For thou­sands of years, Span­ish farm­ers moved their live­stock from val­ley farms to graze in the high Pyre­nees Moun­tains for the sum­mer months. This move­ment cre­at­ed hun­dreds of incred­i­ble live­stock trails, now redis­cov­ered, and uplift­ed by local moun­tain bik­ers in search of adven­ture. This unique his­to­ry of Spain has helped cre­ate a vibrant moun­tain bike scene you need to experience.

The trails criss­cross over mil­lion-year-old sea beds, across wine-rich regions, through aban­doned mid­dle-age vil­lages and along rocky foothills, before meet­ing the rugged Pyre­nees moun­tains — the nat­ur­al bor­der between Spain and France. The ter­rain offers up the per­fect ingre­di­ents for an awe-inspir­ing moun­tain bike trip. Tech­ni­cal sin­gle­track rid­ing in the heart of the Pyre­nees is topped off with mouth-water­ing Span­ish cui­sine (‘tapas’ includ­ed), local wine pair­ings and fas­ci­nat­ing, rich cul­tur­al expe­ri­ences. Descend 4,000 ver­ti­cal meters in one day,  ped­al by 1,000-year-old cas­tles and take count­less pho­tographs — the mem­o­ries you’ll cre­ate on this ride will not be forgotten.

Is This Ride For You?

You are a skilled moun­tain bik­er who loves a good chal­lenge, long descents and a fair amount of ped­al assist­ed ped­al­ing to keep you in shape! You’re fine break­ing a sweat if it means incred­i­ble views and get­ting off-the-beat­en-track where the chances of see­ing anoth­er moun­tain bik­er are slim. You thrive off epic descents with the help of your ped­al-assist­ed moun­tain bike. You’re com­fort­able rid­ing rocky ter­rain, includ­ing rock slabs, loose rocks, grip­py rock, slip­pery rocks — rock on! You’re com­fort­able rid­ing for up to 6 hours a day, for mul­ti­ple days. You have a sol­id, well-main­tained do-it-all trail E‑MTB. (with rough­ly 130–160mm of trav­el, drop­per post and beefy tires. Rentals are includ­ed on this Ride!). You love eat­ing like roy­al­ty, try­ing new foods and learn­ing about the local cul­ture and his­to­ry of the des­ti­na­tion you’re visiting.

*e‑MTB is includ­ed in trip price. 

Itinerary

Day 1. The Out­skirts of Ainsa

We’ll pick you up from our part­ner hotel in down­town Barcelona at 11:00 am or from the Barcelona air­port (BCN) at 12:00 pm. From there, it’s off to the medieval town of Aínsa! 

Upon arriv­ing in Aín­sa, you’ll meet your guides, review the week’s itin­er­ary, get your bike set up, and enjoy your first Span­ish din­ner together.

There will be an option to go for a quick ride close to town to get your legs spin­ning and warmed-up for the incred­i­ble week ahead!

Day 2.  Explor­ing Aínsa

Rise and shine!

Enjoy break­fast at the hotel and then suit up to ride!

Today’s rid­ing includes chunky rock gar­dens, rooty sin­gle­track, and lots of fun! We’ll put the ebikes to the test with some good mileage today, and some epic down­hill routes. Aín­sa has clas­sic areas of grey earth, and is home to some of the trails of the Enduro World Series!

Din­ner is on your own tonight and the guides can make rec­om­men­da­tions on the best restau­rants in Aín­sa. Explore on your own or join oth­er riders. 

Day 3. La Fueva

Good morn­ing Aín­sa! Pack your bags up and then head to break­fast — after rid­ing today we’ll be head­ing to our next hotel.

After break­fast at the hotel, we’ll spend anoth­er day explor­ing the incred­i­ble trails around Aín­sa before head­ing to Bielsa. 

Only 15 min­utes from Ain­sa you’ll find the Val­ley of La Fue­va, always under the watch­ful gaze of the the fortress high above in Muro de Roda (“the wall of Roda”). This fortress-cas­tle will be our hub for the day, as many trails begin and end there. 

This region has a strong Mediter­ranean cli­mate, which you can see in the veg­e­ta­tion and rocky ter­rain. After the ride, we’ll enjoy a cold post-ride bev­er­age and cheers to anoth­er day on the trails! 

