David (guide) Mario, Alain & Scott – Mountain Biking in Spain
Scott, Alain and Mario from Montreal in Canada arrived on Sunday evening to stay with us for six nights and the purpose of their visit was to spend their time here mountain biking in Spain, in the beautiful mountains and countryside of the La Safor region. Scott and Alain had visited the area before, and although they had hired bikes then, they had not taken advantage of the guided mountain bike service that is available. This time they decided to do just that, and be shown new routes that they would otherwise not have discovered for themselves.
After their evening arrival from Canada, they dined with us that night before getting some well-earned rest and attempting to adjust their body clocks to European time. The following morning though, on the Monday, they were eager to get on the road and set off with Dave Warrington from Mountain Biking Valencia on a route of some 30kms in the mountains of the La Safor region, starting from Pla de Corrals. They took a packed lunch with them and had a great time, returning to us in the early evening in time for dinner and another fairly early night. This time they were recovering not only from jet lag still, but of course also from the exertions of the day!
The next day they embarked on a 45kms trip which was a high mountain ride along the Benicadell ridge. This took in some hard climbing amongst beautiful scenery and had the reward of a great high speed descent at the end! Again, they took a packed lunch with them, stayed out all day, and returned in time to shower and then go out to Gandia town for a meal in the evening.
On Wednesday and Thursday they again undertook fairly demanding routes, including an 80km ride starting in La Drova, taking in the disused Alcoi to Gandia railway line that runs adjacent to the Serpis river, and then returning to the villa via Villalonga and the Marchuquera valley – a great route! Thursday night was the traditional “tapas” night in Gandia, when we all went into town and stopped at several of the local bars that were participating in the “Tapas Route” that has become such a feature of the town’s social life.
Friday was the last full day of their visit to us, however, so they went on a slightly shorter route – but still 40kms – taking a route further south from here in the Jalon Valley following the ridge of the Sierra de Bernia. Again, they experienced a great biking trip amid beautiful scenery and in lovely weather, which of course they wanted to make the most of before returning to sub-zero temperatures in Canada! They had a very early departure on the Saturday morning, catching a flight first to Lisbon, then to Germany, where they got their final connection back to Montreal. It had been a genuine pleasure to have them visit us, and hopefully they will return in the future to go Mountain Biking in Spain, as they take activity holidays in Spain on a fairly regular basis and were still eager to explore more of our part of Spain.
