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Where in the whole world would you pick to go mountain biking outside of the united states and canada?Has anyone mountain biked in other countrys?I know Bombardier has mtb’ed in germany.Where are the best mountain bike trails in the world?
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I would go back to Germany in an instant for the trails….. and the beer! 😃
The sheer amount of trails there are reason enough to make a trip; but adding to that is the amazing quality & variety that exist in Germany. Several dedicated bike parks in the Whistler/Keystone model exist there, as well as two or three in Austria. The idea is becoming more popular, and I’m sure that more ski-mountains are considering or building summer bike accommodations since we moved.
There’s the Whistler-ish [u:3tczddcx]Kona Bike Park[/u:3tczddcx] in the Schwarzwald (Black Forest), & [u:3tczddcx]Winterberg Bikepark[/u:3tczddcx], which is about 60km SSE of Dortmund. A place that I highly recommend over the lift-parks is the [u:3tczddcx]Mountainbike Park Pfälzerwald[/u:3tczddcx], which has no lifts, expensive resteraunts, or paid parking. This park has over 300km of interconnecting trails, all of which run the gamut from family-friendly to technical-hell. All around this area are small villages & towns, each often within riding distance of an ancient castle ruin, and offering true German hospitality & culture.
Without trying too hard, you can find guest-houses that charge no more than 40 euro a night (authentic German breakfast inclusive). These guest-houses are family homes that have rooms which are rented to guests to provide extra income. When you get up in the morning you’ll find yourself eating breakfast with the German family in their kitchen/breakfast area, while the man-of-the-house reads his morning paper & the kids get ready for school! There is simply no way a 5-star hotel can equal that experience, and for less than $60! And don’t get me started on traditional German breakfasts…. 😃The Germans also take their trail maintenance very seriously, so you will very rarely find trails that are succumbing to erosion or abuse. Horses are restricted to equestrian-only routes, so hiking/MTB trails aren’t destroyed & littered by those enormous four-hoofed dung factories. Other trail users are very polite and aware of bike riders; you will almost never encounter the rude hiker or jogger like what is found stateside.
Just be prepared to get dropped by the occasional octagenarians riding ancient Peugot bikes on your local lung-buster hill-climb. 😏
Seriously!I’d love to make it for a ride in the UK as well…. I’ve been picking up a lot of UK mountainbiking mags & reading their websites, and there’s a lot of beautiful trail there….. not even considering that the countryside is breathtaking too. But I wouldn’t take my 40lb Nomad there. The majority of UK riding is more suitable for full-suspension bikes on the lightweight tip with 4-5" of travel.
Austria & Italy have, from what I’ve read & heard, very drool-worthy trails all over the place. From what I understand, in Italy they’re not nearly as groomed as those found in Germany & the UK, so ride smooth or ride a 5-6" travel AM bike.
In the Alps if you feel like bringing your A+ downhill game; pack along your 8" travel monsterbike, and take a train/cable-car up to the top of a 14,000 ft. mountain. Rip the declines until your nose bleeds, rinse, & repeat from the top. 😼Austria also has more than a few lift-serviced bike parks. [u:3tczddcx]Bikepark Zauberberg Semmering[/u:3tczddcx] is one; [u:3tczddcx]Bikepark Planai[/u:3tczddcx] is another; [u:3tczddcx]Bikepark Leogang[/u:3tczddcx] is popular; and lastly, there’s the infamous [u:3tczddcx]Saalbach Hinterglemm[/u:3tczddcx].
We only saw a small bit of the trails in France, and it wasn’t nearly enough to make a determination on whether they’d warrant another trip there.
So yeah…. Deutschland über alles! 😎
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uhhhhhhhh…………
Deutschland uber alles
germany? best? trails?
and how the hell did you get the two dots above the u.signed: dazed and confused hahahahahaha[/b][/i][/u]
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how the hell did you get the two dots above the u?
I’ve got the umlaut on my keyboard….. duh! 😏
Trails…. Best…. Germany….
Yup, that sounds about right!
German Trails Are-Oh-See-Kay!
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Hey Bomb,did you get my rsvp pm?i sent a couple but the site said i was signed out but still listed me under online users.just want to make sure since it is about the snog.
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South america men is the best!!!….I’m from Ecuador and there is the best trails and downhill places.Also,u can go to argentina and brazil,chile they have good places down there too.
In Ecuador where I’m from there is a place that u can get until 60 MPH easily!!…Is great!!! -
NICE REPLY BOMBARDIER,WHAT DO YOU THINK A ROUND TRIP TO GERMANY WOULD COST AND IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE ONE WOULD NEED BESIDES A PASSPORT TO GET OVER TO GERMANY?AND WOULD YOU TAKE YOUR BIKE OR WOULD YOU RENT ONE ONCE YOU GOT OVER THERE?I READ AN ARTICLE ABOUT TAKING A BIKE WITH ON LONG TRIPS LIKE THAT AND THE WRITER WAS PRETTY MUCH AGAINST TAKING THE BIKE WITH ON THE ACCOUNT THAT IT GETS BEAT UP PRETTY BAD.YOU DID A PRETTY GOOD JOB OF THE TELLING OF TRAILS AND GUEST HOUSES IN GERMANY,I ALREADY WANT TO PLAN ON TAKING A WORLD TRIP LIKE THAT IN THE NEAR FUTURE(A YEAR OR TWO).I’LL JUST HAVE TO STICK WITH OUR OWN LITTLE PARADISE FOR NOW RIGHT HERE IN BEUTIFUL,COLORFUL COLORADO.
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Your question is to general, to my opinion you need to determinate what you looking for
If you looking for scenery, views, archeology, geography or extreme single tracks, AM, FR, DH
For example: I will not go specially to ride XC only, I need some excitement of AM
I will not go to similar scenery like in my country.I ride little in Austria/Germany near Lake Konstanza, nice, not more.
I ride in the rain forest / jungle in Thailand, AM single tracks at the north, XC at the island. Very good.Israelis going to: Expansive Europe countries like Italy/Spain/Germany/Austria/Swiss
Medium Europe countries like Greece, Cyprus
Low grade Europe countries Croatia/Romania/Slovenia/Bulgaria
Asia – Turkey, Georgia, Mongolia,
North Africa – Morocco
Far East Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand
Oceania – New Zealand, AustraliaYou, in USA have it almost all: Green forest, Deserts, wild nature, high mountains deep canyons, XC/AM/FR/DH sites.
USA have lake of Jungles and some kind of vanished culturesSo, to my opinion go to: Far East or South America or South Africa, but check before that the tracks are for your skills and interest
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I’ll take any location where the locals aren’t always trying to pressure me into buying their crap, trying to rip me off all the time, my safety is in jeopardy due to my nationality, and they have to have good beer.
Let’s see, that rules out Mexico, Central and South America, Russia, Poland, Balkan Countries, Africa, Middle East, Asean Countries, Korea, China, South West, South East Asia, and France.
I think that leaves Canada (which is just a colder version of the US and a different accent), and Europe, some former eastern block countries. I will make exceptions for wine producing countries like Italy, Spain and Portugal.
Switzerland, Austria, or Southern Germany of course would be ideal because I can sprechen sie die Deutsch and have some chance of scoring with the Putzfrau.
Barring that, I’d also like a chance to ride somewhere other than the North East.
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