All Mountain Venture

Autumn – Get in there.

christian — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 07:22:52 +0000

Autumn is booking up fast and there are several weeks in September and November that are now full. If you want to ride with us this autumn dont leave it last minute.

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Why is the mountain biking in Spain so good?

christian — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 12:22:52 +0000

In a nutshell, the mountain biking in Spain is so good because; big open spaces, lots of mountains, epic single track, undeveloped for MTB tourism, great weather and interesting local cultures.

Big open spaces.

Spain is one on the largest countries in Europe. Three quarters of the country is over 500m above sea level, and a quarter of it is over a 1,000m above sea level. Spain has one of the most diverse ecosystems and also has the lowest human population density in western Europe.

Quality Trails

The Phoenicians, Romans, Vandals and the Moors were the best trail builders of all time. Spain lies at a cross roads of the Mediterranean sea, Atlantic Ocean, African continent and the European mainland. Many of the best mountain bike trails were originally ancient trade, communication and smuggling routes; the preferred mode of transport being donkeys. Donkeys must have a similar turning circle to a mountain bike or all those mountain switchbacks wouldn’t be quite so rideable ;o)

Undeveloped for Mountain Bike tourism.

Whether you use a local guide or go it alone, the mountain bike industry is relatively undeveloped. There is little in the way of waymarking or commercialised mapped routes. This keeps the trails “underground” and the feeling of adventure alive.

Great Weather

Southern Spain / Andalucía has one of the best climates in Europe; mild winters, long summers and over 300 sunny days per year.

Awesome culture

Widely known for Flamenco music and dance, bullfights , fantastic beaches and lots of sunshine. Spain has much more to offer than that. It is and has been for many years one of the centres of culture in Europe.

Grazalema Natural Park

christian — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 10:47:04 +0000

The park occupies an area of 51,695 hectares and lies at the north eastern part of the province of Cadiz and the north western side of Malaga province.

Altitudes range from 287m in the El Bosque area to El Torreon at 1,654m in the sierra Del Pinar, also the highest point in Cadiz. Its overall appearance is very dramatic, an abrupt and rocky landscape consisting of irregular saw tooth shapes. The high ridges and deep canyons were formed during the alpine folding phase when the European and African tectonic plates collided.

Its climate is a mix of sub-tropical Mediterranean, warm humid Atlantic and the dry arid nature of the Iberian peninsular. Winter temperatures average 9 degrees centigrade, summer rarely drops below 26 degrees centigrade.

Due to the rare nature of its flora and fauna it was declared a biosphere zone by UNESCO in 1977 and is protected as such. Within the park is an additional area considered to be of exceptional ecological and scientific value and access to this part of the park is strictly controlled.

The largest cave system in Andalucía exists within the park. The Hundidero-Gato system consists of enormous galleries up to 7km in length incorporating large underground lakes fed by the Guaduares river.

Another cave worthy of note is the Pileta cave, many examples of neolithic cave paintings can be found here and it is said that this is one of the most important archaeological sites in the world

Phew!!

christian — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 21:04:03 +0000

Its getting hot out there on the trails, but with with temperatures in the shade at around 25 degrees the mountain biking is still good.

Perfect weather for our swimming pool, which is great for a post ride cool down.

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Mountain Bike Suspension Setup

christian — Sun, 29 May 2011 17:41:21 +0000

Note: Unless noted otherwise, these tuning tips apply to bothforks and rear shocks.
If in doubt take your bike to a specialist for help.

Symptoms: Not using full travel, feels harsh, poor traction whilemaking turns
Causes: Overly stiff spring or compression damping
Solutions: Lower air pressure or softer coil springs; reducecompression damping

Symptoms: Bottoms out, soft throughout travel
Causes: Spring rate too low throughout travel or too littlecompression damping
Solutions: More air pressure or stiffer coils springs; increasecompression damping

Symptoms: Harsh over large bumps, but good over small ones
Causes: Compression damping too high
Solutions: Reduce compression damping

Symptoms: Excessive sag, feels soft initially but does not bottom out
Causes: Initial spring rate or preload too low
Solutions: Increase air pressure or spring preload

Symptoms: Harsh over small bumps but uses full travel
Causes: Initial spring rate or preload too high, or too muchcompression damping
Solutions: Lower air pressure or install softer springs; reducecompression damping; reduce spring preload

Symptoms: Takes first bump in a series well but harsh over laterbumps, poor traction in washboard corners
Causes: Too much rebound damping
Solutions: Reduce rebound damping, if adjustable

Symptoms: Front end springs back too quickly after bumps, poortraction in bumpy corners
Causes: Not enough rebound damping
Solutions: Increase rebound damping, if adjustable

Packing a Bike for Air Transit

christian — Fri, 13 May 2011 20:10:08 +0000

You will need

Packaging Materials
Gaffer tape & scissors
Suitable Allen Keys
Pedal spanner
Brake spacers
Fork spacers
Bike bag/box

Step by step

Remove the pedals, rear derailleur & hanger, stem/handlebars, seat/seatpost and wheels. Remove the quick release skewers from the wheels. Use bubble wrap and/or polystyrene to wrap and protect everything. Leave the derailleur cable attached and tape the derailleur up in the rear triangle of the frame.
Let some of the air out of the tyres. Leaving some air in helps to protect the rims.
Remove the brake discs. Its worth the time because a badly bent disc is a pain to straighten.
Insert a thick piece of card or wood bettween the disc brake pads to prevent the brake pistons moving during transit.
Insert fork and frame spacer into the dropouts to prevent the fork and frame being bent. Your local bike shop may be able to supply you with these free of charge. A useful alternative is to make a Pine “splint”, roughly 20mm x 20mm cross section, cut to length and taped between the drop outs. Both solutions prevent the bike getting bent if a heavy weight is placed on it.
Protect the chainrings by taping some polystyrene to the bottom of the rings. This stops the teeth on the outer ring getting broken or bent during transport. Taping the polystyrene in place also prevents the pedals from turning.
A useful way of preventing brake levers getting bent is tape a block of polystyrene inside the lever and the grip to stop the lever being moved.
Protect the frame with suitable pipe lagging, polystyrene packaging or your arm and leg pads.
At this point tape all the packaged up components (except the wheels) to the frame so nothing can move around in transit. Make sure nothing will scratch up the frame.
Wrap the frame in bubble wrap. This stops the other things in the box scratching the frame and adds some extra cushioning. Put everything into the bag/box. Insert the frame first, then put a wheel down each side.
Use the rest of the space in the bike bag. The remaining space in the bag should be stuffed with bubble wrap to add protection and stop anything moving around.

Do not put fluids/oils etc in with the bike. They will x-ray it at the airport and you will end up unpacking everything to take it out.

Do put a new roll of tape in with the bike. You will need it for the return trip and if the airline want you to open the box at the airport you will have tape to close it all up again.

Check around carefully to ensure you haven’t forgotten anything – dont forget the tools!!!

Good luck.

My “day off” ride.

christian — Fri, 13 May 2011 12:42:55 +0000

I took the chance to head for the unspoiled coast of the Costa del la Luz and a change of scene. Country side meets the sea with rolling hills and laid back beach side trails.

75km, 750m climbing; Here is the mountain bike route I took.

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Swimming Season Open?

christian — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 08:58:17 +0000

Summers coming, pool is warming up… who’s gonna be first in?

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FREE Stuff

christian — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 22:13:21 +0000

We now offer a FREE video service as well as our usual FREE photography service.

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Headcam

christian — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 20:50:06 +0000

As you can see here, we’ve been out with the headcam.

Hope you like the new videos.

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