Travel Forum

[Rob Rides EMTB]

By popular demand

A place to discuss travelling with your ebike, from cars, vans, getting your ebike around, holidays with eebs or anything else relating to getting around with your bike.

 

[ggx]

kick off question!
Sugestion for Bike rack for full susp bike to travel with lugage? (I´m strugling to find something that Works, don´t rube with rear tyre, etc)

 

[Akiwi]

kick off question!
Sugestion for Bike rack for full susp bike to travel with lugage? (I´m strugling to find something that Works, don´t rube with rear tyre, etc)

I just got the Thule Pack'n Pedal with side frames for my wife. For moderate loads on a Fully is the only option out there.
Here is a picthure just after I mounted it. Pretty easy to mount. Takes about 5 minutes. To remove there is a key that releases the straps & it takes about 30 seconds.

 

[Zimmerframe]

I just got the Thule Pack'n Pedal with side frames for my wife

Do you really think she's going to be comfortable perched out there ??

 

[Akiwi]

Do you really think she's going to be comfortable perched out there ??

Comfort never came into it! There are enough secure places to tie her down so she can't get away!

 

[Mikerb]

What is wrong with a back pack?

 

[galaga187]

I'm looking at discovering ideas for trips next year any other places please shout them out. Keen to go somewhere guided but also consider self guided to keep costs down. Found so far .

Corsica End/May - Jun - road bikes or gravel
Verbier eBike Festival - eBikes - August
Alps again - eBikes - Sep/October
Exmoor - eBikes - Weekend anytime March - Oct

 

[Zimmerframe]

What is wrong with a back pack?

You'd really want to carry your wife around in a backpack ? It's just too literal with "She's been on my back all day"... I guess you could make little leg holes in the bottom, it'd be like a giant baby sack. Ok, I'll grant you, if you set things up properly, she can make sandwiches and cocktails on the go and feed them straight into your mouth so you don't have to stop.

You might be onto something here, this could be start of some new form of long distance husband/wife enduro competitions.

 

[Zimmerframe]

I'm looking at discovering ideas for trips next year any other places please shout them out. Keen to go somewhere guided but also consider self guided to keep costs down. Found so far .

Corsica End/May - Jun - road bikes or gravel
Verbier eBike Festival - eBikes - August
Alps again - eBikes - Sep/October
Exmoor - eBikes - Weekend anytime March - Oct

Some you probably haven't considered : click multi day tours ..

eBIKE.PEDAL – RENT&TOURS&eNEWS

 

[Mikerb]

I started this year combining adventure rides with camping in the UK. No international travel hassle. I prefer to just browse Trailforks or Kamoot and target specific trails/tours then check for a decent spell of weather and book a campsite via Pitch Up...usually for 3 or 4 days. Always a pitch with electric hook up so no problem charging batteries. This year we did the Brecon Beacons including The Gap and the Peak District including Cut Gate.

 

[GrahamPaul]

I'm looking at discovering ideas for trips next year any other places please shout them out. Keen to go somewhere guided but also consider self guided to keep costs down. Found so far .

Corsica End/May - Jun - road bikes or gravel
Verbier eBike Festival - eBikes - August
Alps again - eBikes - Sep/October
Exmoor - eBikes - Weekend anytime March - Oct

I can recommend Spain. There must be nearly a thousand companies here offering guided/self guided tours everywhere from in the Pyrenees to down here in Andalucia.

If you want, I can probably put you up a dozen links or so without even looking too hard. Lots of Brit MTB'ers have settled out here and run guiding companies to make a living. The advantage is that, except for the Pyrenees and high altitudes, the biking is year round.

To avoid flying with a battery, take the ferry to Santander or Bilbao. Depending on the time of year, you won't have much further to drive either.

 

[galaga187]

I can recommend Spain. There must be nearly a thousand companies here offering guided/self guided tours everywhere from in the Pyrenees to down here in Andalucia.

If you want, I can probably put you up a dozen links or so without even looking too hard. Lots of Brit MTB'ers have settled out here and run guiding companies to make a living. The advantage is that, except for the Pyrenees and high altitudes, the biking is year round.

To avoid flying with a battery, take the ferry to Santander or Bilbao. Depending on the time of year, you won't have much further to drive either.

