off road heaven
Discussion
I have just had a weekend of riding in the Sierra Nevada in Spain. I have been mountain biking for 18 years and have ridden in Spain many times, but decided as I was going with a mate who had not had much experience that a guide would be a good idea.
It was, we had 2 days and about 12 hours of riding, some climbing which nearly killed me and some incredible downhill from technical rock gardens on steep mountain sides to wide fire roads and the best of all - 2-wheel drifting fast down deep gravel dried river beds. I am very knackered, but it was worth every minute.
Day one saw an early start and a ride up to about 7500 feet in warm sunny conditions. the roads up were easy fire roads twisting through olive groves and then pine forests and emerging onto a high ridge. The climb took me about 3 hours and saw us climb about 4000 feet (approximately as Daves Altimeter was taking readings based on hearsay for much of the time) From there we dropped down some technical gulleys and out into a wide dried riverbed. This was mainly small loose gravel and as long as we 'booked turns a month in advance' and remembered in true PH style that 'speed is your friend' it allowed us to drift the bikes from corner to corner with full 2 wheel drifts, it was fast and very furious.
Next we had to negotiate some more gulleys and drops and some nice fast and not too technical single track before the route opened out towards a fire road. There was a storm approaching; lightning, thunder, hail, the lot, and we had a fair distance to cover to get back to the shelter of the Transit. Somehow despite being shattered, that was enough to spur us on and we raced the storm down the fire road sections at huge speed losing only about 5 minutes from the end. Despite the soaking - and partly becasue of it - we had a fantastic day. Only a night of Gin drinking stood between us and the next day.
Quite a lot of gin it turned out.
Saturday dawned dry and with broken cloud, we headed for the rendezvous with Shaun our guide and his family with at least one of us looking a bit the worse for wear. Nothing a litre of strawberry milk and some bananas could not cure. Some running repairs were needed to broken spokes and binding discs and then we were off in the van to our start point at about 2100 Metres. The clouds were swirling below and about us and the mist hung in the pines as we climbed through the ear popping bits to the start. We argued about the difference between mist and cloud and watched the valley floors vanishing away below us. It was going to be alot of downhill.
First however there was uphill. Not too much, but even so 350 Metres of climb at altitude with a hangover is a challenge to anyone....and I was anyone, by the top my legs were burning, lungs were burning and I was regretting every beer, gin and rum & coke individually. The top was a relief and from the glimpses of valley we got through the breaks in the clouds swirling below us we were in for a treat.
The first bit was easy enough, rocky and sore to fall on, but essentially fairly easy with only the odd stray rock letting the tyres kick away from you. As we went down we crossed the road zig-zagging up the hillside as giving nice resting places, which we needed, that much technical descent is punishing on the legs, arms, back, everything (including soft bits of you don't put the saddle down) after a while we came to the tree line, groves of pines with tight sigle track winding through them giving on to tough gulleys and the occasional open stretch. Some judicious walking was needed when the drops got too technical. but the toughest was yet to come.
Shaun warned us before we approached the big rock garden that this trail was a 'black' in ski run terms and boy was he right. I have ridden for years, but nothing like that. steep drops, big rocks, climbs as well as descent, mud, banked walls, everything. It was way too hard for me and at the same time brilliant to find something that really challenged. I walked most of it, getting crosser and crosser with myself and more determined to come back and master it.
Eventually it gave way to more open trails and even a bit of tarmac which forms part of the Spanish equivalent of the Tour De France route(I can't remember the name) before we plunged down fire roads again towards Granada. The descent was fierce, fresh ruts from the storm the day before made it technical and unexpected and the speeds were enough to have blued the discs on the Scott by the bottom. We ended with a gentle ride back into the village we started from and a well earned rest. It had been a 3 1/2 hour downhill and it was, we all agreed, harder work than the climbing.
We went with a company called Ride Sierra Nevada, Shaun who runs it was our guide and he knows those mountains like the back of his hand, I can't recommend them highly enough. If anyone is sick of riding in clay and cold, they'll rent you a bike, find you a place to stay and take you - literally - on the ride of your life. Google them and they are at the top.
