the hook the bike on a chairlift and then descend for 20 mins kind of thing which was great fun, wouldnt mind doing something like that or maybe something with a combination of that and your normal climbing to the top with some great singletrack etc.
I will probably be going on my own so maybe doing something guided could be a option.
Realistic options:
NZ
Japan
Tasmania (not uplift heaven but good riding I hear)
Further alternatives:
French Alps
Canada
States
Air NZ have some good flight prices at the moment, as do V Australia as well so yeah I am fairly open to suggestions. Has anyone been with any companies to these places at all, or can they recommend something?
Thanks
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you could do mundabiddi:
http://www.mundabiddi.org.au/
Who's up for a 1000K ride? that's just like 100 laps of the dam..
or sections of this one:
http://www.nationaltrail.com.au/index.html
or something more $upported like:
http://www.alltrails.com.au/tours/10_Cairns_to_C...
http://www.escapeadventures.com/schedule/index.h...
or just something that's plain stupid:
http://www.desertchallenge.org/
you gotta love this sport, it caters for all types of people; from the slightly insane to the completely insane
Would be Whistler. Delicious and crew would agree.
It is my current dram destination with rotorua a close second. Though I am going to Rotorua for the SS worlds this year.
check this for what looks to be buckets of fun.
http://youtu.be/v3nkzjACUG4
Look into South Africa, Lesotho & Swaziland.
If you can only manage Cape Town , there is a mass of good single track there plus around the Stellenbosch wine region. Utterly stunning countryside as well.
Just beware of colling off in the local seaside!
http://www.smh.com.au/world/giant-shark-killed-m...
I would have to buy or rent a new bike as well, which wouldnt be a bad thing either. New Specialized Enduro on something similar would be wicked bike for Whistler I reckon
I have been given the all clear my the partner so thats all good.
That clip is from the latest NWD10.
Seasons....
That segment is pure class.
While Whistler looks tops, the flight will be a bit 'spensive. Pop over to NZ, especially given what Greg said here: http://nobmob.com/node/12385
Actually, I just visited Air NZ and they have this available: out Sat 20 Mar, return Sat 27 Mar, $362 inc taxes (taxes are $108 of that!). Anyone tempted?
Having ridden Redwood (Whakarewarewa Forest) just a month ago, I can highly recommend it!
If (by some very strange reason) you happen to get bored with the park, you could always hire a car and head to some other locations nearby.
dam been watching Seasons and NWD recently, both are excellent.
Flight prices to Seattle are about $1800 rtn I think atm. NZ would be cheaper for sure.
Hmmm choices.
NZ and you get a new shiny bike!!!!!
all for the cost of a holiday in the nth hemi...
Yeah this is true, save Whistler for another year maybe.
Guessing it will still be warmish around March time for example?
Article here:
http://nobmob.com/node/37
If I was planning your MTB holiday for you, Whistler is without doubt my no.1 destination of choice. Anything else is planned second. I can't consider myself a MTB rider until I have been there.
Hey - I went to St.Moritz in Switzerland 16months ago.
It was amazing. It has both the Ski-lift DH type riding, and also miles and miles of XC loops.
There is a superb bike shop there, and it is the venue for MTB holidays run by Thomas Frischknecht - he is one of the greatest MTB riders that have ever lived.
Unfortunately, his tours / holidays are only conducted in Swiss German, so you'd struggle with that, but the trails are very well marked, and the riding is awesome.
http://www.frischibikeschool.ch/
Italy is 30mins away over the border.
Flight to Zurich, hire a car, 1.5hr drive into the mountains.
Its worth adding to the list of great future holidays.
I lived in Scotland for 2008. Great riding if you like MUD.
The club went to Verbier in Switzerland. They did a bit of lift stuff in the Verbier bowl as intro, incl in this was the DH track. The week really was about getting up in a bus and down on some wild and wicked xc trails that are at the end of the spectrum. Super tech, loads of fun and heaps of great food. Run by UK couple who know just so much about the area in terms of awesome trails. Never mind 20min, try 20km (or more of descending). Got to give BIKEVERBIER a look for sure.
http://www.bikeverbier.com/index_bv.php
ps Switzerland has over 39000miles of walking tracks that can be used as xc trails. Most of them start or finish on top of a great big hill or mountain. Good times indeed.
Also try something in Spain. A UK friend runs a tour company in the Basque region. Good times as well. http://www.basquemtb.com/
Cheers
Andy
There have been a couple of write ups in some mags about this area. Sounds great!
http://www.gravitybolivia.com/index.php?mod=homeb
http://www.mountainbikingholidays.net/south_amer...
i like BT thinking: myself and 2 buddies have decided to mtb in south america this year on the following criteria:
1. we wanted to mtb somewhere that was not much more than within a direct flight from sydney (buenos aires is a 13 hr direct flight from sydney)
2. we wanted to have somewhere that would be multiday (no more than 7 days) and be going from point a to point b (rather than doing a trip which has you based in a single location doing different day trips)
As a result we have decided to do a trans Andes trip from Argentina to Chile as per attached link: http://www.mtbtours.com/ingles/index2.htm
(see Andes cross trip but also see other SA trips). 6/7 days, fully supported, start not much more than an hour from buenos aires and we can claim we crossed the Andes by bike!!!! Will be doing in November as unpassable between april and October). or you could do trans andes mtb race next january per this:
http://www.transandeschallenge.com/2010/about-ra...
i had a week in argentina last year (not mtb) and the people, scenery etc blew me away so looking fwd to it.