@GrahamPaul I’ve looked at a few like Enduro Malaga and Basque MTB (as seen on Mctrail rider) and would like some other recommendations if you have them please. Great idea about the ferry.

 

[Akiwi]

Other ideas for Spain, or in General?
I biked the Transalp this year from Munich to Lake Garda. Absolutely Awesome!! 7 days with some fantastic trails and amazing landscapes. I did a writeup Here if you are interested.

 

[ggx]

What is wrong with a back pack?

For short rides supose it´s ok. Not ok for longer travel. Want to put out of my back all the heavy stuff

 

[galaga187]

I started this year combining adventure rides with camping in the UK. No international travel hassle. I prefer to just browse Trailforks or Kamoot and target specific trails/tours then check for a decent spell of weather and book a campsite via Pitch Up...usually for 3 or 4 days. Always a pitch with electric hook up so no problem charging batteries. This year we did the Brecon Beacons including The Gap and the Peak District including Cut Gate.

Great tips thanks. We did Exmoor last year staying in a Bunkhouse. I’ll take a look at pitch up ?

 

[Rocket Roche]

Been using WildBike Mountain Biking Holidays - Wildbike MTB Holidays for 3 years fully recommended

 

[Mikerb]

You'd really want to carry your wife around in a backpack ? It's just too literal with "She's been on my back all day"... I guess you could make little leg holes in the bottom, it'd be like a giant baby sack. Ok, I'll grant you, if you set things up properly, she can make sandwiches and cocktails on the go and feed them straight into your mouth so you don't have to stop.

You might be onto something here, this could be start of some new form of long distance husband/wife enduro competitions.

Sounds like you would like an emtb tandem. ......2 motors!!

 

[galaga187]

Been using WildBike Mountain Biking Holidays - Wildbike MTB Holidays for 3 years fully recommended

Looks great I really like the website - easy to navigate.

 

[Zimmerframe]

Sounds like you would like an emtb tandem. ......2 motors!!

Uhmmm... That would probably be illegal ? I take it the rules say something like the bike can only have 250w ? rather than a motor can only have 250w. But does that apply to a tandem ? as there are two people ? so is it each person can only have 250w ? But then, if someone's suffering from Dissociative identity disorder (DID), does that mean they can have two motors ?

 

[GrahamPaul]

@GrahamPaul I’ve looked at a few like Enduro Malaga and Basque MTB (as seen on Mctrail rider) and would like some other recommendations if you have them please. Great idea about the ferry.

Will do. I'll sort out some links for you in the next day or so.

One thing you might find useful: Komoot and Trailforks don't have much for the Iberian Peninsula. The popular website here is wikiloc.com

 

[Twin Valleys]

for any readers to our neighbors south of Canada, the better half and I are planning a trip in 2020 to Oregon ( and perhaps Washington) hauling the e-bikes with travel trailer, any real life experience advice from trails to campgrounds (with electricity) would be great

 

[Matija eBike.pdl CRO]

Some you probably haven't considered : click multi day tours ..

eBIKE.PEDAL – RENT&TOURS&eNEWS

And a lot more to come, if I might add.

Thanks!

 

[galaga187]

Other ideas for Spain, or in General?
I biked the Transalp this year from Munich to Lake Garda. Absolutely Awesome!! 7 days with some fantastic trails and amazing landscapes. I did a writeup Here if you are interested.

Wow what a trip thanks for sharing the details and pics. Definitely one for the bucket list to do with my son when he's older.

 

[GrahamPaul]

@GrahamPaul I’ve looked at a few like Enduro Malaga and Basque MTB (as seen on Mctrail rider) and would like some other recommendations if you have them please. Great idea about the ferry.

Okay, here are a few suggestions for you.
Obviously there are the two companies you've already mentioned from McTrail:

Enduro Malaga​

Basque MTB​

but there is also TrackMTB from his adventures nearer Madrid.​

But if you are heading across the water into Northern Spain then you will probably be thinking of the Mecca of mountain biking, Zona Zero, about 4 hours drive from Bilboa. This is stacked out with touring companies, uplift services and just about everything to make your life easy.

