Off-Road Cycling Holidays
How to Choose the Right Mountain Bike Holiday
With thousands of off-road cycling trips of varying difficulty available across the world, choosing a mountain bike holiday can be difficult. Understanding the trip grading and fitness requirements together with appropriate training for an activity break will maximise enjoyment of the trip.
Mountain Bike Holiday Trip Gradings
Adventure holiday companies commonly use a grading system to indicate trip difficulty and fitness or experience levels required. A good example is provided by Exodus.
A Grade/Easy
Expect largely flat terrain on smooth fire roads or asphalt. Some hill work may be required but any ascents will be short. Suitable for people who enjoy gentle exercise and those wanting a leisurely, more scenic cycling holiday.
B Grade/Moderate
Trips requiring a slightly higher level of fitness, more suited to those who enjoy the odd weekend riding on cross country trails. Reasonable fitness is advisable.
C Grade/ Challenging
Aimed at regular mountain bikers who ride most weekends and have a good level of fitness. Such trips will have some demanding ascents and descents and will sometimes involve riding on technical rocky trails though these can be optional if you choose to walk!
D Grade/Strenuous
The highest difficulty level for people experienced at riding on a variety of trails with tough climbs and descents that will push cycling skills to the maximum. A high degree of fitness and bike proficiency is required and appropriate preparation should be made before the trip.
Whilst gradings provide a good benchmark, no grading can fully describe the exact difficulty level of a trip. If in doubt, choose a holiday with a lower grade or you may find terrain and/or gradients that are unsuitable. Although a support vehicle is often available to carry clients who struggle with sections of the trail, many people do not enjoy having to give up if the going gets too tough.
Fitness and Training for a Mountain Bike Holiday
Any mountain bike holiday requires a basic level of fitness as even the easiest of trips requires several hours of exercise per day. Your mountain bike holiday will be made more enjoyable through some basic preparation:
- Ensure you take regular exercise several times per week prior to the trip to build up stamina.
- Increase the frequency of any cycle training especially if you are an occasional cyclist. Practice cycling for two days back to back even if only for a few hours. This will help prevent saddle soreness when cycling for several days in a row.
- Include some hill work in the cycle training programme. Repeating the same hill section over several weeks will soon enable you to tackle hills with ease.
- Try to do some alternative forms of exercise like weight training and stretching to develop all round fitness and upper body strength essential for a strong biker.
- If embarking on a strenuous or challenging mountain bike holiday, it may be advisable to start a training programme around three months prior to the trip. Leading cycling and fitness expert Hannah Reynolds offers good examples of training plans to suit all levels of mountain bike holidays at the Cycle People.
Choosing the right mountain bike holiday by matching your fitness and experience to the appropriate trip grading, together with some pre-trip training, will ensure you get the most out of an off-road cycling holiday.