We’ll head back to the hotel and get ready for din­ner. Din­ner is on your own tonight and the guides can make rec­om­men­da­tions on the best restau­rants in Biel­sa. Explore on your own or join oth­er riders. 

Day 4. Bielsa

Rise and Shine!‎

Today we ride the region of the bor­der town of Biel­sa — just an hour and a half north of Aínsa. 

We leave the Mediter­ranean forests for the high moun­tains, where you’ll find some super fun and flowy trails with lots of loam and some amaz­ing views. You’ll get to expe­ri­ence big moun­tain views and sin­gle­track straight of a dream at the door of the Orde­sa Nation­al Park.

After a sol­id day of rid­ing, we’ll head back to our hotel and get ready for dinner. 

We’ll enjoy din­ner as a group tonight! Share your sto­ries of the trip so far, what you ride back home, and just enjoy each oth­er’s company. 

Day 5. La Pobla de Segur

Wake up and enjoy break­fast at our Biel­sa hotel before pack­ing up and head­ing south to our next des­ti­na­tion — Tremp. Along the way we’ll stop in the lit­tle town of La Pobla de Segur (The Town of Secu­ri­ty). Orig­i­nal­ly set­tled north of where the town is present­ly, La Pobla de Segur was moved to its cur­rent loca­tion in the mid 13th century. 

Get ready for some long descents, a con­stant­ly chang­ing land­scape from pine and moss forests to more cob­bled and rocky out­crop­pings. Just like the land­scape, there is a good vari­ety in the trails as well — from flowy and fast to tech­ni­cal and spicy. 

After we fin­ish rid­ing, we’ll con­tin­ue just south of Tremp, where we will spend our last nights in Spain. Our hotel is a his­toric one, with it being orig­i­nal­ly start­ed as a small inn by the family’s great grandfather. 

Day 6. Tremp Day 1 

¡Buenos días, Tremp! Wake up and enjoy break­fast before get­ting out and hit­ting the trails. 

In addi­tion to being a climb­ing par­adise, and thanks to the local rid­ers, they now have undoubt­ed­ly some of the best descents in the Pyrenees.

You will find your­self rid­ing trails full of rock and sand­stone. You’ll be impressed by the excel­lent work the local trail builders accomplished!

Trails will vary from flow trails, to chunky tech trails — we’ll see what sounds better! 

After the day of rid­ing, we’ll head back to our hotel where we’ll soak in some incred­i­ble views and get those bikes (and our­selves) charged back up.

Enjoy din­ner on your own tonight, or with oth­er riders!

Day 7. Tremp Day 2

You’ll wake up to one more morn­ing of amaz­ing views of tow­er­ing moun­tains and alpine lakes. After a hearty break­fast, we’ll get out and hit the trails — this will be our last good day of rid­ing, so make sure to get the goods! 

Tremp is home to 3 amaz­ing ride areas, so we’ll need to split it up into two days! With some of the best trail build­ing in the Iber­ian Penin­su­la, these three areas have a huge vari­ety and qual­i­ty of trails and will def­i­nite­ly have us deplet­ing our bat­ter­ies (low bat­ter­ies = big smiles).

After the ride, we’ll check in to our hotel in Benasque, enjoy a final din­ner togeth­er, share sto­ries, and say “Salud” to an amaz­ing adventure!

Day 8. Adiós, Spain!

After break­fast, we offer a com­pli­men­ta­ry shut­tle back to Barcelona at 8:00 am. We will drop Rid­ers off at the Barcelona air­port (BCN) by 1:00 pm or pro­vide a drop-off to our part­ner hotel in Barcelona in the late afternoon.

The fol­low­ing data rep­re­sents a typ­i­cal itin­er­ary, but adven­ture trav­el can be unpre­dictable, and our Guides may need to make last-minute changes to ensure your enjoy­ment. Inclement weath­er, road clo­sures, changes to the itin­er­ary to accom­mo­date requests, and oth­er issues may affect the itin­er­ary. The ride data rep­re­sents an ‘aver­age’ itin­er­ary and may dif­fer when you show up to ride. Our guides make every effort to stick to the itin­er­ary as post­ed, but your safe­ty is our #1 priority. 

