Europe (all)

[It's a] beautiful one day ride from Bjelasnica Olympics ski center to exotic village Lukomir. There is highest village in this part of Europe (about 1500m up sea level). Those village is located on edge of second deepest (more of 1200m) canyon in Europe- river Rakitnica canyon. Perfect place for real adventure biking, fishing, hiking, rafting...

I took a long holiday to explore bits of Britain by bike. Since I like off-road cycling at least as much as on-road, I used my old Trek hardtail. I put skinny slicks on it to cover ground quickly by road, and put knobblies on it for off-road use. [...] My first destination was Wales. I left from home on July 9th, heading towards Cardiff, stopping by the Forest of Dean on the way. I stayed at the Neuadd Arms Hotel for a week, and I participated in the Mountain Bike Bog Snorkelling Championships. From there I headed north on the Lon Las Cymru (Welsh National Cycle Route and Sustrans Route 8).

We flew from Stockholm to Geneva. Then we biked along the southern shore of Lac Leman, crossed Pass des Morgines, headed up the Rhone valley, and made a side trip to Zermatt. Then, we continued to Brigg, Davos, St Moritz, Livigno, Canazei, and Cortina. From Cortina we headed south to Lago di Garda. Reaching the Plains of Po approaching Milan we spontaneously decided to take a train to San Reno, and continue from there to Monaco, Nice and up through the mountains to Chamonix, ultimately heading back to Geneva for our return flight to Sweden. There are plenty of excellent reports on cycling along these roads [...] and we feel we have little to contribute. Instead these pages are focused on the possibilities of single track riding.

Includes trail descriptions in Switzerland, Italy and France.

We flew from Stockholm to Geneva. Then we biked along the southern shore of Lac Leman, crossed Pass des Morgines, headed up the Rhone valley, and made a side trip to Zermatt. Then, we continued to Brigg, Davos, St Moritz, Livigno, Canazei, and Cortina. From Cortina we headed south to Lago di Garda. Reaching the Plains of Po approaching Milan we spontaneously decided to take a train to San Reno, and continue from there to Monaco, Nice and up through the mountains to Chamonix, ultimately heading back to Geneva for our return flight to Sweden. There are plenty of excellent reports on cycling along these roads [...] and we feel we have little to contribute. Instead these pages are focused on the possibilities of single track riding.

We flew from Stockholm to Geneva. Then we biked along the southern shore of Lac Leman, crossed Pass des Morgines, headed up the Rhone valley, and made a side trip to Zermatt. Then, we continued to Brigg, Davos, St Moritz, Livigno, Canazei, and Cortina. From Cortina we headed south to Lago di Garda. Reaching the Plains of Po approaching Milan we spontaneously decided to take a train to San Reno, and continue from there to Monaco, Nice and up through the mountains to Chamonix, ultimately heading back to Geneva for our return flight to Sweden. There are plenty of excellent reports on cycling along these roads [...] and we feel we have little to contribute. Instead these pages are focused on the possibilities of single track riding.

From Carsten's Cycling Web, the Web site of Carsten Gregersen.
We are four friends spending our summer holidays going mountain biking in the Pyrenees. It is cycling territory at it's best with peaceful small roads and pleasant villages. The climbs are long and steep, but the fabulous mountain scenery makes it worth the effort. A few times we stay at the campsites for a couple of days and go off-road in the mountains. One day we also have a participant in a mountain bike race at Superbagnères.

``Si e' pesanti sotto il sole 5 giorni con Bagni e Sole (Sempre) - 515Km''. The site has reports of several mountain bike tours, in Italy, Slovenia, Corse and Turkey, by him and others. In (a very idiomatic) Italian, and text-only, but very worth looking at.

I live in the middle of the largest flat area of Italy [...] every time I want to do a nice ride I have to go by car at least as far as the nearest Prealps mountains. So, having planned a mountain bike trip for a Sunday of late autumn, I left from my flat city that day, even if the weather was not so good. [...] I arrived at my planned bike starting point (Rotzo village, on Altopiano di Asiago, Veneto region) while the sky was releasing a nice amount of rain. [...] I took a downhill road, the speed increased along with the humidity of my clothes; soon my hands (protected by not so good cycling winter gloves) became colder and colder and so my feet. [...] The downhill road is very long and I went down fast enough to lose the sensitiveness of my hands and feet. Even my limbs, after a while, became hard to move! [In the end] my fleece sweater was quite wet and so my polypropylene jersey but my body was still warm! Of course it took a bit of time to recover the complete functionality of my legs and arms, hands and feet but I was helped by a good fireplace and a big hot wine glass!

La Val Casies una stupenda valle laterale dell'Alta Pusteria, lontana dal turismo di massa anche nei periodi di punta [...] agli amanti della bicicletta, ed in particolare della MTB, [...] offre opportunità veramente uniche di stupendi itinerari tra il verde delle malghe ed il silenzio dei boschi. Tra questi itinerari abbiamo scelto un classico, la ``Via Romana'', che si presta, per le due varianti che descriveremo in seguito, sia a biker mediamente allenati, che ad esperti amanti del single-track tra radici di abete ``spaccapolsi''.

A report and pictures from [a] MTB trip in [the] not very often visited interior area of Iceland. There are some remarks to Faroe Islands there, too.

I'm pretty sure that no matter where you live, there is one trail among your home ones that is generally considered as the trail, a classic of the genre.

For Trento, the place where I live, the choice of most local bikers would fall on the Santa Colomba trail. Easily doable starting from the town, not really difficult but with some challenging sections, it offers a small selection of the standard ingredients of an off-road ride. Mind you, it is not a spectacular trail, such as the ones you can find higher up in the Dolomites. But it's an excellent choice for a half-day ride, which means that on Sunday afternoons you have to line up to ride it!