The following are links to some of the Zona Zero guide companies, starting with those in English, are:

Mountain Bike Holidays and Tours | Spain | Pyrenees | Basque MTB​

http://www.mtbainsa.com/​

https://www.unbeatenadventures.com/​

https://www.blacktowntrails.com/​

https://trailhunters.es/?lang=es​

https://ttaventura.com/btt-zona-zero/​

http://www.senderosordesa.com/aventura/btt/​

Depending on how independent you wish to be, it's dead easy to plan your own itinerary. Many regions of Spain have set up "cooperatives" which recognise that MTB tourists bring in lots of custom to areas which would otherwise be dead. You can basically get off the ferry and start your ride in the Basque Country, using this website. Warning, which is on the website, fitness required! Google translate will handle the web pages for you

An area where I was earlier this year is about 5 hours drive from Bilboa. Really friendly, great prices - and a short hop over the border from the Portuguese National Parks if you feel like a change of language and culture. Aldeadávila de la Ribera has a well laid out and waymarked MTB system - some of it decidedly technical.

A bit further afield is Enduroland MTB, which is a bit North and inland from Valencia.

Lastly, there are the mostly Brit run places down here in Andalucia. I have listed below the ones around Malaga province. Going East into the Tabernas desert of Murcia there are even more. The advantage is all year round biking - although possibly not today!

https://switch-backs.com/mtb-winter-riding-malaga/​

http://www.bike2malaga.com/en/guided-cycling-tours-malaga/mtb-cycling-tours-malaga​

http://roostdh.com/malaga-bike-holidays/​

https://www.enduromalaga.com/​

https://www.andaluciancyclingexperience.com/Cycling/Mountain_Biking_Holidays.html​

https://www.nextlevelcycling.org/our-rides/​

As I was going through the list I was rather thinking about the specifics of EMTB travel. All of the guiding companies offer uplift services. Most of the runs are gravity with not a lot of pedalling needed. That rather defeats the concept of an EMTB, no? Personally, I've never used a guiding service, prefering to choose my own routes after doing my own research. Even for Aínsa (Zona Zero) all of the waymarked routes are published, with GPS tracks (but they are well marked anyway), so why would you really need a guide? Okay, if you want to go balls out on a downhill you've never seen before, I can understand the idea of taking a lead from someone who knows where they are going. But, with the EMTB, that climb to the top for a second run surely isn't going to be a problem.

BTW, the Zona Zero, Basque Country and Aldeadávila websites all list accomodation, uplift taxis, repair shops, hire places etc. So doing it oneself really is no great effort. (We usually camp - in campsites. Fly camping in Spain risks massive fines).

 

[Mcharza]

I recommend Ainsa

 

[galaga187]

Okay, here are a few suggestions for you.
Obviously there are the two companies you've already mentioned from McTrail:

​

Enduro Malaga​

Basque MTB​

but there is also TrackMTB from his adventures nearer Madrid.​

But if you are heading across the water into Northern Spain then you will probably be thinking of the Mecca of mountain biking, Zona Zero, about 4 hours drive from Bilboa. This is stacked out with touring companies, uplift services and just about everything to make your life easy.

The following are links to some of the Zona Zero guide companies, starting with those in English, are:

@GrahamPaul Wow this is amazing thanks for taking so much effort to pull this together. @Rob Hancill thanks for creating this new thread. It will hopefully help lots of us seek out rides in new places.

 

[Rob Rides EMTB]

@GrahamPaul Wow this is amazing thanks for taking so much effort to pull this together. @Rob Hancill thanks for creating this new thread. It will hopefully help lots of us seek out rides in new places.

No probs. Not just the thread, there's a whole Travel forum for everything travel related

 

[Gogogordo]

I will be going to Cortina Italy in June 2020.
I have two days there.
I’d like to rent a ebike and do an epic one day ride.
I have found places to rent bikes so I’m sure there will be guides and plenty of information once I get there, but I’d like to know a little more before I go.
Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance.
Cheers and happy holidays to everyone across the pond!!

 

[Mcharza]

I will be going to Cortina Italy in June 2020.
I have two days there.
I’d like to rent a ebike and do an epic one day ride.
I have found places to rent bikes so I’m sure there will be guides and plenty of information once I get there, but I’d like to know a little more before I go.
Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance.
Cheers and happy holidays to everyone across the pond!!

Check this, you may find some help Cycling in the Dolomites – mountain-bike, road bike, e-bike

 

[martinf]

Yes, great new section. Anybody got any experience as an older rider, travelling alone to Spain, or Portugal?