I've seen a number of tour companies offering off-road riding in the mountains of Spain (eg. http://www.redtread.com/). Has anybody tried one of these? It seems like a good way for me to practise off-road riding - I don't get much chance living in the city

cheers

Keith.

Trail bikes destroy trails.

Spain seems a long way to go just for a practice.

Just a quick hop over the Irish Sea to North Wales should give you a few trails to ride.

Just ensure that you only ride legal tracks and don't go looking for extreme mud.
Kevin

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BMW have an off road school in wales....

Hi,

Join the TRF and discover where you can do it legally in the UK.
Get an ordnance survey map and find the BOATs (Byways open to all traffic) . These can be legally ridden unless restristricted by a TRO (Traffic Restriction Order) - look out for a standard road sign with the red circle enclosing a motorcycle\car
Other routes may be legal also but without the advice of an expert there are difficult to identify

regards
David

Met up with a friend from Barcelona a few days ago, says that most but not all off road trails in Spain are now closed to vehicles. Not sure hwo this affects the off road trail tour industry?

Alternatively, register here: www.advrider.com and attend next years off road Rally. We've just returned from the Dolomites & had a great time. Read about it here: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=151837

I'm still uploading pics to Smugmug at the moment, will post them later.

On a different note, Samwise (Rallybug on Adv.Rider) appears to have had an accident on his way home, must have happened mid-morning last Friday. I'm sure he posts here? All I know is that a truck was involved & that Ben (Samwise / Rallybug) may have sustained a leg injury. Further updates will be posted on the Ride Report link above.

Not sure where next years event will be held - eastern Poland or the Briancon area of France are strong candidates at the moment.

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Thanks for the replies, some interesting stuff there.

Some of the tour companies I looked at did state that they only used trails approved by the Spanish police. That was to make sure that they were not only legal but also not annoying other users.

Due to the hassle of getting a ferry across to England/Wales, it isn't really that much more difficult to get a ferry across to France/Spain. Plus the weather is nicer

I don't know what the situation is with legal off-road tracks in Ireland. I don't know of anything close to where I live. AFAIK all trails are either on private land or closed to vehicles. The only thing I know of are illegal motocross tracks on waste ground.

regards

Was that me Steve?

If so I must have been explaining things the night of the world cup final and MAY have lacked a bit of precision (due to the behaviour of people such as yourself and Vincent Danna no doubt! ;-)). National parks are out unless expressly stated, the Picos is almost shut down. smaller trails are usually out of bounds always (law says 4m width). however there are still lots of trails open - I dont know much outside of catalunya, but I have tons of routes for here. If you are looking for hardcore I dont have that kind of route. But I have mates who do these sorts of routes so I can ask if you like.

Redtread look fairly serious so I doubt theyd be buggering about with the law.

OLDBMW: the only two official enduro sites (dont ask me why) are Hechlingen in Germany and Arras Rural south of Barcelona, near to Valencia. Its where the Alto Turia takes place.

Dennis: when you are epiphany hunting in the northern sahara, what are you riding on inflatable tarmac? It is perfectly possible to leave only a tiny footprint if you want to. Ive seen walkers leave crap everywhere and as they were British, felt obliged to spend an hour picking up their shit, bungee it to the bike and take it down to the nearest village. When I hear this type of nonsense I understand why so many people refer to Britain as "Banned it" country.

bob

It may well have been the Sunday night Bob?

Does this mean that the next Euro Rally will be in Spain, hosted by your good self?

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Ha ha! Yes well er ummm. Actually i like Vincents idea better and its much more central as well. But in the future I would be happy to host an event at some point especially for such a nice bunch of people and Lawrence. ;-)