Whistler. I cannot make it clear enough how incredibly awesome this place is. It makes you a better rider in so many ways. Faster, smoother, braver. I'd live there if I could. It's not all about dh either. There's heaps of ( tough ) xc too. Plus it's a proper town with heaps of other stuff to do and not as dear as one may think.
It's a truly beautiful, picturesque environment. If one is attached, take the attachment and get all romantic. If one is single, there's loads of girls to meet to then get all, er, romantic...
having done the gravity MTB ride in Bolivia (its basically just a fire trail that happens to have a very steep drop off) when i spent 3 months in Sth America, it certainly is a great destination and i would go back there tomorrow but you need to give it time as it is such a large continent and not one you want to go to and spread yourself thin (like people do when they come to Australia) - flights are expensive, living is cheap and the culture is amazing (best steak and malbec in the world is in Argentina, my opinion)
) for a few days before heading off through the rockies and back down into the US heading for Calif but stopped into Utah on the way to pick up a new Santa Cruz Blur LTC (thanks to Downieville)
My boyfriend and I did a road trip last year in the US/Canada - we hired a SUV in LA and hit the road up the coast and stopped into nearly every bike shop along the way. Although we knew we were heading to Whistler and had some ideas of places we wanted to ride we kind of just took the advice of the guys in the bike shops. So in Santa Cruz a few of the guys told us about Downieville in the Sierras CA, so we headed there and hired bikes and got to test out the latest Santa Cruz and Ibis bikes on a shuttle assisted run that took us to 7000 feet and then we road all the way back to town which was a 24km run down!
Major destination was Whistler which we got to enjoy both DH and XC riding - you could spend a month here and not get bored, which many Aussies we met were doing just that! We caught up with this Aussie who calls himself Delicous (
I would thoroughly recommend a road trip up the West Coast of the US into Canada, not only can you ride along the way but if you do take your female companion and she is not into riding she will certainly be kept occupied by other adventure activities, retail options or just chilling out.
Or a road trip down the NSW Sth Coast and through Victoria and back through the Snowy Mtns, Canberra - keep it local.
Just tonight Paul and I started to plan our next trip and we are off to US/Canada again mid year. Delicious are you up for it again????
donal, I am from Argentina, BS AS more precicely, and not much MTB in BS AS. Actually, the closest hills from there are 600 km, and the Andes is like 1000 km from Bs As airport. So I don't think you can go with just one direct flight from here and start the ride...
and there are really nice places to go and not many problems of riding in NP as they are not much managed after all.
As an aside MTB in Argentina is not popular, it must be because the prices of a good bike in local pesos, and it is dangerours too. Not because the riding but of the stealing... I know many stories of stolen bikes there...
Anyway, the people are fantastic, hey I am from there!!
If any one heading down there and need some info, ask me, I am happy to help.
Cheers
Your right Fer re lack of mtb close to BA. Our tour will be over and through the Andes Range, over a little-used mountain pass (the Vergara Pass, at 2460 meters above sea level - 8070 feet). The tour begins in Malargue, a small city in the province of Mendoza, Argentina, bordering with the Northern edge of Patagonia. After 6 days of cycling, we'll arrive in Curico, Chile. The challenging climbing is rewarded by long downhill rides once we enter Chile. According to the tour blurb " we will camp under incredibly huge skies, involved in a magical setting of jagged peaks, snow-capped mountains and desolate desert landscapes." ...sounds good. However, if you have any insights as to other muti day tours per attached website, i would love to hear as we have not booked yet although planning to confirm in next few weeks. Cheers See link: http://www.mtbtours.com/ingles/travesias.htm
From what i read on their site, the photos they show and the type of routes, I gather that most of the trips offered are on gravel roads. They usually are like the fire trails around sydney but well maintained. They are supposed to be used by normal cars not 4wd.
I know the area where the Tour you mention starts. It is a dry area, not much rain, and the views accross the andes are magnificent, but then most of the views from high mountain chains are stunning views!!!
I can't tell you to choose this tour over that since I have not been to some areas they refer to.
I love Bariloche and its surrounding and there are lots of places to ride there, however the tour they offer for that area is not one I would choose.
The one I have done by car is the one they call "Over the Clouds, on the southern Inca trail" or "From the salt mines to the jungle", that is a fantastic area with some spots of arequeological background and the 'salinas' are a thing to see to beleive, I loved that place also.
Hi Andy;
For something completely different....
Consider MTB holidays in the foot hills of the Himalaya range...starting from Kathmandu or Pokhara, Nepal.
Pros:
+ amazing trails and stunning scenery
+ friendly locals, great hospitality
+ cheap accomodation + quality bike + great food + guide hire
+ great cultural experience; and providing income to the locals
+ quality DS bike rentals available (e.g. new Commencal Meta 5.5 DS, $ 40/day)
+ multi day trips are possible, with safe local food and accomodation everywhere...(and hot mineral water baths!)
+ or you can go by small plane to a 5000 m pass ($ 80), and it's all downhill for the next 3 days back to Pokhara Lake....
Cons:
- yes, there are some climbs
- if you (seriously) stack, it's a long way to hospital.
(compared to the "bone yard" at Whistler, where a mini-medical industry has sprung up, fixing broken bones of over-zealous riders...)
Check this video for a flavour of MTB'ing in Nepal
http://youtu.be/rPuQPyqjFYs
more Nepal MTB info + pics: (contact me for details - I know a great local guide)
http://nobmob.com/node/4543
P.S. Flights are available via BKK for approx. $ 1400.
Rgds, Hans