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Chances are the weather has been
pretty crap!, and one or two
trails may still be closed due
to some sort of restrictions,
even now. So why not go biking
abroad with your mates?.
NOW WE ARE TALKING ...!
Pick just about any country, and
someone somewhere will be
running mountain bikes trips
there. All you have to do is
hand over your cash, turn up
with or without your bike a few
pairs of shorts and hit the
trails. |
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How to pack your bicycle
safely for airline travel
click-on the box |
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 Alicante:
If you
have a week to spare, try here,
flights are cheap, package deals are
affordable and plentiful, you can
eat and get drunk for about £10, and
it rarely rains. Out of season is
the best time to go for mountain
biking, as the temperatures are
bearable around the low 20s and
you'll enjoy long sunny days. It's
also the best time for cheap deals,
and there's usually plenty of them.
Anywhere in land and north of
Alicante is ideal for riding. There
are miles and miles of good dirt
tracks straight out of Benidorm
itself, and inland towards Tarbina
and Finestrat. Just get yourself
across the motorway and your on your
way.
Bicyclemania.co.uk trails for
On/Off
Road Cycling Around Benidorm
How to get there:
Try Thomson, Airtours or your local
T.A. flights to Alicante are about
£100. Or better still, take a cheap
late package deal to Benidorm about
£150 self - catering. It's not that
bad out of season.
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Almeria:
Another Spanish trail heaven. This
semi - desert region of southern
Spain has possibly Europe's sunniest
climate. It was the setting for many
westerns. Head north - east from the
airport and you'll reach the coastal
region around the resort town of
Mojacar, which makes a great base
for out of season trail riding. You
can ride straight out of the small
coastal town and into the
surrounding Sierras. The weather is
glorious, the trails plentiful, and
everything is close at hand. During
the winter months, this area is
fairly quiet and many of the tourist
facilities close down. Flights to
Almeria also become harder to find,
but Alicante is less than four
hour's drive away.
How to get there.
To Almeria or Alicante about
£120. Car hire for one week is about
£90. Head to Mojacar, many small sea
front hostels for about £15 p. p.
night.
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Australia:
For exotic riding through
rainforest on red earth trails, head
for Cairns. The riding can be
tricky-tight and twisty
single-track. Take off in either
direction up the coast from Cairns
and you'll find marked trails,
peppered with warnings about
dangerous plants and animals to be
avoided that adds extra frisson to
the biking.
Explore the base of Uluru [Ayers-rock]
in the heart of Australia's red
centre.
Or head on north to King's Canyon
where the 100-million year old Finke
river has cut gorges that beg to be
ridden fast and hard. It's one hell
of a wicked place to live with your
mountain bike.
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Austria:
If you like your creature comforts,
Chalet Levett is just outside St,
Anton in the Austrian Alps. There
are about 60 km of good marked
trails on your doorstep. Austria has
tons of great trail riding to keep
you happy all day along, with
fantastic mountain scenery around
every twist and turn.
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Barcelona:
For a short break Barcelona takes
some beating. It's amazingly cheap
and easy to get to for a start. The
weather is nice for most of the year
the winters are generally mild and
sunny, while summers are very hot
and dry. The city is also a major
centre for culture, if that's your
bag. There are plenty of great rides
to do within minutes of the city. To
the north are the wooded hills
around Mataro, where there's some
great riding. To the west there's
Montjuic, which has a whole load of
superb trails. Keep heading inland
towards Montserrat and things just
get better.
How to get there:
Try Easyjet, Debonair, B.A, or
Span-air flights for about £50 -
£120 return. Take the train from the
airport into town and check-in to a
small hostel or Formula 1 chain
hotel at about £10 - £15 per/room
per/night.