This is a tour over the spectacular Passo San Giacomo, between Italy and Switzerland.

The site has reports of several mountain bike tours, in Italy, Slovenia, Corse and Turkey, by him and others. In (a very idiomatic) Italian, and text-only, but very worth looking at.

The ``mountain of Trento'' offers some challenging trails for local bikers. Have a look at what's in store.

I introduce in a brief way some itineraries cycled by the author in Spain (Pyrenees, Road to Santiago, The Silver Route, The North Route, Andalusia, but also in Greece, Croatia and Slovenia), with pictures of them, trying to show the beauty of this different and relaxed way of traveling.

This trip has actually started in ... a bookstore. The choice of Polish cycling - related literature is very poor, therefore about a year ago I was very happy to see [a book with trail descriptions in the Western Beskidy]. After reading some trails descriptions, backed by well - prepared maps, the idea was ready [...] Beskidy is the name for a few ranges of low - elevation mountains (or one can say - hills), generally covered by woods, located in southern Poland next to much better known Tatras and the borders with Czech and Slovakian Republics.

The story of a cycling trip around England's Lake District: Bowness-on-Windermere, Patterdale, Bassenthwaite, Buttermere, Boot, Whitehaven, Boot to the coast and back Boot to Bowness-on-Windermere.

A mountain bike ride from Mittenwald to Bolzano/Bozen in five days.

Monte Conero is an impressive mountain with an elevation of 572 meters jutting into the Adriatic Sea just south of the port of Ancona. [...] [It] is a fovorite spot for local mountain bikers and can be explored by numerous trails.

[...] ho cercato di mettere insieme alcune delle mie esperienze per preparare un percorso che permetta di vedere quelli che sono a mio modo di vedere alcuni dei posti piu belli della costa veronese del lago di Garda

A nice little valley in Südtirol.

I stop to open a gate, a recurring event here, and start the final climb to the top. Some short walls, with rather uneven road-bed, force me to dab now and then, but soon I'm on top, at about 2200m, after a 1000m gain. The view of the Dolomites, unimpeded in all directions, is really magnificent. I skip the pleasure of Südtiroler cuisine at the hut, and begin the descent. It will be a 2000m drop from here to Bolzano/Bozen.

Il percorso ``Giravila'' si snoda attorno al piccolo centro abitato [di Villareggia] ed alle sue frazioni e case sparse, attraversando anche parte del territorio della vicina Moncrivello. Chi lo affrontera potra rilevarne il cospicuo interesse paesaggistico-naturalistico e storico-locale.

From Carsten's Cycling Web, the Web site of Carsten Gregersen. This trip is dedicated off-road cycling. We go by car to the Alps and stay at different campsites and arrange one-day rides without pack. In the peaceful Vanoise national park we are at the home ground of the marmot. The western Susa valley offers some very relentless climbs on old military roads and an unforgettable tour along the Asietta ridge. We end the trip in Grindelwald at the feet of Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau - three magnificent, Swiss giants.

Noch auf den Spuren von Bayernkonig Max II. Mountainbiken im Alleingang. [...] Mein heutiges Ziel soll das Brunnsteinhaus sein. Dazu muB ich uber den Elendsattel. Ich fahre allerdings nicht uber das Forsthaus Valepp an, sondern bewege mich durch den wundervollen Pfanngraben, die platschernden Wasserlaufe sind ein Augenweite. Ich lasse mich von diesem Schauspiel inspirieren, bis ich an dem Fahrweg uber den Elendsattel munde. Obwohl ich dieses Terrain schon mehrfach durchfahren habe, bin ich von den Felswanden, die sich links, bald rechts aufbauen, immernoch genauso fasziniert, wie vom funkelndem Wasser des Elendgrabens im Sonnenlicht.

Auf den Spuren von Bayernkonig Max II. Mountainbiken im Alleingang. [...] Ich fahre aus Bregenz heraus und erklimme auf sehr steilem, aber wunderbar angelegtem, Schotterpfad die ersten 500Hm. Dort oben zeigt sich der Bodensee in seiner ganzen Pracht.

What do you do if you have just two or three hours free for a ride? Well, if you live in Trento, your favourite choice is probably the small range of Marzola, which reaches 1738m (5702ft).

One of my favourite training rides. A fast downhill section becomes steeper and trickier when I meet deep, stone-ridden sand. It's worthwhile to slow down, or stop altogether, to take a look at the simple but really nice landscape around here, that will be missed at speed. Vineyards with the colors of autumn, little streams, small valleys that let you feel you are away from the world. And the town is just over there, behind a rocky hill.

At 1872m I find ice on the road, no problem though in negotiating it. I then get to the alpine pass Passo degli Oclini/Jochgrimm, at 1989m. It's full of hikers up here, and with good reason. The view on the twin peaks of Corno Bianco [White Horn] and Corno Nero/Schwarzhorn (Black Horn) is great, and looking to the South you think you could touch Latemar and Catinaccio[/Rosengarten].

A general introduction to this prime area for mountain biking. (This was the first report ever to be posted on the Trento Bike Pages.)

One of my favourite trails, with a great singletrack section. The single track is really beautiful. It goes through a very varied terrain, slightly desolate at the start, then surrounded by sparse trees. A particularly nice spot occurs when crossing a creek near to a ``malga'', a wooden Alpine hut. At a couple of rough spots I prefer to walk for a few meters, so I have a chance for looking at the scenery. On such technical tracks I should really remember to stop every now and then anyway, to avoid the risk of looking only at the trail in front of me in search of the best path, and missing the scenery entirely.

Inspired by the epic Alpine stages of the TdF and GdI that I see each year on SBS TV and by the personal accounts of Jobst Brandt, Mark Chung and others on the net, I made a plan for a two-week cycle around the Alps.