I know it's the DH forum and there was no DH riding done but since no one sits on RM outside of the Lounge and DH I thought I will post it here.
Last winter me and my gf were looking for a spot to rest. We were overworked as hell and she wanted something warm since she had no holidays for a few years. She did not ride a bike on anything remotely challenging before, only road (a ton of it) and some mellow XC (so basicly XC world cup) but I thought I'm not going to use my limited leave and not ride a bike. She would also go crazy without any sports so after some looking around we found Madeira.
It's a 4h flight from Poland, 2h flight from most of yurp. Probably longer from us since you have to fly through azores or lisbon. It is absolutely amazing. It has few sandy beaches but aside from that it has all the benefits of a tropical island while being civilised and safe. It's warm all year long, the rains never last long, everybody speaks english and the main city feels like you're in Lisbon. We went there with absolutely no preparation, no credit cards (so no car rental) and it was the best Holiday I've had in years.
We booked a guided tour for 2 days. At first with 2 different companies but then after some communication issues with one of them we went for Freeride Madeira. 9am they greet us at our hotel, with bikes, protection, helmets and all. Took us to the 3rd highest peak there (close to 6000 feet elevation). The scenery change from the coast in just 30km is amazing.
A stolen picture from the place we started our day 1 trip:
There was a slight misunderstanding and they thought my gf was advanced but they quickly found a way for both of us to have fun (we were riding on different trails that were meeting every few minutes of riding). The trails the guides have shown us were amazing. You start with rocks, then you go to different forrests and feel like you are going through 4 different contitents. Even the soil changes and some of the tracks we've been riding on were not typical hill paths but well made, dh tracks with jumps, road gaps, berms. The local scene is surprisingly big. I also recommend Freeride Madeira to anyone. They took care of both me and my gf, the car was following us to meet us at checkpoints in case something happened, they insured us and really are one of the most friendly and professional people we've met. Plus for some pro rep they guided Brendog this winter.
It's also a great place outside of biking. The food is great, there are some nice surfing and diving spots. There are some spots for base jumping. The hiking trail network is very big and very well marked. The locals are friendly and everyone on Madeira is very mellow.
Some go-pro stills plus some scenery photos since I am an idiot and I've mounted the camera loose.
Plus the film with Brendog that circulated the net some time ago
Last winter me and my gf were looking for a spot to rest. We were overworked as hell and she wanted something warm since she had no holidays for a few years. She did not ride a bike on anything remotely challenging before, only road (a ton of it) and some mellow XC (so basicly XC world cup) but I thought I'm not going to use my limited leave and not ride a bike. She would also go crazy without any sports so after some looking around we found Madeira.
It's a 4h flight from Poland, 2h flight from most of yurp. Probably longer from us since you have to fly through azores or lisbon. It is absolutely amazing. It has few sandy beaches but aside from that it has all the benefits of a tropical island while being civilised and safe. It's warm all year long, the rains never last long, everybody speaks english and the main city feels like you're in Lisbon. We went there with absolutely no preparation, no credit cards (so no car rental) and it was the best Holiday I've had in years.
We booked a guided tour for 2 days. At first with 2 different companies but then after some communication issues with one of them we went for Freeride Madeira. 9am they greet us at our hotel, with bikes, protection, helmets and all. Took us to the 3rd highest peak there (close to 6000 feet elevation). The scenery change from the coast in just 30km is amazing.
A stolen picture from the place we started our day 1 trip:
There was a slight misunderstanding and they thought my gf was advanced but they quickly found a way for both of us to have fun (we were riding on different trails that were meeting every few minutes of riding). The trails the guides have shown us were amazing. You start with rocks, then you go to different forrests and feel like you are going through 4 different contitents. Even the soil changes and some of the tracks we've been riding on were not typical hill paths but well made, dh tracks with jumps, road gaps, berms. The local scene is surprisingly big. I also recommend Freeride Madeira to anyone. They took care of both me and my gf, the car was following us to meet us at checkpoints in case something happened, they insured us and really are one of the most friendly and professional people we've met. Plus for some pro rep they guided Brendog this winter.
It's also a great place outside of biking. The food is great, there are some nice surfing and diving spots. There are some spots for base jumping. The hiking trail network is very big and very well marked. The locals are friendly and everyone on Madeira is very mellow.
Some go-pro stills plus some scenery photos since I am an idiot and I've mounted the camera loose.
Plus the film with Brendog that circulated the net some time ago
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Moving between islands is kinda expensive unless you are a local (residents pay highly subsidized air fare), I would choose and ride Sao Miguel first.