mtb Spain for Mortals
Decided to combine some biking with a bit of winter sun in Spain a few months ago.
I checked on the adverts in the usual bike mags, looked at the online reviews and ended up booking a week with Seasonally Unadjusted. Of course the major concern about a group mountain biking holiday is that you just don’t know whom your fellow riders are, which always lends itself to the possibility of humiliation. I was slightly nervous about being pitched in with a group of ‘fit as a whippet’ riders who just insist on riding trails requiring a certain devil-may-care attitude and a high level of skill. Jim, the man behind Seasonally Unadjusted was reassuring on this score. Apparently the only requirement was the ability to ‘have some fun’. That sounded reasonable and Jim was as good as his word.
Seasonally runs out of the Andalucian White Village of Alora, 30 mins inland from Malaga (we were picked up at the airport), and surrounded by some pretty good scenery. Most spectacular and not far from Alora is EL Chorro, a mecca for rock climbers but more importantly, I was to discover, the location for the climatic scene of Von Ryan’s Express. This film will nothing to most of you, except maybe some 40 somethings, with a penchant for World War 11 films of the 1960s (think ‘Where Eagles Dare’; ‘633 Squadron’, ‘Guns of Navarrone’ – I could go on…..). Ah yes, the biking at El Chorro is also excellent.
What about the biking? Well, one prayer was answered. I was pitched in with a bunch of riders of mixed ability and fitness. Granted I was still somewhere close to the bottom of the pile, but nothing embarrassing. A real mixture of bikes – FS and hardtail; I felt a little overdressed with my 5-spot. Also Jim did a good job of satisfying everyone’s needs. The trails were a nice mixture – relaxed singletrack, technical singletrack, big cross-country rides, plenty of switchback descents. Some rides go straight from Alora, and for others we were ferried to the trail of the day. Many of the rides required a fair bit of climbing (usually done a leisurely pace to accommodate everyone) which was fine by me, but sometimes this was rewarded by a fun but short-lived descent. One of the guys had recently experienced a similar holiday in the Alps and commented that it had the advantage of more epic downhill sections. But then you wouldn’t be riding on bone hard trails in short sleeves in October, November etc in the Alps. The other thing is that, despite the great location, we didn’t see any other riders throughout our week there. We had the place to ourselves – slightly different to Chamonix etc. So recommended- good rides, an accommodating host and guide and warm sun.
Seasonally runs out of the Andalucian White Village of Alora, 30 mins inland from Malaga (we were picked up at the airport), and surrounded by some pretty good scenery. Most spectacular and not far from Alora is EL Chorro, a mecca for rock climbers but more importantly, I was to discover, the location for the climatic scene of Von Ryan’s Express. This film will nothing to most of you, except maybe some 40 somethings, with a penchant for World War 11 films of the 1960s (think ‘Where Eagles Dare’; ‘633 Squadron’, ‘Guns of Navarrone’ – I could go on…..). Ah yes, the biking at El Chorro is also excellent.
What about the biking? Well, one prayer was answered. I was pitched in with a bunch of riders of mixed ability and fitness. Granted I was still somewhere close to the bottom of the pile, but nothing embarrassing. A real mixture of bikes – FS and hardtail; I felt a little overdressed with my 5-spot. Also Jim did a good job of satisfying everyone’s needs. The trails were a nice mixture – relaxed singletrack, technical singletrack, big cross-country rides, plenty of switchback descents. Some rides go straight from Alora, and for others we were ferried to the trail of the day. Many of the rides required a fair bit of climbing (usually done a leisurely pace to accommodate everyone) which was fine by me, but sometimes this was rewarded by a fun but short-lived descent. One of the guys had recently experienced a similar holiday in the Alps and commented that it had the advantage of more epic downhill sections. But then you wouldn’t be riding on bone hard trails in short sleeves in October, November etc in the Alps. The other thing is that, despite the great location, we didn’t see any other riders throughout our week there. We had the place to ourselves – slightly different to Chamonix etc. So recommended- good rides, an accommodating host and guide and warm sun.
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