It was, we had 2 days and about 12 hours of riding, some climbing which nearly killed me and some incredible downhill from technical rock gardens on steep mountain sides to wide fire roads and the best of all - 2-wheel drifting fast down deep gravel dried river beds. I am very knackered, but it was worth every minute.
Day one saw an early start and a ride up to about 7500 feet in warm sunny conditions. the roads up were easy fire roads twisting through olive groves and then pine forests and emerging onto a high ridge. The climb took me about 3 hours and saw us climb about 4000 feet (approximately as Daves Altimeter was taking readings based on hearsay for much of the time) From there we dropped down some technical gulleys and out into a wide dried riverbed. This was mainly small loose gravel and as long as we 'booked turns a month in advance' and remembered in true PH style that 'speed is your friend' it allowed us to drift the bikes from corner to corner with full 2 wheel drifts, it was fast and very furious.
Next we had to negotiate some more gulleys and drops and some nice fast and not too technical single track before the route opened out towards a fire road. There was a storm approaching; lightning, thunder, hail, the lot, and we had a fair distance to cover to get back to the shelter of the Transit. Somehow despite being shattered, that was enough to spur us on and we raced the storm down the fire road sections at huge speed losing only about 5 minutes from the end. Despite the soaking - and partly becasue of it - we had a fantastic day. Only a night of Gin drinking stood between us and the next day.
Quite a lot of gin it turned out.
Saturday dawned dry and with broken cloud, we headed for the rendezvous with Shaun our guide and his family with at least one of us looking a bit the worse for wear. Nothing a litre of strawberry milk and some bananas could not cure. Some running repairs were needed to broken spokes and binding discs and then we were off in the van to our start point at about 2100 Metres. The clouds were swirling below and about us and the mist hung in the pines as we climbed through the ear popping bits to the start. We argued about the difference between mist and cloud and watched the valley floors vanishing away below us. It was going to be alot of downhill.
First however there was uphill. Not too much, but even so 350 Metres of climb at altitude with a hangover is a challenge to anyone....and I was anyone, by the top my legs were burning, lungs were burning and I was regretting every beer, gin and rum & coke individually. The top was a relief and from the glimpses of valley we got through the breaks in the clouds swirling below us we were in for a treat.
The first bit was easy enough, rocky and sore to fall on, but essentially fairly easy with only the odd stray rock letting the tyres kick away from you. As we went down we crossed the road zig-zagging up the hillside as giving nice resting places, which we needed, that much technical descent is punishing on the legs, arms, back, everything (including soft bits of you don't put the saddle down) after a while we came to the tree line, groves of pines with tight sigle track winding through them giving on to tough gulleys and the occasional open stretch. Some judicious walking was needed when the drops got too technical. but the toughest was yet to come.
Shaun warned us before we approached the big rock garden that this trail was a 'black' in ski run terms and boy was he right. I have ridden for years, but nothing like that. steep drops, big rocks, climbs as well as descent, mud, banked walls, everything. It was way too hard for me and at the same time brilliant to find something that really challenged. I walked most of it, getting crosser and crosser with myself and more determined to come back and master it.
Eventually it gave way to more open trails and even a bit of tarmac which forms part of the Spanish equivalent of the Tour De France route(I can't remember the name) before we plunged down fire roads again towards Granada. The descent was fierce, fresh ruts from the storm the day before made it technical and unexpected and the speeds were enough to have blued the discs on the Scott by the bottom. We ended with a gentle ride back into the village we started from and a well earned rest. It had been a 3 1/2 hour downhill and it was, we all agreed, harder work than the climbing.
We went with a company called Ride Sierra Nevada, Shaun who runs it was our guide and he knows those mountains like the back of his hand, I can't recommend them highly enough. If anyone is sick of riding in clay and cold, they'll rent you a bike, find you a place to stay and take you - literally - on the ride of your life. Google them and they are at the top.
Edited by dans on Monday 6th November 17:40
Dan - it was fantastic!
As an experienced cyclist but not MTBer I'd only been on 3 off-road rides prior to this and those were in the UK. Whilst challenging in their own right they couldn't prepare me for the trip.
The ride encompassed a great range of terrain... loose stones, dry riverbed, boulders!, goat sh1t!, and more.