Ride Data: The Great Spain e‑MTB Experience

Day Hours of rid­ing Dis­tance rid­den Ele­va­tion gained Ele­va­tion lost High­est ele­va­tion
1 3 16 4900 0 0
2 5 21 5900 0 0
3 5 20 5600 0 0
4 4 14 4300 0 0
5 6 25 5900 0 0
6 4 19 3900 0 0
7 4 17 5200 0 0
8 5 21 5200 0 0
9 4 19 5900 0 0
Totals 40 HRS

Picture Yourself Here

Book The Great Spain e‑MTB Experience Now

Dates chosen: Sep. 28, 2024—Oct. 05, 2024
Skill Rating: Black Diamond
Fitness Rating: Green Circle
Exit Booking
Skill Levels
Black Diamond

The Black Diamond Rides are  suitable for riders looking for that edge. Maybe it’s the edge of a drop, the edge of a cliff, or singletrack requiring focus and fast reactions developed from extensive experience riding “the edge”. You will find yourself on steep trails of varied surfaces. In the Pacific North West that could be slick roots and loam, in Nepal you will find exposed granite in the Mustang Valley and in Guatemala it maybe narrow stairways through cliffside villages. While airtime is rarely required, the ability to find the backside or clean a tabletop should be comfortable or in a state of progress. Obstacles on Black rides are likely to be outside the range of your bikes ability to cover your goofs with its awesome suspension and grip.

Blue Square

In general, Blue trails are narrower than green trails, encounter unavoidable obstacles such as roots, rocks, and drops that are up to 8-inches tall. You will want to have a solid understanding of the fundamentals of mountain biking including body positions, powerful braking, cornering, riding on varied terrain, steep sections and experience riding trails that requires line choice. Airtime is not mandatory, but you will find yourself on trails with alternate lines giving you the option.

Double Black Diamond

A Double Black ride is for those that already know they are looking for a Double Black. It’s going to be very hard and require advanced bike handling skills. You will find yourself on trails with sections most non-riders would look at and say, “that’s totally nuts!”. You will know how to look at a line and contemplate where it will work and where it won’t. Drops of a couple feet should be comfortable and getting your bike off the ground should feel predictable and fun.

Green Circle

Typically, green Rides are safe for beginners. Green Rides may have both avoidable and unavoidable obstacles. Trails are generally low grade, wide, consistent surface texture and have minimal features. You are likely to come across unavoidable obstacles 2-inches or shorter, which is small enough for mountain bike tires to simply roll over. More challenging than tarmac, but in general, a wonderful Ride for those riders new to mountain biking or looking for a casual experience.

Fitness Levels
Black Diamond

A Black Fitness ride will test you. Aside from needing to be able to manage up to 6 hours on the bike, day after day, including distance up to 50km/30miles and elevation gains up to 1750m/5000feet of climbing, you will be adding extra challenges along the route like periods of hike-a-bike and the extra effort required by the whole body to safely dance with your bike over technical terrain. Generally, riders who are up for a Black Fitness ride, likely spend time on the bike a couple times each week.

Blue Square

Blue should be considered a good deal more effort than our Green Rides.  You should be able to handle 3 to 5 hours in the saddle covering up to 45km/30miles and be able to pull off a big day of 1000m/3000feet of elevation gain. Managing fuel is important as well.  You should have a good understanding how your body responds to multiple days on the bike. We will help with positive coaching, a manageable pace and plenty of trailside snacks.

Double Black Diamond

A Double Black will be for those with the strength and endurance to get to the top of anything they want and understand the term “turning the screw”. Distance could be quite high on some routes and elevation gain numbers could hit 2000m/6000 feet+ in a day. You are likely riding multiple days a week during the dry periods and have a trainer or belong to a gym for the rest of the year.

Green Circle

You should be ready to spend 2-4 hours per day on the bike. Mileage may be up to 30km/20 miles and elevation gain will be under 500m/1500feet. On e-MTB tours, numbers will be higher, however the approximate effort would be considered similar to a standard Green Circle ride. If you get on your bike once a week, you will be just fine. However, when preparing for a Ride, you will benefit from more rides and time in the saddle.