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Crete:
Go to Crete in the summer and you'll
be heading very cheaply to trail
paradise. The weather is almost
always warm and sunny, although it
does snow inland in the winter. The
bike riding is superb, stay on or
off road, there really isn't that
much difference. Fly to Iraklion,
from there head east wards to the
Dikti plains or south towards the
famous white gorge. Trail finding is
not that easy, most of the trails
end up in some old blokes olive
grove. That said it's still a great
place for long distance riding.
How to get there:
Get a cheap charter flight or go
self - catering from about £100 -
£200. Accommodation is basic
adequate and cheap. about £10
per/night see your local T.A. or
Teletex.
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 Cote-d-Azur:
Very chic, arguably the world's most
richest coastline, play ground for
the rich and famous it may be, but
you can do it on the cheap. Catch a
flight to Nice, then just head
inland - or stay in Nice if you
fancy it. Try to eat outside the
main resorts, it's better value.
Just head anywhere inland and you'll
find good trails, the biking is
typically Mediterranean, with loads
of pine forest dusty tracks that
tend to be dry all year. Try east
from Nice towards St, Tropez and
you'll find the rolling trails used
for the famous Roc d`Azur race. Turn
inland to Apt and there are masses
of trails. or head north to Capd`Ail
and test your metal on the finest
downhill in Europe.
How to get there:
Try Easyjet to Nice about £60 - £100
return, or check with your local
T.A., stay in a small budget hotel
chain from about £15 per room.
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Ethiopia:
Dramatic biking with more than 6,500
meters of descending is in store for
you if you head here. The remote
Bale Mountains of Ethiopia have
everything, dirt roads and gravel
pistes to test your mtb skills.
Explore remote villages, you could
be the first foreigner the children
have ever seen.
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France:
Morzine is the best place for summer
mountain biking. Most trips here
focus on down-hilling, but if you
want to explore more, try asking the
owners of the local chalet, they
know the area very well. In the
summer they run guided trips,
including some big epic rides into
Switzerland. There are more than 500
km of paths and single-tracks, more
than 20 lifts to take you and your
bike to the top, and 6 world class
downhill course to play on.
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France
& Pyrenees:
Normandy's Calvados country makes a
good long weekend for newer bikers.
On forest tracks, with challenging
descents and river crossings you'll
soon work up an big appetite, which
is just the thing to enjoy the
French food. The Cathar trail is a
ride for any level it's in the
foothills or the Pyrenees {it's
not that technical} The Luchon
Valley is renowned as one of the
worlds best areas for mountain
biking, with hundreds of miles of
first class trails.
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Greece:
How about
cycling through the land of ancient
legend, from the shores of the Med
to the mountains of Arcadia in the
Peloponnesian peninsula. This area
has non - technical routes following
forest roads and rocky tracks that
take in some of the best ancient
sites. Lefkas in the Lonian islands
has a reputation as one of Europe's
top mtb destinations, trails lead
inland through citrus groves towards
the mountains. How about a surf,
sail and cycle combo ?, you can do
them in several places.
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 Iceland:
Why not go and ride among the
geysers and icecaps in Iceland's
volcanic landscape. A good place to
start from is Reykjavik, you will
soon be among the stunning scenery,
well off the tourist trail. 80 per
cent is off-road and it can be
challenging due to the weather
changing all the time. Not for the
faint hearted.
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Majorca:
Only two hours form the U.K. the
Island has tons to offer you, road
riding or mountain biking it's all
here. Winter is the best time to go,
the weather is a hell of a lot
better than home. Some times it can
be chilly so be prepared. You can
ride down quiet country stone walled
roads, hit the many dirt tracks that
head of into the mountains or just
stick to tarmac. The North of the
Island is very good for riding, as
well as the West, in fact anywhere
in Majorca is good for biking. Out
of season is the best time, and
cheaper.
How to get there:
Fly from your local airport, lots of
airlines fly to Majorca, check with
you local T.A. or Teletex. There are
lots of package deals to be had and
cheap too. Self - catering is the
best bet, food and beer is cheap
too.
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