The evenings... well Granada is a great City for tapas, beer, and walking round watching the world go by as it watches you back... the Gin isn't too bad either!
I found out I'm actually not a bad technical rider at all with the rock garden and "black" sections actually being mostly ridden as opposed to walked. Steep, rock filled gullies were difficult and needed care or walking with the worst thing being a stop preventing you from actually getting going again - momentum is everything. Whilst "speed is your friend" I was also, as a novice, very aware of the fact that I was still on friendly terms with my neck, arms, legs and wanting to keep those intact keeps you from going that quick. Maybe with some more rides under my belt the speed will come!
Fire roads were awesome, controlling speed with the rear brake though took me to a point where I could swear I had brake fade... on a mountain bike! Very fast roads as long as you kept the concentration up - lapsing would be very dangerous at those speeds.
Climbs were truly challenging also with the first day calling for nearly 3 hours of non-stop climb. Luckily I climb quite well and don't mind getting into that rhythm, for many that climb would have been a bit more than they'd be comfy with I'm sure.
The highlight of the trip? There were several although I have to say tearing down the mountain, in the middle of a storm really focusses the mind and was most enjoyable! Even getting caught in torrential rain (so hard it felt like hail and so dense you couldn't see 10m in front of you) was hilarious and amazing to see and feel the terrain instantly change from grippy hardpacked soil to an ice rink full of rocks!
Second Dan's recommendation on the ride sierra nevada team - truly superb and knew the mountains better than I know my own garden! Bike wasn't bad considering it was hired. It took the punishment well.
As an experienced cyclist but not MTBer I'd only been on 3 off-road rides prior to this and those were in the UK. Whilst challenging in their own right they couldn't prepare me for the trip.
The ride encompassed a great range of terrain... loose stones, dry riverbed, boulders!, goat sh1t!, and more.
The evenings... well Granada is a great City for tapas, beer, and walking round watching the world go by as it watches you back... the Gin isn't too bad either!
I found out I'm actually not a bad technical rider at all with the rock garden and "black" sections actually being mostly ridden as opposed to walked. Steep, rock filled gullies were difficult and needed care or walking with the worst thing being a stop preventing you from actually getting going again - momentum is everything. Whilst "speed is your friend" I was also, as a novice, very aware of the fact that I was still on friendly terms with my neck, arms, legs and wanting to keep those intact keeps you from going that quick. Maybe with some more rides under my belt the speed will come!
Fire roads were awesome, controlling speed with the rear brake though took me to a point where I could swear I had brake fade... on a mountain bike! Very fast roads as long as you kept the concentration up - lapsing would be very dangerous at those speeds.
Climbs were truly challenging also with the first day calling for nearly 3 hours of non-stop climb. Luckily I climb quite well and don't mind getting into that rhythm, for many that climb would have been a bit more than they'd be comfy with I'm sure.
The highlight of the trip? There were several although I have to say tearing down the mountain, in the middle of a storm really focusses the mind and was most enjoyable! Even getting caught in torrential rain (so hard it felt like hail and so dense you couldn't see 10m in front of you) was hilarious and amazing to see and feel the terrain instantly change from grippy hardpacked soil to an ice rink full of rocks!
Second Dan's recommendation on the ride sierra nevada team - truly superb and knew the mountains better than I know my own garden! Bike wasn't bad considering it was hired. It took the punishment well.
Great reading guys.
You can get brake fade on mtb's with continual down hills. I and my mates use the best hope brakes with proper motorcross fluids. However I know someone who boiled the oil in those! His brakes died on a mega fast downhill end section at Whistler, so he ended up bailing out and crashing into the fence at the bottom. In front of loads of girls too, unfortunately. When the oil was drained it was all black due to the boiling. So - change your oil now and then!
You can get brake fade on mtb's with continual down hills. I and my mates use the best hope brakes with proper motorcross fluids. However I know someone who boiled the oil in those! His brakes died on a mega fast downhill end section at Whistler, so he ended up bailing out and crashing into the fence at the bottom. In front of loads of girls too, unfortunately. When the oil was drained it was all black due to the boiling. So - change your oil now and then!
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